With the Holidays behind us (and maybe a little more on the behind) AND with so many of us making New Years Resolutions to Get Fit, I thought this article would be appropriate. Perhaps it will inspire you to keep those resolutions a bit longer than usual.
The 10 most popular excuses not to exercise
Here are the 10 most popular excuses I have heard over the years on why not to exercise and my perspective on them:
1) I don’t have time. Do you have time for a heart attack? How about managing diabetes, dialysis, or cancer. If you don’t have time to work out now, you won’t have the option to make the time to deal with managing the catastrophic consequences of being deconditioned.
2) I can’t afford it. Actually, you can’t afford not to. One of the best investments you can make is in your own wellbeing, which makes all else possible. Chances are with a little budget analysis, you can easily find the money by a little cost shifting. Somewhere in your expenses you’re already paying for it.
3) I’m too tired. The best way to get un-tired is to work out. Exercise stimulates endorphins, oxygenates the blood supply and stimulates every vascular cell in your body. If you keep doing the same things; you’ll keep getting the same results. Switch strategies. If you’re tired of being sick and tired; join a gym. When you rest; you rust.
4) I don’t need to. You may not think so; but everybody benefits from exercise. Perhaps you are genetically gifted and appear not to need exercise. Don’t be led into a false sense of security. Under your skin there is trouble brewing: Creeping obesity is a condition you can’t see, so is osteoporosis, deconditioned atrophy, arterial plaque and high blood pressure. Exercise is your best protection for the perils you can’t see.
5) My doctor told me not to. There are some dinosaurs who have survived the dark ages. If you have a medical practitioner who tells you not to exercise; it’s time to get a new doctor. Period.
6) I don’t like it and it’s too boring. So is taking a shower, combing your hair, brushing your teeth and wiping your behind. Don’t make the mistake of placing exercise in the “fun” or “leisure, recreational activities” category. It’s not. Exercise is part of the required repetitious and redundant maintenance for your body. Get over it and just do it.
7) Too busy working and taking care of my kids. When you’re sick; you can’t work. If you’re dead; you can’t take care of your kids or be there for your loved ones. If you are the worker bee; you need as much maintenance as any other piece of revenue generation equipment in the workplace. Don’t omit the most important money making component from your preventative maintenance program. Take care of yourself first. Then you can take care of others.
8) My significant other doesn’t support the idea. If your “better half” is depriving you of being the best you can be; then you’ve got a real problem. Often there are saboteurs within our closest family members who like the control that comes with you being depressed and deconditioned with low self-esteem. This needs to be challenged and corrected. With a strong body comes a strong mind.
9) It’s too late in life for me to start. It’s never too late. I have started workout programs with clients in their 90’s who have gained back strength and mobility reversing their strength age by decades. We were once told by the medical community that over the age of fifty, muscle mass disappeared at the rate of 2% per year and there was nothing we could do about it. The facts are in: Almost anyone can build strength and muscle at any age and reap the benefits. Results start when you do!
10) I am sick, diseased or disabled. You may not be perfect; but parts of you are excellent! Whatever monsters lurk within; our own monsters (your immune system) need the help and support only exercise can deliver. It is a known fact that exercise is the best weapon in the arsenal in the battle. Amputations, disabilities and paralysis usually leave a wide verity of functional musculoskeletal components ready to serve in your mobility needs. The remaining muscles need to overcompensate for the compromised components. There is no better reason or need to work out and strengthen the remaining functioning body parts.
Lead, follow or get out of your own way. Today is the first day in the rest of your life. Put one foot in front of the other; and just get started. Results start when you do!
About the author: Bill Crawford has been in the fitness business since 1977. He was trained for musculoskeletal evaluation and rehabilitation at the Exercise Science Center at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida and was personally trained by and has the endorsement of the late Arthur Jones, the inventor of Nautilus and MedX. He has trained thousands of people. He has been featured on CNN, Fox News and countless newspapers and magazines. He has worked with The U.S. Navy, major sports teams, athletes and top Hollywood celebrities.
He was born and raised in the high mountain town of Ouray, Colorado where being fit is a consequence of the environment. He spent his youth hiking, skiing and climbing fourteen-thousand foot mountains. He eventually ended up in Los Angeles and was one of the key players in the ignition of the fitness boom. He now owns and operates a MedX and Nautilus strength training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife
