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There are millions of excuses –
and yet even people with crazy busy schedules and people who
live with chronic pain – manage to exercise. Excuses allow
you to continue living the way you are now without making
any tough choices or doing any hard work. Excuses are a
convenience – a way of allowing yourself to feel better
about not doing things you know you should do – and
somewhere deep inside, actually want to do. In order to move
forward, create a zero tolerance policy on excuses. The old
cliché: where there’s a will there’s a way - holds true
today!
Here are a few of B.S. excuses I
hear every day:
-
I don’t like to
exercise! While I appreciate honesty, I still
see not liking exercise as an excuse. How many people
actually enjoy brushing their teeth? But we do it
because we don‘t like the feeling of grimy teeth and
smelly breath. The same approach has to be used for
exercise – we do it because we need to. I’m not saying
you have to grin and bear it – find something you like
to do. Take some time to think about this: is there any
form of movement that you enjoy or tolerate? There are
so many different ways to move your body, from simple
walking to more complex dance classes! There are so many
different ways to move your body – keep looking until
you find the one that fits you!
-
I don’t have time!
Who does? We’re all juggling a lot. Work, family
housekeeping, grocery shopping, etc. If that’s your
life, activities that you feel are unnecessary – and
even worse, unnecessary and boring, are the last things
you want to do. But somehow you always make time for
them. If you’re not exercising, it’s because you haven’t
made it a priority. People who make time to exercise
tend to be more efficient with their time. They are able
to do more because they’ve taken the time to schedule
exercise into their everyday lives. Keep in mind also,
as you become more active your energy levels will rise –
so you get more done at a quicker pace. In a sense, by
taking the time to exercise, you’ll create more time
elsewhere.
-
I’m not sure what to
do! Kickboxing, step aerobics, yoga, pilates,
swimming, dance, hip hop, walking – there are literally
hundreds of ways to exercise. Making a choice can be
overwhelming – the only way you are going to know what
you like is to experiment. But keep in mind, different
workouts work your body in different ways. Any exercise
you do is admirable, but if you want to really see
changes in your body, you need to do a combination of
exercises. To achieve true fitness, you need three forms
of exercise:
a. Cardio (aerobic) exercise
measured either in minutes per day or by steps per day;
b. Strength training measured in
reps; and
c. Functional fitness exercises.
Slowly work your way up to six
hours of cardio aerobic exercise a week. At first, this may
seem like a lot of exercise, but keep in mind that you can
break up those six hours however you like and chose whatever
kind of physical activity you enjoy. Although you may not be
ready to do six hours of cardio exercise weekly right away,
I encourage you to aim as high as you can when you first
begin. If you’re very overweight or have medical
conditions, always check with your doctor before increasing
activity.
There are eight simple strength
training exercise that help the body beat back the effects
of aging. Squats work the upper legs (quadriceps and
hamstrings), Lunge works upper and lower legs (quadriceps,
hamstrings gastrodnemius), Butterflies work back muscles,
Dumbbell Flies work the chest muscles, Bicep Curls work the
upper arms, Tricep Extensions work the backs of the arms,
Chest Press works chest and back of arms and Shoulder Press
works the shoulder muscles (deltoids). Do at least two sets
of eight or 10 reps per set of each exercise at least two
days per week, three is even better. I’d like to see you
working hard to do them all, if you can.
Functional fitness exercises are
exercises that give you the strength and agility to get
through daily life with ease using exercises like stretches,
crunches and other resistant exercises and can be done with
or without weights. All of these exercises increase your
core strength, flexibility, balance and coordination. You
can do functional fitness exercises everyday. If that’s
impossible, do what you can.
The point is, you have options.
Make the effort to try new things. Zero in on your own
personal motivating factor or factors, and own up to some of
the excuses for not exercising that you’ve made in the past.
Making excuses can be habit forming. When one excuse no
longer applies, you come up with another one, then another
one. It feeds on itself. On the other hand, overcoming an
excuse is freeing. Stop hemming and hawing and wasting
energy trying to come up with reasons why you can’t
exercise. Instead start to think of yourself as healthy and
fit!
Exercise is and should be a
part of your life, just do it! It’s like dinner, it’s
part of your day. When you reach this point, you don’t have
to worry about staying motivated. You’ve become a different
person, an active person with zero tolerance for excuses!
Yours In Fitness!
Angela R. Steward |
