I don’t know if you’ve seen this video, but for someone like me who can find 1,001 excuses not to put her trainers on, and who has been known to wear her sports kit for an entire day without breaking a sweat (yes, guilty as charged), it struck a huge chord. I may be Sporty over Forty, but I’m as human as the next person.
My excuses for not exercising regularly include the following:
- I might have a cold coming on
- I’ve only just washed my hair.
- It’s too close to breakfast.
- It’s too close to lunch.
- I’m a bit hurty after the last session.
- I need to tidy my room.
- I need to tidy my desk.
- I don’t have enough calories in my system. Oooh, is it nearly lunchtime?
- I must just put a wash on.
- I have to watch Bake Off on iPlayer before it goes off line.
Happily for me, I do a sport where I have to sign up on a squadlist and commit to several sessions a week, none of which take place during the working day, so once that’s done there’s no excuse. I have to go whether I feel like it or not, hair or no hair, Bake Off or no Bake Off. If it weren’t for that, the excuses would pile up and I’d go for days without doing anything more energetic than pouring a glass of wine (in my active wear, obviously).
So, how do you deal with the excuses? Well, here are a few things that can be helpful:
- Instead of making time, make A time. We’ve all seen the pious memes about making time for exercise, but it’s not that easy. If you set aside specific times and days every week, you’ll find it easier to make a date with the treadmill (or whatever it is).
- Make yourself accountable. Tell your friends, tell the milkman, announce it on Twitter. Once you’ve put it out there, it’s harder to back out as your pride is at stake.
- Enrol a friend. If you arrange to exercise with someone else, you have to show up. Ideally, find someone who isn’t as prone to excuses as you are!
- Get yourself some really nice sports kit. Look, I know it’s shallow, and I know there’s still a danger that all you’ll do is hang out in your active wear, but it does help if you actually like the stuff you wear to work out in. You can get great deals in discount shops like TK Maxx, by the way, so it doesn’t have to break the bank.
- Find a sport you enjoy. Seriously. You’d be amazed how many people persist with a form of exercise – usually running – that makes them miserable. If you love running (or whatever it is you do) then great, but if you don’t, there are loads of things that are way more fun and that still count as legitimate exercise. Fitness classes can be a giggle. So is shaking your booty in a dance class. Or going back to something you enjoyed as a child. Be imaginative and don’t sell yourself short. Because if you don’t like it, let’s face it, the excuses will win out every time.
So tell me. What are your worst ever excuses for not exercising and what are your top tips to make sure you don’t just lounge around in your #activewear?
