5 Common Fitness Enemies and How to Defeat Them
Do you have those days when you feel like the whole universe is conspiring to keep you from reaching your fitness goals? Sometimes we sabotage ourselves. Other times, life interferes with our exercise plans. The rain is pouring and you just wanted to run outside, the gym is too hot to work out in, you left your gym bag at home, bed feels too comfortable to get out of? A really great show just started on tv and you have to watch it! Sound familiar?
Everyone has days like this, days where any excuse is good enough. Even the most committed fitness enthusiasts face challenges to getting that butt off the couch and staying active.
Check out this list of common fitness enemies and learn how to combat them with strategies that really work:
Stress
When you’re up against a work deadline or the kids are sick, you may feel you can’t handle one more thing, including exercise. But taking time out to go for a brisk walk or workout is one of the best things you can do during times of intense stress. Exercise helps alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression and helps boost your mood, enabling you to cope with whatever you’re facing. Even a short workout is better than nothing.
Unrealistic Expectations
Beginner and novice exercisers get frustrated when they expect big results too soon after starting a fitness programme. Because they haven’t lost a huge amount of weight or developed visible six-pack abs after only a week or two of exercise, they throw in the towel. To avoid this mistake, set realistic goals and practice extreme patience. You can’t undo 10 years of a sedentary lifestyle in a week of walking. If you stick with a well written programme, your body will respond to exercise. It takes at least six weeks of regular exercise and sometimes more for physiological changes to kick in.
It’s called the training effect. You’ll know it’s happening when your workouts start feeling easier; when you can tolerate longer, harder exercise sessions; and when you can do housework, gardening, or climb stairs with less effort.
Overtraining
Demanding daily workouts without scheduled rest won’t help you reach your goals faster. Instead, it’ll undermine your progress. Overtraining occurs when the exercise load is excessive related to the amount of time allowed for recovery. Overtaxing the body’s systems leads to decreased performance. A day or two off from vigorous exercise each week is recommended for rest days. This can be done through a combination of scheduling rest days into your fitness programme and alternating hard and easy workouts. For example, cross-training, swapping out a few runs for swimming or biking, is another effective way to avoid overtraining, but scheduled recovery days are still recommended.
I always include rest days in the training programmes that I write for my clients, it is a crucial part of training and allows your body to rest, adapt and repair.
The Unexpected
You were going to walk after work, but now you’ve been asked to work late. Or perhaps you planned to swim, but then you find out that the pool is closed for maintenance. Life happens, and you can either throw up your hands and say, “forget it,” or accept it and roll with it. Resilience is your ability to bounce back quickly from life’s surprises and setbacks. This can be improved with practice. Strategies include practicing to look after yourself, such as eating right, sleeping well, and exercising regularly, along with cultivating good relationships, practicing optimism, taking decisive action, etc. As you become more resilient, you’re less likely to ditch your workout when something comes up. Instead, you’ll be able to quickly modify your plans and move forward.
