Dump Your Excuses to Exercise
The benefits of exercise are many—equaled in number only by our excuses for avoiding it.
Just one in four U.S. adults works out at low to moderate intensity for 30 minutes most days of the week or at vigorous intensity for 20 minutes three days a week.
Some of those excuses—I weigh too much, I’m too old, I have too many health problems—are in themselves strong arguments for increasing physical activity. It’s harder to see through other reasons that show up in surveys asking why people don’t exercise.
Jasmine Kaloudis, a yoga and fitness instructor in Philadelphia, suggest these ways to work around the most common excuses and mostly around yoga to lose weight.
“I don’t like exercise”
Kaloudis suggests you think back to your childhood. “When we were kids, we ran and jumped and played all the time, and then we grew up and it became ‘exercise,'” she says.
Here’s what to do:
Add movement to something you like to do. If you play golf, walk the course. If you like music, listen to your favorite tunes as you walk. Take a stroll with family or friends.
Do you have a dog? Most dog love to run around and chase. Find a nearby dogpark if you don’t have a closed in yard. The kids will find great delight in this also.
Exercise with a friend. Instead of meeting at Starbucks for a fattening double mocha latte, suggest talking a walk around the lake. If you have children, play soccer or some outside games. If it’s cold, you can turn on the music inside and dance. Besides getting fit, you are creating memories. Schedule these kinds of activities on a weekly basis.
“It’s too expensive to join a gym or hire a personal trainer or buy fitness DVDs.”
The internet is your answer. There is an unbelievable amount of free exercise routines in all kinds of subjects such as yoga, martial arts, boxing, tennis. etc.
Often many gyms or fitness clubs will have special intro rates. If you are having financial challenges then let the club or trainer know what you can budget toward fitness and see if they can accomodate you.
If you also have a skill such as massage therapy or carpentery, see if you can trade or barter services. This can work well with independent practitioners but not with a big corporate gym chain.
“I don’t have the time”
This is the granddaddy of exercise excuses. With the demands of work, family, and other obligations, it seems plausible. Except when you consider that lack of exercise—and the poor health that follows—can affect the quality of every waking moment. Here’s how to overcome the excuse:
Make exercise a priority. If you think of exercise as being as important as brushing your teeth or any other “essential” routine, you’ll find time.
Avoid the “all or nothing” trap. If you can’t find 30 straight minutes to work out, try for three 10-minute blocks—or even one 10-minute block. A little exercise is better than none.
Be flexible.
Incorporate movement whenever you can. Walk instead of driving. Climb stairs instead of riding the elevator. Do calisthenics, stretch, or ride an exercise bike while you watch television.
This is a more drastic option, but consider getting rid or the TV or getting rid of some cable stations. How important is it to your life that you caught the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy? When you don’t have those extra stations, you won’t miss them. You will have more time and less excuses for being active and healthy. You’ll also save money on your cable bill.
Are you committed to changing your life or are you committed to your excuses?