The Top 5 Reasons not to Work Out
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We always give explanations to ourselves and to others as to why we are not going to workout today, which often turns into tomorrow, and soon it is next month and you haven’t made it to the gym.
There is no easy remedy for long term good health and fitness. You may read the reports that red wine is good for you and think that is the answer. Or you may read in Self or Shape magazine, that this everday task or that one (doing laundry or the dishes) equals so many calories, and voila! your workout is done. While these all can be in the category of active living, they alone can’t combat old age, osteoporosis, under arm jiggle, fit you into your bikini, or make you sweat out your frustrations.
It is true that the year 2002 dealt us some blows, which carried into 2003. The standard, “ I just don’t have time “, turned into everything preventing us from leaving the house in the form of terrorists, snipers, code reds and oodles of snow. Maybe with all these assaults you thought, hell, I’m going to die anyway, so why waste time exercising? I can’t say that these reasons are not valid, but I can and will address the excuses that are always present and which need to be addressed, assesed, and rescripted.
Here they are:
- I just don’t have time.
- I worked late and when I got off I was too tired to workout, so I went home.
- If I start working out and gain muscle, when I stop the muscle will turn to fat. I’d rather stay the way I am.
- Gyms are boring and/or expensive. I’d rather just run/bike/walk outside.
- I read that a glass of wine (insert whatever the fad is this week that you read) helps your heart, so why do I need exercise.
Rescripting your lines, in resposne to #1 and #2:
Come on. Almost everyone has time. Whether you are juggling children, a 15 hour a day work schedule, 2 jobs, and your social activities, I dare to challenge you that you can indeed find the time. Even if you can’t join a gym, or hire a trainier, there are so many things you can do in your home, your office, and the great outdoors.
Exercise 101:
1) Don’t make a goal that is so out of proportion with realitly that you will never stick to it. For example, you decide that you will start to workout, and to do so you decide that 3 days a week you will run, 2 days a week you will do yoga, and 2 days a week you will lift weights. For most of us, going from nothing to this schedule will be so daunting that you are actually setting yourself up to be even more sedentary “after hours”. The excuses, “well I got up too late, got home too late, stayed too late at work and the offer to go for drinks with co-workers too tempting,” once used, are easy to keep using in the face of your exercise goals. You think, well I missed Monday’s workout so I have botched the week, and well, you get the picture. One day becomes 2 and so on. So instead, make small goals for yourself.
2) It is not a myth that breaking up exercise to 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, again in the afternoon and/or evening, is indeed a worthwhile endeavor. Really. Why not try to get up 10 minutes early and do some form of cardio. It is also quite possible that you can spare 10 minutes of your lunch break to walk outside, take the stairs, or do dips and pushups on the edge of your desk or chair. Better yet, why not use your lunch break for your complete workout, after which you could eat your lunch at your desk. The easiet time to steal for yourself would be after work, before or after dinner. Try to take 10 minutes in the evening to run, walk, or do some bicep curls before crawling into bed or going out for the night. Eventually your body will start to crave exercise, I daresay, need it, and you can gradually fit in more time for it (and of course you will fit into your bikini too). Then you can start to make more challenging goals for yourself, and hey, maybe even join a gym! ( If after reading this you still think “NO WAY”! then maybe you are working too much, juggling too much and should make some changes...but that is another article).
Rescripting your lines, in response to #3:
Here are some truths about weight loss and muscle gain. If you do lose a lot of weight and do it without exercise you will have an excess of skin and perhaps this is true for some even with an exercise routine. However, if you workout then the likelyhood of skin folds will lessen and you will see lovely muscle in its place. If you stop workiing out, the pounds may come back, but you will not be fatter than you were unless you are putting more in your mouth than ever before. The muscle anyone gains will not turn into jello if for some reason you stop working out. I remember when I first joined a gym, I was waiting to talk to the membership director, and two woman ahead of me were asking her the very question I am addressing, and judging from her response I gathered that she had spoken to this issue too many times. Staying the way you are is an excuse and an irresponsible one at that. If you are not exercising, even if you are not overweight, you are increasing your chances of heart disease, osteoporosis, and a myriad of other health risks, including beating the premenstral blues. As women we have so much to combat anyway, so don’t become paralyzed by what if’s.
Rescripting your lines, in response to #4:
You don’t have to work out in a gym. You can just walk or bike or run outside, but what if the weather isn’t permitting? And what about weight bearing activities that you need to “grow old gracefully” and may I say again, prevent osteoporosis. What you need is plan B and I have 3 ideas for you.
FIrst, most gyms have daily membership rates, which means on the inclimate days you could pay around $15.00 for a workout. Or even buy a multi- card pass which would give you maybe 10 gym visits for less than daily rate. (But make sure you know the time limit on the multi-pass as there may be an expiration date). That way, you are ready for whatever the day brings -the screaming babies, bosses,significant others- and you don’t have to put off your workout. Or secondly, you could get a jump rope and do your cardio in your home. If you are in an apartment and your neighbors would kill you if you thump, thump, thump, you could run or walk the stairs in your office building, or a public building (like a mall). Better yet, pop in a CD you love and dance your ass off...literally. To get the weight lifting done, just buy a set of dumbells, or resistance bands. If you are really strapped for cash, use ordinary household objects, such as jugs of water or laudry detergent, to do chest presses or bicep curls. Also, you could do dips or a chair in your home, or pushups and cruches on the floor. Be clever and inventive! But whatever you do, do something.Lastly, if you really and truly can’t imagine working out in a gym, or can’t afford one (though may I interject and say that can you afford not to join), then go online and get some advice from our website’s Q and A! Or buy some exercise videos! Another possibiltiy would be to hire a trainer for one or two sessions to get a program going that you can follow, that includes weight training with your current outdoor cardio plan, that can use outside as your training space. MIght I add that your girlfriends could join you and do a group session, allowing you all to support and push each other. And now I must stop because I am becoming breathless with all the ideas!
Rescripting your lines, in respose to #5:
Say it with me. I can not count on a glass of wine, or a glass of green tea or-insert here the easy fix you read today-to get me into shape, or to prevent bone loss, or to lose wieght. And as an aside, you can forget spot training. What I mean by this is that the low belly flab we women seem to be born with, will not go away simply by doing crunches. The “cafetiria arms” won’t go away just by walking or running.
While you can give yourself kudos for doing anything that is proven to be good for your heart, or your memory or your well-being, you can not leave it with that. Living a non-sedentary life, which includes everyday tasks like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, is the only way to a fit and healthy life style.
So, if shoveling snow, baking comfort food, or dodging bullets was your only exercise this past year, think of this; we need balance to walk in inclimate weather and a strong back and legs to shovel snow and we need a strong heart to run from the snipers. All these thngs we can get from exercising. You don’t want to be that person who, when old age approaches, is so hunched over you can’t see the person’s head. But even more immediately, you want to have that flat stomach and a firm butt, don’t you?
Remember this, it is simply never too late to turn anything around.
In health and peace,
Julia
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