5 More Crazy Exercise Excuses

September 1st, 2010 | Posted in Fitness tips | No Comments » | Share this article

The excuses just don’t stop! Here are five more crazy things I see online and in person that stop people from achieving a healthy lifestyle. If you’re making any (or all!) of these excuses, read on for ways to free yourself!

My House is Too Messy!

Just ignore it at first. Pick up some weights, a jumprope, or pull out the cardio mat and start sweating. Put aside the fact that you need to clean the house up before you get your workout done.

There are a few reasons this works:

• We procrastinate when it comes to working out: not having a clean enough workout space (even though that is important for many people) is an easy, convenient way to say oh, but I can’t work out today. It’s the same kind of excuse people make when they decide that because it’s raining, they simply can’t go for a run. Ignore this impulse!
• Exercising will give you the energy to clean up: we often assume that we’ll be dead and destroyed after a workout, and after some pretty tough ones — sure, that is the case. But in the end, being physically active will keep you buzzing and energetic throughout the day, not drain or sap your energy. Paradoxically, putting off that cleaning in order to work out will actually help you get the cleaning done afterwards.

The Kids Are Taking Up All My Space!

There’s one simple solution here: use the kids in your exercise! There are two simple ways to do this without a lot of hassle:

• Get the kids active, too: while your kids don’t need to be doing strength training alongside you, you should definitely get them active. Whether that means adjusting your own workouts so you can all work together (in other words, going for a run in the park while they run around and burn off their energy), or just having them jump up and down next to you while you sweat away, either works.
• Involve the kids in the actual workout: you’ve probably seen me do this on Oprah and other television appearances — get your kids actually involved in your workout! Use them as weights, have them sit on your back while you do pushups, make your workouts a fun game for them — there are a million different things you can do!

I’m Too Tired to Get Moving

Read #1 again — exercise will give you energy, even when you feel ultra-tired. Don’t let the fact that you’re feeling kind of sleepy prevent you from getting active. Getting your heart rate up and your muscles working makes a serious change to your state of mind and how your body feels. Just “feeling tired” is not the same kind of full-body tiredness you get after a great, active day — that’s what you want instead.

Getting Active is Such a Big Lifestyle Change

Take it one step at a time! Of course it’s a big lifestyle change — if you try to do it all at once. Overcommitment is the death of a long-term plan. This is true for almost anything. Think about it — if everyone was forced to decide whether or not they got married within the first two months of dating, we’d see way more failed marriages. You need time and space to adjust to another person, to make sure you know you’ll have a long future together.

The same is true with proper nutrition and exercise.

I Need to Diet First

No you don’t! Even if you’ve got the worst diet in the world, going for a vigorous walk is never going to be useless. In fact, you’re the kind of person that needs it the most. Don’t feel you have to do everything at once, or things in a pre-ordained order. Work on getting active. Start changing one meal at a time. You can do it!