Humans are notorious in finding excuses on why they don’t start something or why they don’t continue something. We find ourselves saying “can’t” and “don’t” A LOT. I hear it daily in conversations regarding fitness, nutrition, business, and life in general. You name the area, I can list off the excuses.
Ultimately, these are beliefs we have and lies we tell ourselves. Luckily, they can all be overcome if we know how to attack them. This week, I want to share with you the common ones I hear in the fitness arena and next week will dive into then nutrition ones.
I don’t have time.
This is a common one I hear from a lot of people. Hey, I get it. You have work duties and a family to care for, maybe church or community events as well. You don’t have time to get to the gym.
No worries! I have options!
First off, you can do a lot in a short time. Five minutes a day is better than zero minutes a day. You can do a lot in five minutes. One way is to pick five body weight movements and see how many reps you can do in one minute of each. Example: squat for 1 minute, then do push ups for 1 minute, then sit ups for 1 minute, right into burpees for 1 minute, and finish with lunges for 1 minute. If you do it right, you will be exhausted afterward.
And if you can do five minutes once a day, you can likely find time to do 5 minutes, 4-5 times a day. One or two of those can even be five-minute walking breaks to give yourself a break from the computer you have been spending hours on. Or if you are watching TV at night, sit on the floor and do some stretching. Before you know it, you have done a decent workout spread out throughout the day.
If it is more of a matter of not being able to actually get to the gym, you can easily create a home gym with a pair of adjustable dumbbells, a medicine ball, a kettle bell, and some resisted bands. And if you want, you can throw in an over-the-door pull up bar. Just like that, you have equipment that you can create a variety of workouts with. You don’t need the big, expensive equipment at the gym in order to get a good resistance training workout in.
I run. That keeps me strong.
Running is great for cardiovascular endurance and general muscular endurance, but it will not create strength. The only thing that will add strength is by doing strengthen exercises.
You may not realize it, but as a runner, just besides needing strong legs, you also need a strong core and strong shoulders. The core and the shoulders contribute quite a bit to our power, efficiency, and longevity as a runner. The stronger your body is, the faster and longer you will be able to run!
There are a wide variety of possible exercises you can do when it comes to strengthening as a runner. Along with that, many things can be done with just your body weight, so you don’t necessarily need equipment or a gym membership in order to do strengthening activities.
I don’t want to look all bulky.
I hear this from women frequently. They are fearful that if they lift weights, they will look bulky. Is it possible to get that way if you want to, yes? But that is a different type of focused training. Besides that, because of hormone differences, it is difficult for women to actually bulk up like men do.
What lifting weights will do is tone your muscles and give you more strength.) Yes, it does add some muscle mass, but not in a bad, bulky way.) Why is this necessary? Aesthetics aside, adding muscle and strength keeps us more functional as humans, increases our metabolism since muscle has a greater caloric requirement for survival than fat does, and supports the joints to keep them healthier.
My pain will go away if I just rest.
Maybe, maybe not.
At times, yes, resting your body for a couple days will resolve the pain you are experiencing. If the pain has just started and you know the reason why, this is more likely of a scenario. But if the pain has been present for awhile or if it came on randomly for no apparent reason, rest is not the likely answer.
Most pain is due to something in the body not functioning properly. When talking about the muscles and joints, most times we have tightness and stiffness that causes other areas to compensate, resulting in pain. If this is the case, resting may clear up the pain for the time being, but once you begin to train again, the pain returns. Many of the clients I see in my office go through this exact cycle.
Now that I went through these barriers, do some of them sound like things you are dealing with? Email me at brianne@getyourfixpt.com with any questions or concerns you have after reading this. And stay tuned next week when I dive into nutrition excuses and barriers.
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