The Core of Exercise Excuses

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

24 Sep 2006 09:05 AM

We've talked about dropping exercise excuses before and we use the word excuse interchangeably with the word core. In fact, for most of us - when we avoid exercise, we come up with excuses that are plausible to our cause. Our excuses may be we're too tired. We're too busy. We're overworked. We're over committed. We have allergies. We have a cold. We don't feel good. We'll do it tomorrow.

There are two ways to solve these types of excuses and to focus on our core problem. The first is to stop making excuses. Don't validate yourself with the idea that it's okay to skip a workout, make yourself have to work for it. Do you know why schools require a doctor's note if your child is out for three days in a row? It's to prove that you're not just being lazy and keeping your kid home, it's to prove that your child isn't just making up excuses to skip school, but it's also to make sure that your child is actually healthy enough to be back at school and in contact with other children.

Overcoming Personal Barriers

Most of our exercise excuses are personal barriers that we have to learn to overcome. They are overwhelming and they are tough, because the hardest person and the easiest person to lie to is ourselves. So, stop lying to yourself and admit why you don't want to exercise. It won't be a health reason, it won't be a time constraint and it won't be an overwhelming number of commitments. In fact, if you're like most people - it will be because the idea of exercise is boring.

Moms know for a fact that you can get a lot done in 45 minutes if you're not pumping away on the treadmill. If all you get is couple of hours a day to yourself, you may be less than inclined to trade away those precious few minutes to working out and giving up more of your own time. So how do you get past this?

Here are a few tips to climbing over the barrier:

• Schedule that time - it's still time to yourself, but it's time that you have to spend to maximize the rest of your day. Exercise provides you with more energy, better health, stronger coping skills and reduced stress - by scheduling the time for yourself you are making it clear to yourself and the rest of your family that this is important
• Develop a goal - fitness goals are what motivate us to do what we do. Why do we work? To make money. Why do we eat? To satisfy our hunger. Why do we watch a comedy on television? Because we want to laugh. Why do you workout? Insert your reason here. Be honest with yourself, the more honest your reason is - the more likely you are to meet your goals because of them
• Schedule your exercise when you HAVE energy - Tired of being too tired? What time of day do you have the most energy? Is it the first couple of hours after you get out of bed? Then schedule your exercise for then, is it mid-morning after the kids are at school and before you have to be at a job? Is it at lunch when you've gotten the morning stress out of the way and you've only got a couple of meetings before the end of the day?
• Have Fun - You get bored with exercise? Make it fun. Find a way to enjoy it. For me, it's working out when I can catch up on my soaps, I TiVo a lot of television programs and watch them while I'm exercising, I get my mental relaxation in while I stimulate my body - it's a great trade off for me, but I made it fun for me to do and I don't get to watch those shows unless I'm on the treadmill so I'm less inclined to skip a workout in favor of a snack and watching the shows anyway

Getting over the barrier is a personal thing. You have to find what works for you. Exercise can make you feel better, give you more energy and help you to overcome stress. What's not to like? Identify what it is you don't - and you're already on your way over that barrier.

Related Articles:

Better Fitness Habits: Energy Boosts for Your Day

Stimulate Your Routines

No One Has a Good Excuse

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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