How to fight the excuses when it comes to your health and fitness.
It’s really fucking easy to quit something you don’t want to do. It doesn’t take a high level of effort to quit when you lack the motivation and the bandwidth to continue pushing yourself forward. It’s easy to listen to self-doubt, when you are going through a fitness hardship or even a setback in your everyday life.
The only way to really make a positive change with your health and fitness is to push through all the bullshit. Will things come up in life? Yes, but you will have a decision to make. Sometimes you will have to further go to your workout session, because life has just simply got in the way, and that’s completely okay. And other times you will have to hurdle through obstacles that may get in your way, so you can ultimately reach your goal you have set for yourself.
When you understand and learn how to conquer excuses, that’s when you’ll level up and be the best version of yourself.
Here are the most common excuses and how to fight them.
Exercise Excuse 1: “I don’t have time”
This is probably the most common excuse on the list, but easiest to sort through. Ok for starters, you have more than enough time to workout. Your problem is not with time management. Your issue is more on the side of priority.
In life we make time for the things that matter or what we want. Just like we set time aside in our busy schedules to meet up with friends and family, go to work events, go to the barbershop or hair salons, the same needs to be said for exercising.
Keeping a schedule on the time that you will be training and how long you will train will keep on your track with your health and fitness goals. Your fitness needs to be a priority in your life and you need to hold yourself accountable in order to do so.
Join a workout program
Following along with a workout program can be an easy way to stay on track with your goals. It really defeats the temptation of the “I'm too busy” excuse.
When you have a program that you follow, you know exactly how much time you have to workout and for how many days you need to commit to exercising.
Do a short workout
Working out doesn’t have to take a decade. Shorter workouts are equally important to long workouts and actually can be more beneficial to your needs and schedule. Short workouts are known to push your maximum heart rate up to help you burn more calories when you are crunched for time.
High Intensity Interval Training aka HIIT is a great source for getting a quick effective workout in a limited time. It’s known to give your body endorphins that will keep you energized and thirsty for more.
If time is not really on your side, set a timer for 10 minutes and pick 2 exercises. Complete each exercise for 1 minute before switching to the next exercise. You will do a total of 5 rounds, but at least you get the hard pumping and get the body moving.
Exercise Excuse 2: “I have no motivation to workout”
Motivation is important but is not the key to keeping you working out. Sometimes your motivation just won’t be there. But you have to have your deep rooted whys. Your “whys” should be the reason you are doing this, it shouldn’t be surface level. It should be close to your heart of why you are doing this. At the end of the day motivating yourself will come to how important it is to you for achieving your goal.
Here are some reminders that are super important when it comes to motivation and exercise.
Motivation is temporary, it is here one day and gone the next. Just like anything else in life, if it is important enough to you, you will find a way to get it done. If getting fit is important to you, you are going to have to fight the urge of taking a week or giving up altogether. It only pushes you further away from your goals.
Plenty of factors are to take into account when you are exercising to reach your fitness goals. Things like stress, lack of sleep, and the shortcomings of results you’ve desired to hit by now are all motivator killers. Learning to accept and move forward through these obstacles are important to your journey. When you learn to accept these, you will develop a stronger mindset and become an overall better person for the rest of your life.
Don’t wait for motivation.
When you are starting out on your fitness journey or hit a plateau, don’t wait for motivation to finish your workout or to even start your workout. The best time to start is now. #noprisoners
When you stick to your plan it will become habitual and make it easier and easier to workout each time, even on the days that you feel less motivated.
Resonate with your whys
Remember why you started working out in the first place. Dig into what drives you, and what pushes you to work harder.
Exercise Excuse 3: “This is stupid. I’m not seeing any results”
Comparing yourself to others is detrimental, especially when you are comparing yourself to others that fitness seems to come to do with ease.
If you excuse is “this is stupid, I’m not seeing any results”, remember it’s not about how good you are at doing something is about your physical and mental health, so you can be the best version of yourself.
Everyone has a starting point
Remember that your journey is not the next person’s journey. Everyone has a starting point at sometime in the health and fitness journey. More than likely they probably struggled as well when they were first getting started, but they pushed through and overcame the excuses and so can you!
Drop the phrases like “I can’t do it” to “I’m not there yet”. Don’t let the start of your journey be the excuse of not starting or succeeding. Your progress along the journey will be your motivating factors to keep pushing forward.
Join a community
A fitness community like Chase, is designed for people just like you. Whether you are joining virtually or in-person, a community of like minded people can be empowering to help you with breaking your excuses and helping you stay motivated with your fitness journey. Whether that’s at home workouts, at the gym, boxing or HIIT workouts, it’s important that you find the workout routine that works best for you.
Find your style
Find the training style that is fun for you and keeps you wanting to come back for more. When you find something that you enjoy, it makes it hard to make excuses to work out.
Your best version of yourself is just on the other side of the excuses. The next time you find yourself making up excuses, here are the tips to conquer them. When you hit setbacks in your journey remember you can overcome them with consistency and discipline.
Remember how far you have come, take progress photos, keep record of your weights, and celebrate your victories.
Ready to stop making excuses? Start your fitness journey today with our 14 day free trial, workouts ranging from strength training, HIIT, and boxing.
As always COMMIT, CHASE, and CONQUER!
-Coach Que