If Exercise is good for our health, maintains our figure, keeps us looking and feeling good and helps us to stay alive for longer - why is it that half the population isn't moving?
According to the Heart Foundation : 12 million Australians aged 15 and over had either sedentary or low levels of exercise. Considering Heart Disease is the BIGGEST cause of death worldwide, you can see how this is problematic.
So first of all, what is stopping half the nation from putting on their shoes and hopping to it? We've compiled a pretty long list of common reasons why people don't exercise that have personally been admitted to us.
1. "I'm too busy."
In today's day and age, most of us are finding it increasingly difficult to fit in everything from working full time to school pick ups, doing the grocery shopping and trying to manage a good nights sleep, all in a 24 hour period.
We often yearn to hit the gym but struggle to understand how we can squeeze it in.
Fitness Forum head trainer Daniel suggests planning your day for optimal activity. This may mean walking the kids to school instead of using the car, packing your workout gear and exercising during the lunch break or even on the way home from work.
Think about it. While every one is sitting in peak hour traffic - you will be building a better body and saving yourself time doing literally nothing. It's a win win.
2. "It's too hard."
With that type of thinking, sure. The mind is a powerful and mysterious thing. One minute, it's stopping you from walking into objects in order to keep you safe, and the next minute it's telling you that your body isn't capable of walking on a treadmill.
There is no such thing as too hard. The best tip for people who cite this 'reason' (excuse), *ahem*, is to start small. Choosing a nice, comfortable pace initially will help people to ease into exercising. If we set ourselves unrealistic goals, of course they are going to seem unattainable. It is best to establish our expectations of ourselves and goals early so that we do not become our own worst enemy.
3. "I don't enjoy it."
Usually when people are not enjoying something, they are bored. Breaking up work outs and constantly adding new exercises can help to freshen up your routine. If you are only using the gym to hop on the treadmill, I suggest speaking to a personal trainer and having a few sessions with them as they can teach you a gazillion different ways to do a sit up and keep them interesting.
4. "I can't afford it." According to ASIC, Australians are spending a whopping 1.6 billion on tea and coffee. I know for a fact this is not for the kind you can buy in the supermarket. With an average price of about $4 a cup, take out tea and coffee is burning a significant hole in our pocket. In other words, there are many sensible areas which we should be investing our money in and caffeinating ourselves to get through is simply not the answer. Long term, a gym membership will help you to reduce your chances of heart disease, improve your energy levels and save you some serious cash.
A gym membership at Fitness Forum will set you back less than $2 per day, which is much less than that cup of coffee!
5. "It's not working."
One of the main reasons why people fail is because the give up too quickly.
It takes 2-4 weeks for a habit to stick and when we aren't seing rapid results, the first thing we do is quit exercising altogether.
This is about re-framing the way we think about exercise. Seeing it simply as a way to improve our waist circumference and looks is not the way to go.
The heart is a muscle that requires plenty of blood and oxygen.
Without exercising, the heart doesn't pump as efficiently and this can have a terrible impact on our long term health.
We suggest having a regular full body composition scan which can be booked in with our personal trainers. It provides information such as body fat percentage, bone density, hydration status, muscle mass, biological and more. Finding out that you've shaved years off your biological age from regular exercise can be the push we need to keep going.
6. "It hurts."
This is unfortunately difficult to get around, particularly when starting a new weight routine. Using weights and doing high intensity exercise creates micro tears in the muscle (hence the pain). These micro tears heal and help to strengthen our muscles.
If the pain is unbearable it may indicate you are exercising incorrectly or with poor technique. You may need to ask a trainer to assist you with any routines you are not familiar with prior to starting as you want to avoid permanent musculoskeletal damage.
If you have a completely different reason why you are unable to exercise, let us know. We may be able to help come up with a solution! Call us today on: 8783-8083.
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