Before you start reading, consider this your friendly/not-so-friendly warning: this article might cause mild discomfort, spontaneous defensiveness, or a sudden urge to “accidentally” close this page. If you’re allergic to being called out, now’s your chance to bail.
Original source: here.
Why? Because we’re about to talk about the world’s most popular sport: coming up with excuses to avoid exercise. And yes, I mean excuses – not reasons. Some of these, you might believe so fiercely you could win an Oscar for your performance. Others you probably know are lies, but keep telling yourself anyway.
This is self-sabotage in stretchy pants. It can come from fear of failure, fear of success, fear of hard work… or just fear of sweat.
But you didn’t sign up for this newsletter to be told, “You’re perfect, never change.” You signed up because you want honesty and accountability, even if it comes with a little sting.
When I’m face-to-face with a person, I have a filter, so I’ll say what’s polite. But sometimes, what I say and what I think may not match. Since I’m not talking to any individual person in this article, you’ll get the “Igor uncensored” version of what really goes on in my head.
Ready to be mildly offended and hopefully amused? Let’s begin.
I’ll Exercise When the Weather is Better
Ah yes, the ol’ “Mother Nature won’t let me”
First of all, exercise isn’t optional. It’s not weather-dependent. Here’s a revolutionary idea: you can exercise indoors. And no, gardening isn’t exercise. Movement – yes. Exercise – no.
But it’s too hot, too cold, too nice – I know, I know. You’re trying extremely hard to find reasons to avoid exercise. And it’s working. Unless the sky itself gives you a standing ovation, you’re staying put.
Again, simple solution – indoor exercise. Find a gym near you. Set up a gym in your home, so you don’t even need to leave the house. If you live in a condo, you already likely have a condo gym.
There’s no reason to connect exercise to weather. Sure, some forms of exercise are off-limits due to weather. You might not go for a jog outdoors when there’s ice on the ground, and you might not go for a swim when the lake is frozen. But you can certainly go for a jog indoors, and a swim in the swimming pool.
“But it sucks driving in the winter.” I agree. But you still drive to get your groceries, to your doctor, and maybe to your family and friends. Why not the gym? Furthermore, out of our bad Canadian winters, out of 4 months, how many days are truly so bad that driving isn’t great? Roads are cleared and salted within hours. There are only a handful of snowstorms each winter so bad that the snowplows can’t keep up. And you know it.
Embrace the revolutionary idea of indoor exercise. Your body will thank you.
I’m Stressed, I Can’t Exercise
If you’re stressed, you have my sympathy. Not. Stressed is not paralyzed. If you’re paralyzed, you really can’t exercise. If you’re stressed, you don’t want to exercise. Or you won’t exercise. But let’s not use the word “can’t”, when the real words are “don’t want to” or “won’t.”
Furthermore, stress is more of a reason to exercise, because exercise is a great way to relieve stress. Avoiding exercise due to stress means avoiding a solution to your own problem. It’s like refusing an umbrella because it’s raining.
If you want to learn some stress management strategies besides exercise, I wrote an article about that here.
I’ll Exercise When I Retire
Translation: “I’ll wait until I’m older, slower, and stiffer, and then I’ll make my body do new things.”
I hear this one occasionally, and think “until then, you’ll let your body continue deteriorating?” But I don’t say that.
Hmm…. I think I should have a show where people hear what politely comes out of my mouth, along with subtitles of what I really think.
Let’s do some simple math.
There are 168 hours per week. Most people work 40 hours per week. Let’s also assume that someone commutes to work, so we’ll add 10 hours to be generous. People sleep (hopefully) 8 hours per day. After work, commute and sleep, that still leaves 62 hours per week. Can someone really not find 2-3 hours out of the remaining 62 to exercise?
We have clients taking care of sick spouses or parents who still devote time to exercise.
My dad worked 50-60 hours per week until he was 72, and still managed to exercise 6 days per week, 2-2.5 hours per day. Now that he’s retired, he continues this routine.
It’s much better to exercise once a week than not at all. After a year, you will have accumulated 52 hours of exercise (assuming each workout is an hour). Maybe that will at least maintain your current shape. But it’s better than letting it continue to deteriorate with age.
Eventually, you reach your retirement, and blame your age for you being out of shape, in pain, on medications, etc. When really, priorities should be blamed – not age. You didn’t prioritize exercise, and now, you’re paying the price.
Case in point, most of our clients are over 50 (and some over 80) – many of the things that people attribute to age (like fat gain, loss of strength, joint pain, bad health, low energy, etc.), they’re able to prevent or reverse. So is it really age that’s to blame, or the choices we make? Yes, age plays a role, but the choices we make also play a role – a big one.
If you’re not retired yet, start exercising now. Your body will thank you both now and later.
I’m Too Busy
Ah yes, the all-time champion of excuses. “Too busy” has been winning gold medals in avoidance since the dawn of calendars.
This one goes hand in hand with the “I’ll exercise when I retire.” First of all, I have to question a person’s priorities who says that they’re too busy. What’s more important than someone’s health?
Second of all, you can voluntarily spend time on your health now (i.e. exercise) or be riddled with all kinds of health problems later in your life, and be forced to take time out of your schedule to go to doctors, specialists, labs, and so on.
Exercising now saves you a lot of time later in your life. I’m sure you’d rather be traveling, volunteering, being social and playing with your grandkids than sitting in a doctor’s office or lab.
Case in point, our client, Cliff is a busy guy. He runs multiple veterinary clinics, is filming animal rescue documentaries, and has a wife and 4 kids. He still manages to find time to exercise 4-6 days per week.
Craig also runs his own business (painting), and works more than the standard 40 hours per week. He still manages to exercise 2-3 days per week.
Miriam works 4 jobs, has a husband, and a rambunctious 3-year-old – and also finds time to exercise.
I Travel a Lot
Lots of our clients travel a lot, whether it’s for work, or leisure. But they still manage to exercise. You can exercise anywhere – at home, in third world countries, anywhere. My wife and I recently went to Switzerland, and despite being on vacation, I got a gym membership for the duration of my vacation.
Many hotels these days have gyms. If they don’t, just bring resistance bands – the most versatile piece of equipment. Very light in weight, and very durable.
It’s not like you exercise while you’re home, but you go away and push “pause” on your progress. You might be “paused” in your mind, but your body is actively losing the progress you’ve made while you were exercising. You know that that’s called? Deterioration.
And if you’re using travel as an excuse to prevent you from getting started, you know that’s an excuse, don’t you? There’s only one bad time to get started – tomorrow.
One of our clients sells hedge funds for a living, so he’s out of the country 160 days of the year – and still manages to find time for exercise. Yes, we adjust his routine based on his time and equipment availability, but he keeps on exercising while away.
I’m Injured
An injury is not a magical force field that covers your entire body. If you break your arm, your legs still work. If you pull a hamstring, you still have a torso. You can work the parts of your body that aren’t injured. Revolutionary, I know.
Furthermore, if you have a competent personal trainer (like maybe my staff members), they won’t only avoid the injury, but will actively improve it.
Case in point, Julie came to us for weight loss and blood pressure reduction, but incidentally had lower back pain as well. She didn’t say “I’ll wait for the lower back pain to get better before exercising.” Rather, she said “exercise (the right way) will improve my lower back pain.”
Carol had pain in almost every joint in her body, and was even scheduled for a knee replacement surgery, but that didn’t prevent her from exercising. That was the reason she started exercising.
Heck, I even wrote an article about the 5 commandments of rapid rehab. Exercise doesn’t have to be something that breaks down your body. You can use it as a tool to build it up, and actively recover from injuries.
I Walk for Exercise
We have lots of readers who log pretty good step counts – from 8,000-12,000 steps per day. And yet, they still don’t achieve their fitness goals – fat loss, improvements in a chronic condition (like osteoporosis, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, etc.), toning, etc.
Why not? Because as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, walking isn’t exercise. Good for you? Yes. Movement? Yes. Activity? Yes. Exercise – no.
So if you’re walking (even walking a lot), but not achieving your fitness goals, you’re not exercising. You’re moving.
Have I addressed the most common excuses to avoid exercise? Need help breaking through your psychological or physical barriers? Ready to break out of your rut? My team and I can help. Just fill out the application form on our home page, and we’ll see whether our services are for you. Just filling out the form doesn’t obligate you to anything. It simply sets up a quick, 10-15 minute chat where we learn about your situation, and see whether we can help or not. There’s no pressure and no sales pitch.
