Just. Do. IT.
Bite the exercise bug put excuses to bed, advises
Wexpounding the benefits of exercise and fitness apps readily available that both educate and train, a higher percentage of the population worldwide better understands the importance exercise plays as the single most powerful catalyst for stellar health in mind, body and soul.
More and more health- and fitnessrelated internet sites surface weekly that continue the mission of waking people from their distorted, worn-out beliefs about health and fitness.
Errant beliefs such as our health is ‘inherited and out of our control’ are now proven false and put to rest as people awaken to the fact that they are ultimately in control of their lives, including their health with exercise as the major contributor.
Because of this, exercise has become a passion and priority on many daily calendars and adopted as part of a healthy lifestyle for thousands worldwide.
Although we’ve seen promising gains in the health and fitness world population, there’s still a faction that continues to give in to excuses – creative yes, but weak for sure.
Even with an abundance of health and fitness information and training readily available at their fingertips, deeply embedded and distorted mental hurdles/ excuses continue to tease and tempt many when it comes to avoiding fitness/workout or gym time.
Examining and busting some common workout excuses:
“I don’t have time”
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What this really translates to is, “training is less valuable to me than the thing I am choosing to do”. Or, “the health of my body is not at the top of my priority list”. Time is not fixed, it is malleable. That means we are in control of how ours is used – you do have a choice if you take it.
“I am too tired”
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This excuse reveals the paradox of exercise because the solution for this problem is to exercise! Yes, it takes energy to exercise, but exercise is what energises us. It increases blood flow and gets our hearts pumping oxygen to our muscles, tissues and our brains.
It helps to release natural endorphins and neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine making us feel happier and better all around. Even moderate exercise is empowered to improve our energy If your workout is hard to the point that levels. you cannot finish it, pay attention, there’s
As soon as we begin moving, a message there to slow down. However, endorphins kick in and begin to energise it’s not a signal to quit altogether. It’s either us. Repetition increases energy overall. So, not the right workout for you, or you are “I am tired” may be the lamest of all excuses. doing the exercises wrong and making it
Turning to an exercise buddy as harder than it should be. someone to answer to is a great motivator HIIT (high intensity interval training) to keep our “tired” excuse at bay. Changing workouts, for example, are notoriously the time of day we work out to our most tough but return great results and that’s
● energetic time of day is another why people love them. If you love solution that may help. your HIIT workout, but find it
difficult to finish, don’t give
■ it up altogether. Difficulty is not an excuse; Honour the message your it is a level of attainment, body is sending and just but many use it as an scale back your intensity excuse to skip their gym output to your level of appointment or avoid fitness. At some point, their fitness routine. If you you’ll grow out of that fall into this category, the level, boosting your solution is simple. Find an intensity level up naturally. alternative exercise or scale down There are a multitude of great what you are doing. exercises, equipment, machines and
All workouts need to be challenging (if we routines to choose from, so doing really want to enjoy the benefits), but they something we don’t like is nothing short should not ruin anyone’s mood or day. In of wasting time and serves no one. fact, they are meant to do the opposite. If our exercise programme is not making
“It’s too hard”
us feel good, it’s time to scrap the excuses and adopt a new one. With a little research and experimentation, we can easily find a better fit that’s both challenging and something we enjoy doing. Sweating when exercising is a good thing (and a nice signal that we’re working hard). It’s also the body’s way of detoxing and cooling off and the amount we sweat has to do with many factors including genetics and the intensity put forth when we are working out.
However, some people don’t like the feeling sweating and use it as an excuse not to workout. But even that excuse won’t hold water because there are many ways of exercising that burn calories and build muscle that don’t make us drip in sweat such as strength (resistance) training. According to the experts, fitness is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical. It’s obvious that our minds are, without a doubt, the biggest obstacle we face when adopting an exercise or fitness routine. The key is to just begin or, as Nike says, “just do it”.
Any amount of movement or exercise is better than none and chances are, once we begin, we’ll feel so good, we’ll want to keep that feeling going.
So ‘I am tired’ may be the lamest of all excuses.