Most of us know that moving your body daily is important for our health and mind. Yet, resistance to exercising is one of the most common issues with clients (and even myself!). I hear – and tell myself – many reasons why exercise is not a priority today, and some of them seem plausible. However, they are just excuses we use to rationalize the decision not to exercise.
How to change your mind on exercise?
Let’s go through the main reasons not to exercise and bring a new perspective on movement.
1. It’s hard work and the benefits are not immediately noticed.
Our instant gratification culture would rather wait for a magic pill to make us feel better rather than doing the hard work to get lasting results. I know this was one of my excuses for years as I tried diet pills and ridiculous diets promising quick weight loss.
CHANGE PERSPECTIVE: When we exercise, we DO notice the benefits immediately. Here are the instant benefits of exercise:
- a clearer mind
- feeling of physical strength
- possibly the runners high (even without running)
- sweat that releases toxins from your body
- moved your energetic body to release stagnation
- moved your lymph system so it can excrete toxins, cancer cells, and other biological ‘trash’
- helped keep your hormones and metabolism in balance
- got rid of extra circulating glucose so it does not get stored as fat
- pride that you did it
That’s a lot of instant benefits of exercise! As a reminder each day, copy-and-paste this list into a doc and print it.
2. It doesn’t feel good.
When you haven’t been exercising regularly, starting out can be frustrating. Every part of you hurts, maybe you can’t run or walk for long, you get out of breath fast.
CHANGE PERSPECTIVE: Stopping yourself because exercise tiring is only going to get you more of the same health issues. While beginning exercise can be discouraging, it only lasts a few weeks at most. Eventually exercise will start feeling good. Tell yourself – I WANT to feel strong and capable, then take small steps to get there. You don’t have to do a P90X Beach Body routine to be healthy. Instead, try beginner weight lifting, brisk walking outdoors, qigong, and so on. There are simple, pain-free ways to move your body and slowly build strength without the pain and frustration.
3. It’s so boring.
I’ve probably heard this statement the most. However, in almost every instance, thinking exercise is boring is caused by have a narrow view of what you can do to move your body. There is so much more than “go to the gym” or jogging
CHANGE PERSPECTIVE: There are so many ways to move. If you don’t like running, then don’t do it. Try fast walking, stair climbing, biking, hiking, or anything else. We tell ourselves that we should run or go to the gym, but if that isn’t inspiring to you then find what you would look forward to. There are so many ways to exercise, either individually or with a group, so experiment with different forms. Try something new each week
- Yoga
- Tai Chi
- Kick Boxing
- Boxing
- Mat pilates
- Barre
- Spinning
- Biking outside
- Biking inside
- Speed walking
- Running
- Bootcamps
- Classes at the gym or local studios
- Weight lifting
- Belly dance
Try a free youtube video for a range of exercises and see what you like!
4. It takes too much time.
Driving to a gym, working out, cooling down, showering, then getting ready again. There’s too many other pressing responsibilities each day!
CHANGE PERSPECTIVE: 30 minutes is enough to benefit your body, and you can exercise right at home. Get your heart rate up, do some weight-baring exercises. Free YouTube videos are available for all of the exercises listed in #3.
Do any of these sounds familiar? Start there! Instead of letting the usual ‘excuse’ be your main thought, change your perspective. When you notice the excuse going through your mind, stop the thought, and intentionally change it to a supportive or positive thought. For example, instead of allowing “it’s so boring” to continue keeping you inactive, notice this thought and intentionally think “no, not anymore” and immediately say to yourself “[boxing] sounds fun” and then try a new [boxing] YouTube video (or whichever activity sounds fun!).
