Let’s be real here, there will always come a time, no matter how obsessed with exercise you are, that you just won’t want to get up and do the workout you’d planned on doing.
You’ll hate your past, blindly optimistic self for having planned it and if you’d arranged a workout with mates.
some part of you will be secretly hoping that they somehow all get sick and have to pull out – leaving you no choice but to sink back down into the couch.
However, if your friends aren’t sick, or you planned to workout alone anyway, there are a few excuses that you should never say out loud, let alone think.
Here they are, and here’s what your past, motivated self, would respond to them:
1. “I don’t have time”
This one is perhaps the most frustrating one to hear, since it’s rarely ever true. If you think you’re far too busy to get up and do a quick, yet intense, 20 minute workout, then remind yourself what season you’re up to on your current Netflix show.
Remind yourself how far back you got on your friends timeline when you were incessantly stalking them on Facebook. Remind yourself for how long you just lay in bed this morning staring at your ceiling, or flicking obsessively through your Instagram feed.
Get it yet? We all have time. If you’re looking at the fit girl in your lecture hall wondering how she finds the time. remember that we all have the same 24 hours, and it’s not about finding the time – it’s about making it.
2. “The gym is too expensive”
Well, I must say I completely agree with this point – but that doesn’t mean it’s an excuse not to sweat a little. Neither of us have had a gym membership all year, yet we’ve still managed to move our little asses at least 3 times a week.
I’ve also never really understood the need to workout in a gym, merely because it’s so much more pleasant to get your workout done outside.
The outside doesn’t smell, it’s almost always got a natural breeze instead of an incessant fan blowing a gale at your face. and it hardly ever has a bunch of guys staring at themselves in mirrors as they work on their bicep curls.
Moral of the story? Even if the gym is super affordable – you should still exercise outside. Therefore, it’s really not an excuse not to exercise, but a reason to get out and do it more.
3. “But it’s freezing outside!”
When it’s in the minuses outside, and you can still see the cm thick ice coating your car exterior, it’s no wonder that you’re not jumping for joy to get outside and get moving.
Whilst there is some thrill to running outside in the freezing cold and feeling your lungs truly burn (probably because they’re slowly getting frozen from the inside), we can understand that it’s not for everyone. it’s always warm enough to get outside during the middle of the day.
So when winter turns around – don’t not exercise, but rather shift around your schedule so you can get outside during the warmer, sunnier hours. This might even involve getting to work a half hour earlier so you can sweat outside during your lunch break.
Secondly, Trust us, you can get very very sweaty within a small space. Just do repetitive burst exercises, that’ll get you warm and puffing in no time – think burpees, jump squats, push-ups, etc.
We have been known to do these workouts inside in front of a fire before… If you’re still complaining about the cold – have a long hard think about the dedicated athletes who get up at 5am, even in the middle of winter, to get a good workout in before work.
Now think if you can muster up the courage to workout inside, or during the middle of the day. Yes you can!
4. “I’m so tired”
Quit complaining! If you’re too tired to get up and get moving in your 20s, then you’re growing old very quickly. For those of you who are lucky enough like us to have fit parents/grandparents that are always sweating it up, then look to them for inspiration.
If they’ve got the energy – then surely you can find some! Also, it’s really not that difficult to get to bed an hour earlier… Put down Facebook and decide that three episodes on Netflix is probably enough for one evening, and get some quality shut-eye.
For those of you who are too tired because of the new diet that you’re on, then you’re probably doing ‘healthy’ wrong.
If you’re that tired that you can’t do even light exercise like yoga or walking. Then you probably need to eat more than 4 slices of cucumber every 10 hours – even if the before and after photos of the diet look amazing.
Get some good quality food on your plate, and exercise regularly and you’ll feel much healthier.
5. “I’ll just start tomorrow” or, “but it’s not Monday”
Now, here we both know you’re dodge. Because tomorrow will turn into next week, which will turn into next month, and before you know it you’ll be thinking “well, there’s only 12 months until 2023, maybe it can be my New Year’s resolution for that year!” Quit saying ‘tomorrow’ and just get moving.
Another terrible misconception that people have, is that you can’t start any regime unless it’s Monday morning. You don’t have to start on a Monday, and nor does your regime have to work on a Monday – Sunday cycle.
For most people, you’ll be really motivated to exercise, until about 15 minutes before you said you’d do it, when all motivation dies. But, if you just get out and start, it all suddenly floods back and before you know it, you’ll be at the end of your workout and feeling fabulous.
6. “I’m bored with my exercise”
Unless you’ve somehow found the cure to mortality, and are celebrating your 1000th birthday next week, there is no way that you could be that bored with exercise – simply because there’s so many different varieties. If you’re insisting that you’re bored and you’ve tried everything then what you’re really suffering from is a lack of creativity.
One thing we’re trying to do, is to try as many different forms of exercise we can think of (and afford to try) in the next coming year, and we guarantee that you haven’t tried everything we’re about to.
Think 70s style aerobics, skyrobics (trampoline exercises), kick-boxing, laughing yoga, trapeze… the list is infinite! And if you’re still pathetically complaining that you’re bored, remember that “only boring people get bored.” Check out our next article on How to make exercise less boring.
Hopefully, by the time you’ve read all of these excuses – and how they really don’t stand at all and are really just you proving your inner laziness – you’ll stop using them for good! Just remember that you can’t get upset by results you don’t obtain, from workouts you never did. Results or excuses – pick one, because you can’t have both! If you want more results, then sweat more!