The Top 5 Exercise Excuses!

August 20th, 2010 | Posted in Fitness tips | No Comments » | Share this article

No more excuses! People make tons of excuses and like to defer decisions about fitness and exercise and living healthy lifestyles into the future — and I’ve heard them all.

Check out this list — if you make any of these ultra-common excuses when you start thinking about how it’s time to turn your life around, read my tips on how to stop, realize how common these stalling strategies are, and make a real difference in your life!

“No Time, No Time”

It doesn’t take hours to work out. You can do a few different things here if you’re pressed for time — instead of making your workouts ultra-long and having to devote a huge chunk of time to them, divide them up and do them more frequently.

Besides, the more you get into the habit the less all that time seems to be an issue. Remember: at the beginning, when you’re starting a new exercise regime, everything seems to take double the amount of time. This is so common it’s basically a universal truth — you’re slower because your body isn’t accustomed to anything, plus you’re learning motions and automatically going slower as a result.

Trust me — you’ll get much faster. Plus, working out actually gives you more energy to do more things during the day — paradoxically, taking the time to work out can help you find time throughout the rest of your busy lifestyle.

“Too Expensive!”

Gyms can be expensive. But you don’t have to work out in a gym. Unless you’re at a point in your workout life where you’re doing some complex training and some serious compound lifts and you need a squat cage and a whole bunch of other elaborate stuff, you can basically do everything at home. You can also do it in a park, on your roof, or wherever. Check out my best unexpected places to exercise for more tips.

Get yourself some resistance bands or some inexpensive dumbbells. Maybe a jumping rope, a few other simple things (a mat, for example), and you can do practically all your exercises with your body weight. You’re set for months.

“It’s Too Hard to Get Started”

Nike doesn’t use this slogan just because it sounds pleasant — just do it is really all you need to do. Just get out there and do it.

I can repeat all the proverbs you want, about how every journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step, and all of that stuff, but in the end, this is a procrastination excuse that you just have to defeat. You can do it — I did it, thousands of others have done it, and once you see the results you can achieve, you’ll wonder why you ever put it off.

“Strength Training is Too Complicated”

I’m on a mission to make it less so. Watch my videos, check out some of my training plans, and see how easy it can be. There’s no need to get super-immersed in complicated stuff.

One thing that I find with any strength training is that the fact that bodybuilding exists means people assume it’s impossible to get started, because by the end, you’re gonna have to be a bodybuilder. This isn’t true.

Think of it — everyone who drives a car doesn’t become a formula 1 driver, and everyone who uses a computer doesn’t become an IT technician. Strength training is the same thing. You’re free to make it as central or as peripheral to your life as you see fit — and there’s room for all of us.

“It Takes Too Long to See Results!”

The reason results take a long time is because they’re real results. Losing a lot of weight with a crash diet just means you’re going to put that weight back on as soon as the diet becomes unsustainable, which always happens.

Quick results are a myth and aren’t healthy anyway. Just change your definition of quick from 3 weeks to 3 months (yeah, it’s not as easy as it sounds, but you can do it), and suddenly you’ll have those results without waiting too long. Strength training requires an incubation period where you’re transforming your body (without really being able to tell) into a fat-burning machine (thanks to strong, lean, toned muscles that need fat), and then suddenly it takes off and you’re a different person. Be patient and work hard and you’ll see the “fast” results you thought you wanted!