Friday, 07 April 2017 00:00

Stop Letting These Excuses Get in the Way of Your Workouts

When you’ve already set your routine and you’re great about making sure you get your workout done nearly every day, the occasional break in your schedule won’t hurt anything. Life happens. There are times when you really are too busy because you need to work a full day, pick up the kids from school, make their dinner, get ready, then attend an important wedding and reception afterward. If that’s the case, you might not make it to that spin class you usually attend.

However, for most of us, that’s hardly how it plays out. By the time we get home from work and do everything that needs to be done, all we want to do is flop onto the couch and stare at a screen like a zombie until bedtime. Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for exercise. It’s easy to feel justified in skipping workouts when you have a busy and/or tiring day, but when all is said and done, it’s turning us all into sedentary people.


It’s time to stop making exercise excuses and start to find solutions to what is holding us back from our workouts. Consider some of the most common exercise excuses we use to skip a trip to the gym and how we can overcome them:

  • I don’t have time/I’m too busy – If this is a regular occurrence and not just something that happens once every few months, then it’s time to get on top of your schedule. Get yourself ready for your workout the night before. Planning to go to the gym? Pack your bag and set it next to the door. Have everything done and ready, right down to your music playlist. Prefer to go for a walk or a run? Pick out your outfit and set it aside so it’s ready for you. The more you can do the night before, the less you’ll have to do that day.
  • I’m stuck with the kids every moment – If you can’t get away from your kids long enough to do a workout, then it’s time to combine family time and exercise. If your child is in a stroller, start using it as a piece of exercise equipment. Walk briskly or jog with your stroller. Have older kids? Try an exercise video meant for families and do it together. You’ll not only get your workout done, but you’ll teach your kids the importance of being active, too.
  • I worked out yesterday and now I’m sore – When you put everything you’ve got into a great workout performance, you can be very sore the next day. The struggle is real. That said, it doesn’t mean that you have a free couch potato pass. Try an entirely different sort of workout. Target groups of muscles that aren’t aching from yesterday’s accomplishments. Alternately, switch things up by doing yoga. Studies show that gentle yoga can be a great workout and can reduce pain overall.

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