Tuesday, August 19, 2008

5 Common Excuses for Not Exercising

Everybody know and understand well doing exercise is good for us, and we do agree that it should be parts of our daily activities. As initial, after inspired by muscle-man in magazine and TV, we do a lot of planning and searching for many useful guidance and information. We promised to ourselve that we will someday transform our body just like the model in the magazine. So, we bought many equipments, converted our store room, fixed the schedule, joint the gym house and appointed an experience instructor. In the first month, everything just went well.... but, second month, we were a bit shifted from our schedule... and slowly our equipments were laying with dust, store room turned back as it should be, schedule was blank or miss placed.... and our body still remain unshaped. We gave ourselve many excuses for not exercising.

Nike make a marvelous slogan - "Just Do It". Simple, but suums up a lot of things in our life. Even when we know something is good for us or that we should be getting our butt in gear, it can be extremely hard to motivate. We, as a species, have become masters of creating excuses. We find ways of procrastinating and getting out of so many seemingly basic ‘have tos’, ’shoulds’ and ‘need tos’. Unfortunately, the more often we make excuses, the easier it is to perpetuate. Creatures of habit, we get used to things, whether they are good for us or bad for us. A procrastinator myself, I thought it would be good to talk about excuses that are commonly used to get out of exercising. The five excuses below are pretty common, but I’m sure there are tons more out there to poke holes through.

1. I'm too busy recently, and I don't have time for exercise. May be this weekend, I could be free.
This is the absolute worst excuse, in deed very common. In fact, you should make time, in steed of delaying it. And, most properly by weekend, you would have another concrete reason for excuse. If you don’t prioritize exercise, you will never have enough time for it. Once you get used to making time, you’ll realize that you always have the time to fit in a workout. Whether it be squeezing in a brisk walk at lunch, scheduling ‘you time’ in your calendar or developing a daily routine that you can stick to, your time is yours. So use it wisely.

2. I'm too tired, I can't boost up any energy at all.
This is another very common excuses. When we finished our job, the pressure of dressing up and heading to gym was really killing. Most of the times, we would rationalize that missing one or two section would be still fine, or even several days in a row. Actually, this is not true. The reality is, that exercise can get you over ‘being tired’. Exercise is helpful with improving and maintaining stable energy levels throughout the day, regular sleep patterns and overall mood. Exercise also improves regularity and reduces incontinence, which can contribute to a feeling of sluggishness and being tired.

3. I don't feel well, I'm not fit for exercise today.
Well, if you are in the hospital, are excessively nauseous or have a fever, you probably shouldn’t be running a marathon. That said, a cold, allergies, a headache, menstrual pains or just ‘not feeling great’ shouldn’t stop you from breaking a sweat. Is a matter of fact, exercise can sometimes cure some of the most common ailments, including: hangovers and colds. Sweating, a form of detox, allows you to release toxins that are guilty of making you feel under the weather. So next time you have a sniffle, get out there and sweat your sniffles away.

4. It's too early or too late to do exercise.
When I realized I hated coming home to exercise, and could think of a million other things I’d rather do, I decided that I needed to buck up and get up in the morning to get in the workout. Yes, it was painful for two or three days, but now, I wouldn’t go back if you paid me. If you are a morning person, get up and get your exercise groove on in the AM. If you are a night owl, exercise at night (Although it is healthier to exercise in the morning, it is better to get the exercise in at night than to not get it in at all). Be sure, however, to leave a couple of hours in between your workout and going to bed so that you give your body enough ‘downtime’ to transition to sleep time.

5. I'm travelling, not convenient for exercising.
Granted, it can be more challenging to exercise when you are traveling, especially for business trip. But that doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. Here are some useful tips:

  • If you are staying at a hotel, try to stay at one that has a fitness center or gym.
  • If the hotel doesn’t have a gym, walk, jog or run outside. Make sure you bring appropriate clothing for the weather. And don’t forget your sneakers!!! Seriously, forgetting your workout clothes should not be another excuse.
  • Tuck some fitness DVDs into your suitcase. Play them on your laptop and exercise in your room.

So, remember the Nike slogan "Just Do It", don't granted ourselves with those excuses no more.

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