I’d love to exercise more, but…

In my job I hear a lot of excuses. “I can’t do this because…” or “I’d love to but…” and the classic “I really need to start but this week is just so busy.” Does this sound like you…?

I’ve made my fair share of excuses to avoid exercise, and looking back now I can comfortably say that they were excuses. However at the time they were legitimate reasons to me. We’ve all uttered these statements at one time or another, not just relating to exercise but every aspect of life. So, ask yourself, do you actually want to?

“I just don’t want to”

That is a hard thing to say when it comes to fitness. If you just don’t want to exercise then be honest, that is your choice. There is stigma now against people who don’t want to exercise, it seems to be an all or nothing approach too. You must go to 15 classes a week to stay fit or you’ll die of heart disease. Thankfully it’s not as black and white as that, or as extreme! Personally, exercise makes my life better, but I’ll never force that on anyone else – I want to avoid turning into my secondary school P.E teacher.

“I’d like to but…”

For most people though the “I’d like to but…” sentences are not excuses, they are legitimate reasons. Like people who clean their house before the cleaner comes over, we also think that we need to be fit to go to the gym. We want that perfect workout, the one where we feel on top of our game. We feel fit, healthy, strong, even sexy afterwards.

And so we wait until we feel in the mood to go to the gym. We assume that it will be too taxing to go to the gym before work and that we won’t enjoy the workout so we skip it. It’s too dark after work, tomorrow will be better.

By these standards instructors must live in a bubble of ‘perfect time’ in order to turn up and teach classes but the truth is that we schedule our lives around our classes. After teaching classes or clients we have to do the shopping, cook the dinner, clean the house, look after children or family members. It’s not anything to do with our level of fitness either, it’s scheduling. As a fitness professional I promise you, there is no perfect time.

Your most important workout.

There will be a day where you experience the perfect workout. The stars are aligned, you are energised, you are in the zone and you’re smashing it. Euphoria!! These sessions are magical. However your most important workout is the one that you’re not too sure of. You’re a bit tired. You’re feeling a bit rushed. You’d rather go home and watch the tele. You can always go home if you WANT to, thats your choice. Understand that you are choosing not to exercise, which is perfectly ok. If however you are telling yourself that you’re skipping the gym because you know it won’t be the perfect workout, you’re cheating yourself out of your most important workout.

Why is it the most important one? These workouts show you that you are committed. You are disciplined and you’re locked into achieving your goal. The feeling of success and achievement that you will have afterwards is so rewarding that the next time you’re unsure, you’ll lace up your trainers, secure your sports bra (if you wear one…), swagger your butt into class and give it everything you’ve got. Because you know that you can.

There is no perfect time. There is only now. Go get ’em.