04 Sep WHY EXERCISE IS ALWAYS THE FIRST COMMITMENT TO BE DROPPED (BUT SHOULDN’T BE!)
“I’m too tired today, I’ll start again tomorrow”
“I have to stay late at work so I don’t have time”
“Family life is getting in the way”
Sound familiar? We’re all guilty of making these excuses for not working out, I know I am! My current most used include “I’ve just relocated and need time to get sorted”, “decorating is taking over my life, I’ll join a gym when the house is finished” and my all-time favourite “I couldn’t possibly exercise in the morning BEFORE work”!
But the reality is I’m kidding myself. I could go before work (no matter how hard setting my alarm that hour earlier would be) and I could even go between coats of paint, because let’s be honest if I still have time to socialise, shop and chill then I still have time to work out!
Now you may think I should be living the philosophy and setting an example, but this is real life! To all you Health Champions out there, if you’re also living my struggle then don’t despair; we can battle through this together!
Regardless of all the health benefits exercising has (and obviously we can’t deny the aesthetical aspect), for me it’s all about feeling good! Not to go all Science teacher on you but when you exercise, endorphins are released in your brain which reduce your perception of pain resulting in positive feelings which have also been proven to reduce stress. So, in actual fact when you’re most busy and stressed is probably the time you need exercise most!
Granted there is no ‘ideal’ time to work out, but here’s my top three tips to help banish those pesky excuses and get you reaching for your Lycra…
- Make a schedule – What would you do if you had to drop everything to help a relative in need? Truth is when we really must do something we find a way to do it, and exercising should be no different! Make a schedule, write it done, stick to it and you ever feel like making excuses remind yourself that exercise is a priority worth keeping!
- Keep something going – Even a small amount of exercise is better than none and I know from my own experience that it’s so much easier to start up again if you’ve kept up some form of activity.
- Be creative – Think outside the box, you don’t need a gym membership to be active. Try running, bodyweight exercises or even a YouTube workout or two…
So will I re-join the gym now I’ve realised the error of my ways? Yes! Life doesn’t have to get in the way of exercise so let’s all have a stern word with ourselves and stop making those excuses… not next week, not tomorrow but NOW!