Do You Make Excuses for Not Exercising?

I understand very well the havoc that can occur when trying to find your “me” time during the day. Often times, and unfortunately, that “me” time contains an integral activity which along with food, water, and air is needed to sustain a healthy life. That other activity is exactly that thought, activity. Physical activity or exercise, depending on the word choice you prefer, is often grouped with shopping or leisure time.

When this mindset is allowed to occur, exercise is normally pushed to a state of “out of sight and out of mind”. Putting exercise routines off may benefit your time management in the short-term or this moment but will harm you later in life. Many people find they have valid reasons for this approach, but are they really reasons or merely dressed-up excuses?

First, let’s discuss very briefly the stark contrast between excuses and reasons. An excuse is where you attempt to get around something. Reason has a semblance of proof, and a reason. To explain this a little more clearly, a double amputee who is missing their legs who says they cannot jump, has a reason for that, the reason being they have no legs.

Now that we have addressed that aspect, I want to share a few of the excuses I have heard in my time as a personal trainer. I have trained regularly, even going 2 years without a “break” and really think I heard everything; including missing an appointment due to the fact their dog had mistaken their shoe for the dog’s restroom. A lot of fault could be pointed toward our indirect promotion of excuses in the US, however the excuses are very easily broken and proven able to debunk by how we see the issue. Oddly enough, it could be seen as a reason at face value often enough, however that should not allow justification for allowing an excuse to continue living.

“Father Time Hates Me!”

The most common excuse I hear is that people simply do not have enough time in the day to exercise. I love answering this excuse personally because I was a victim of doing it myself, and I always ensure I explain that to a client as I feel it’s easier to kill the no time to exercise theory.

Although we have many different viewpoints, customs, as well as lifestyles in the USA, as well as globally, a few things remain constant world-wide. One of the constants we share in life is the fact that each day has no more and no less than 24 hours. Within those 24 hours, we have dictations and obligations we simply cannot get around.

There are very few, being liberal as I cannot think of a single one, obligations that would take an entire day. With that said, let’s assume you have a 90 minute commute to a 9 hour job, that would take up 10.5 hours. Let’s put an hour-long social club meeting into the mix as well as an hour for dinner. We have used 12.5 hours of our day, add to that number 8 hours of sleep and a half an hour to wake up in the morning. We are at 21 hours, playing with your children for 2 hours after they get home from school leaves you with one spare hour in your day. What you do with that one “leisure” hour is obviously your decision. Could you exercise for 20 minutes and still have 40 to watch television? Ultimately it comes down to what you prioritize more, the endorphin releases through vigorous exercise or storing away a few more calories by watching television. I can give you the more intelligent idea; it really isn’t my business though.

“I Hate Cardio”

Although I’ve been a personal trainer for the greater part of 10 years, I hate cardio as well! To be honest, the last time I dedicated a full 45-60 minutes to doing no other form of exercise than cardiovascular was my 3^rd year of 9^th grade. Don’t get me wrong, at the culmination of an exercise session I’ll cool down through cardio normally on the rowing machine or on the stationary bike, if the rowing machine is unavailable. I am fine with that, my blood pressure is in check and my cholesterol is at optimum levels (counting the bad as well as the good). There’s also a huge reason I perform far more resistance training than cardio, and it may open your eyes to a new way of seeing exercise.

Strength training does a lot of good for us; however there are two focal points I want to hit. The first massive benefit I find in resistance training compared to cardio-based exercises is that we don’t ride bikes or walk on a treadmill to survive. We push, pull, open, and close things in our day-to-day lives. We pick items up, especially if you’re a parent to a young child such as me, being a parent that is. We aren’t running after cattle or running up mountains to grab water from a stream in the United States, so I place a greater emphasis on strength training.

Another benefit and I haven’t met a client to this day who hasn’t dropped their jaw to this, is that strength training burns far more calories than cardio training does. I have also read in numerous studies that aside from burning more calories, strength training keeps your metabolism working at a higher rate longer. If you pair high intensity interval training into this you should notice great results.

“I’ve Worked Out For A Month And Have Nothing To Show For It”

This is one I hate hearing, however needs an honest answer. The reason I say that is because I am normally seen as the bearer of bad news. The bad news is that our body normally changes every 4 months, based on the one month and no results statement, keep up for another 3 months. Look at the question a bit closer; we’re placing vanity before functionality, physiology, and in essence life improvements.

Looks are going to change, and looks are and should not be seen as the primary reasons for weight loss or exercising. In fact, one of my clients had told me she lost weight in the first week, I felt water weight, and had nothing to show. She stopped and thought about what she had said, and she mentioned she is not out of breath walking up the stairs anymore. She also noticed her mood improved incredibly, which I could also testify to. She left by saying she didn’t care how much weight she lost, she felt a lot better.

[box type=”important”]Which excuses do or did you come up with or hear that prevented you from exercising? I’d love to hear your feed back! [/box]