“You can have results or excuses. Not both!” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
With over 12 years working as a personal trainer. I have heard almost every excuse under the sun as to why someone can’t exercise. I once had a client cancel our morning gym session because it was raining. Their excuse? (they didn’t want to get wet when walking to the gym!)
Me now VS Me in 2011.
From my experience, most people are lazy and will find any excuse NOT to exercise.
But making excuses for yourself doesn’t do anything but delay your results. You know deep down the things that you SHOULD be doing. It’s time to put your foot down and let go of all the BS excuses you have been telling yourself.
In today’s blog post I want to DEBUNK the top 5 most common excuses NOT to exercise.
1. You might say: “I don’t have TIME”.
We all are given them same 24 hours in each day (cliché), but why is it that some people can achieve so much within a day? while others do nothing. The difference? Some people PRIORITISE their health and fitness goals when others don’t.
Let’s break down a 24-hour time period and see how most people spend their time:
1. SLEEPING - Most people will spend 6-8 hours on sleep every day (this is essential!). (Minus 8 hours)
2. WORKING/STUDYING - Most people will either be full-time studying or working for 8 hours from Monday to Friday (Minus 8 hours)
3. So far, we already have lost 16 hours of our day with sleep, work/study alone which leaves us with 8 hours unaccounted for.
4. TRAVEL - Maybe you commute to work/school, and you live far away? So, here’s another 2 hours lost in travel (being generous here) (Minus 2 hours)
5. CHILDREN - If you have children (prepping, pick-ups, drop offs, etc) (Minus 2 hours)
6. COOKING – Food prepping (dinner’s, lunches etc) (minus 1 hour)
If we minus travel, preparation for children and cooking we still have 3 hours unaccounted for.
Which leaves me to my next question:
What are you doing in your spare time? Like most people you HAVE the time, it’s just not a priority yet. Don’t get me wrong, we all deserve some time for our social lives (family & friends).
Yes, we all need some down time too, Netflix, Foxtel, Stan etc (Currently rewatching The Walking Dead Series)
But we should all spend a minimum of 30 minutes each and every day working on our health and fitness by moving our bodies. If you’re spending more time on the couch than exercising its time to GET OFF YOUR @SS!
Exercise should take priority over Netflix marathons and socialising. My advice? don’t turn the TV on until you have finished your exercise for that day, let Netflix be the reward.
Exercise is your “ME” time, it’s a time where you can be completely selfish and focus purely on building the best version of YOU.
If the 44th President of the United States Barrack Obama still found 45 minutes every day to exercise while in office, I’m positive you can too!
Next time you say, “I don’t have time” Switch it to “it’s not a priority” which is the truth so MAKE IT A PRIORITY.
2. You might say: “I’m too tired”.
Daily exercise has been proven to provide many benefits to our health & body. One of the main reasons as to why people exercise is that it actually gives you ENERGY. Yes, it’s quite ironic that when you are feeling “too tired” one of the best solutions is to get moving. I have personally trained hundreds of individuals who admittedly didn’t feel like training before the session. But once the session was over, they have all left the gym feeling energised and 10 times better than when they walked in.
“I regret that workout” – Said not a single person ever!
3. You might say: “I’m too old”.
Age Is just a state of mind. Believe it or not one of my fittest and strongest clients is in his late 50’s. He can still do strict pull ups and in 2020 he lifted double his body weight in deadlifts, a total of 140 kilograms.
My client Pete lifting 140kg's on deadlifts at 70kg's (double body weight)
Regular exercise in particular strength training has been proven to help decrease atrophy (loss of muscle) and help increase bone density, fighting against osteoporosis which is common in most older adults.
It’s never too late to start. Another perfect example of this is Instagram sensation Joan Macdonald. Joan is an American woman who began resistance training in her late 60’s and currently in her 70’s who is stronger and fitter than ever.
Here is her instagram: Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) • Instagram photos and videos follow her. Truly inspirational!
4. You might say: “it’s too expensive”.
Firstly, can you really put a price on your health?
In my opinion working on your health is an INVESTMENT. The healthier you are, the better your quality of life. To me that is worth every single dollar.
I know people who will spend ridiculous amounts of money on useless sh*t: designer items, the latest gadgets (iPhone, laptops etc), nights out on a weekly basis and still think a gym membership is “too expensive”.
Remember “Your first wealth is health”.
INVEST in yourself and join a gym. Most gyms are priced anywhere from $10-$30 per week (no more than your weekly coffee’s).
The alternative is to build a home gym, which I have recently done.
5. You might say “I don’t like exercise”.
Well, here’s a famous quote from one of the greatest boxers of all time.
“I hated every minute of training, but I said don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion”- Muhammad Ali
Don’t believe anyone who says that exercise, getting fit and healthy is easy. The process is simple but it’s definitely NOT easy. Changing your life is hard work, it’s supposed to be uncomfortable, and it’s supposed to challenge you.
The reality is no one really enjoys exercise. I’d be a lying if I said that I enjoy waking up early and busting my ass in the gym (some days I dread it, but I do it anyway!). But just like YOU will, I have learned to fall in love with the process and I trust that what I am doing will get me to my goals.
The benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks.
We have just debunked the top 5 excuses not to exercise. Maybe your excuse wasn’t in there? I want you to give yourself a self-audit and ask the following:
1. What are the BS excuses you have been telling yourself the past years? (Drop them)
2. What are the biggest time wasters in your day? (Cut out or minimise them)
3. Are you ready to get uncomfortable? If you want comfort stay on the couch.
If you want RESULTS (which I’m sure you do) Then START strength training. If you want to start, today you can get 30% off all strength programs ---------> All Products | Michael Marabong
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