What's your excuse?

Excuse # 1: I don’t feel motivated!

SOLUTIONS: Why do you want to exercise? For health reasons? To lose weight? To improve flexibility and mobility? To boost your energy levels? For the social aspect? To achieve a goal, such as running a 10km road race? Whatever your reason(s), keep it/them in the forefront of your mind. Also, remember that exercise increases energy, boosts mental clarity, helps you sleep, gives you a greater sense of confidence and puts you in a better mood.

If finding your reason for working out still doesn’t get you exercising, fake it ‘til you make it. Remember, starting is the hardest part. Personal trainers can all list clients whose lives changed as soon as they started exercising regularly. Lack of motivation leads to more lack, exercise leads to more exercise. So just make yourself start—even if you don’t want to. You will feel fantastic afterwards!

Excuse # 2:  I don’t have time!

SOLUTIONS: Schedule your workouts as you do work appointments. Put them into your calendar.  Don’t view exercise as just another demand on your time. View exercise as an investment in your health. It’s your time to give yourself what you need.

For those of you who work from dawn to dusk and then have to feed a family, or if a long commute eats up your workout time, can you walk at lunchtime? Do a ten-minute workout at home before or after work? Take a family walk? Try a plank challenge? Buy a treadmill for your house to use when you watch TV? When you have a busy diary, it’s good to have flexible thinking and a positive attitude. Look at your week ahead and see when you can schedule in some exercise. Any movement is better than no movement.

EXCUSE # 3: I’m too tired and I don’t have the energy.

SOLUTIONS: You know you should exercise, but some days it’s just plain tough to get moving. You’re almost always too tired, and you don’t know where you will find the energy. Guess what? You are too tired because you don’t exercise. One of the things enthusiasts love the best about exercise is the increased energy it provides.

Try working out early in the morning. The greatest benefit of morning workouts is this: People do them. There is less likelihood that your day or exhaustion gets in the way.

Excuse # 4: Exercising is boring.

SOLUTIONS: If by exercise you mean trudging on a treadmill day in and day out with nothing to think about but how much time you have left before you can stop, then you are absolutely right. That is boring, but training doesn’t have to be. Variety and playfulness are essential to healthy movement. Instead of thinking of exercise as a chore, find activities that are joyful for you. Play hide-and-seek with your children, arrange a game of tennis with your spouse or go on a family walk. Make the treadmill fun by listening to an audio book or your favourite playlist.

Excuse # 5: I’m too unfit or overweight.

SOLUTIONS: It’s common to worry that you might be the most unfit or most out-of-shape person in a gym or at a class. However fitness professionals will tell you that you will find people of all shapes, sizes, ages and levels of fitness in the gym or the studio.

Give yourself credit for making a healthy choice and let go of what others might think. Haters gonna hate, but guess what? That has everything to do with who they are and nothing to do with who you are. Don’t let anyone else dictate what you do for you. You’re fitter and faster than everyone sitting at home on their sofa.

Excuse # 6: There’s too much information out there about exercise and I am overwhelmed.

SOLUTIONS: There’s a lot of conflicting information about exercise, but it doean’t have to be complicated. Any movement counts. While doing a workout might not show up immediately on your body, every workout is making a difference to your mind and body internally. Rather than get overwhelmed at all the choices of exercise that exist or stuck in the paralysis of analysis, just select something: Walk. Attend a class. Do a 40-minute workout on a workout DVD. Stretch. Get on the elliptical and walk. Dance. Just try something and the sense of overwhelm will vanish.

If you’re new to personal training, why not take advantage of our ‘3 for 2’ offer? Book three sessions with one of our friendly and enthusiastic trainers and you’ll only pay for two. This is the ideal way to motivate yourself and to come up with a plan of the best exercises for you. Don’t forget, we’re with you every step of your journey to fitness.