Do you make excuses for not working out? Be honest with yourself!
Ok, I get it. Sometimes working out is hard. It's not always super fun, it makes you sweat and breathless and sometimes sore…
But if you want to be healthy, get or stay in shape and have a say in how long and healthy your life will be, you have to make exercise part of it.
Not just part–but a very important part!
There are so many ways to move your body, and when your goal is simply to be healthy, the most important thing is to stay consistent, no matter how you choose to move.
While I don't think you should compare yourself with other people, it's good to have people who inspire you. Those people repeat they healthy actions every day, day after day (occasional treats and rest days are part of that healthy living too!).
You Create Your Results
If you're consistent with exercising and eating well, you get the results you're looking for–healthier, stronger body and happier mind.
But you can also be consistent in other way–by making excuses.
And you get results too, respective to the way you live! If you eat crappy food, constantly skip your workouts and on top of that, beat yourself up for those things, there's no way you get any healthier, physically or mentally.
Are you making excuses too? If you do, be honest about it and instead of coming up with a next reason why you can't workout, change the way you act.
7 Excuses for Skipping Your Workout
Here are the most common excuses for skipping a workout and what to do about them:
I Can't Get Up Early Enough to Workout Before the Work
There's a simple trick for that: Set your alarm earlier than you would normally do. 🙂
Before saying that I'm not a morning person, give morning workouts a try for a few weeks and then decide. A good way to start is to join our Morning Workout Quickie series, where we do a 5-minute simple bodyweight workout every Wednesday, to get your body moving and mind ready for the day.
Join us here and see for yourself that you can do a 5-minute workout first thing in the morning. You may be surprised that you feel energized after your 5-minute sweat session, and that working out in the morning is not that hard at all.
But okay, some people really can't workout right away after waking up. Then, go ahead and workout in the evening.
But…
I'm Too Tired to Workout After the Work
If you're too tired to workout after work but also don't want to do it in the morning, then… when are you going to do it?
One option is to workout at lunch time, if you can. There are many companies that either have a gym or they even bring in trainers to teach classes, so their employees can workout during the lunchtime. If you work at a place like this, you're lucky! I'm teaching classes in few of those places and I can tell that those workouts are also great team builders.
If working out is your priority, it's your job to make it happen, before, during or after work. One thing is sure: If you tell yourself that “I'm not a morning person” and later that “I'm too tired after work”, and “There's no way to do it during the lunch hour”, the workout is not going to happen.
I'm on A Vacation
Sadly, for many people working out is such a pain in their butts that going on a vacations sounds like the perfect excuse to skip it. Because being on a vacation is the time when you want to be free from all obligations, right?
To change that, you've got to start liking your workouts.
It may sound crazy, how do you just start it? There are a few ways to go:
- Make it enjoyable. Don't force yourself on the treadmill for an hour! Nobody wants to do that, especially on a vacation. Those people doing their 60 minutes on a treadmill at a hotel gym while it's nice and sunny outside… Something tells me that they don't like it and that they can't wait it to be over. Instead, find ways to enjoy your workout! If you want to run, go outside and run and use it as a chance to explore what's around you. One hour passes by way faster exploring the beaches and cities than staring that treadmill screen.
- Keep it short. You have other things to do on a vacation than work out for hours. Try these super efficient dumbbell workouts that are 15-minutes long (should I say short instead?), and you're done! It's so much easier to workout if you know that it'll be over in minutes. And when you know it's going to be short, you can push yourself harder.
- Do something different. Whenever I'm on a vacation or away from home, I check out what activities I can do there where I am. You can hike and rent a bike in most places. You can see if there's a local yoga studio. I'm a fan of kayaking and stand up paddle boarding and do those whenever I can. They all count as exercising.
There's no Gym Where I'm At
Bad, bad excuse for skipping your workout! The worst.
You can workout everywhere, including a tiny hotel room where you have no equipment at all.
Set your timer for 15 minutes, then do this basic bodyweight workout. Or put together a circuit of these leg exercises–you don't need any equipment for these either.
If you are on a beach vacation, you're lucky! I don't think you prefer a sweaty gym over a fun beach workout like this.
I Have No Time
Time seems to be the number 1 reason for not working out. But you don't need a lot of time! A lot of people think that if they can't workout for a full hour, they're not going to bother at all. Change that mindset right now! You can get so much more done in 15 minutes than in 1 hour, if you're doing the right thing. If you're pressed for time and only have 15 minutes, do a HIIT workout, get your heart rate up, break some sweat, and you're good to go.
And even if you don't like HIIT, go for a walk. That's still moving, that's still exercise. Something is always better than nothing.
The Weather is Bad
I lived most of my life in a country where it sometimes snowed five months and rained three months of the year. If I had made that as an excuse for not working out, I couldn't have trained at all.
But you make it happen, even when the weather is bad. You can always create your own little home gym or workout with using just bodyweight. When I was living in Estonia and Finland, I ran a lot, even in winter. You have to make the most of the conditions you have. Get creative.
I Don't Know How to Workout
There are so many resources out there–Youtube and Pinterest are endless sources or workout ideas. It can be overwhelming though, so I recommend you to find a few bloggers or websites whose workouts you like, or sign up for fitness people's Youtube channels, so you always have a backup plan if you're running out of ideas.
You're always welcome to check out the workouts here on Urban Jane too. Simply scroll to “Workouts by equipment” on the right side of that page and choose a workout based on what you have available.
Also, remember that simple exercises are often the best ones. Squats, push ups, pull ups, lunges and sprints are always useful. You don't have to come up with anything super new or try 12 different ab exercises. Stick with those basic movements, do each one of them 10 reps for five rounds, do them as fast as you can with a proper technique, and you're good to go!
Conclusion
If you want to make exercise part of your lifestyle, coming up with excuses is not going to help you. The bottom line is, if you want to create a change, you need to show up–constantly. That's the only way to improve your health, well being, get a better functioning body and happier mind.
Leave a Reply