Excuses to not exercise

As a coach I hear a lot of excuses people have for not exercising. As a person with a busy schedule and conflicting demands on my time I can relate to many of them. Let me share with you a few really good excuses and a simple, yet powerful way to overcome them and stick to your fitness plan.

A couple of weeks ago I was at a dinner party on a Saturday evening. I knew I was going to this so I factored into my training plan on eating too much, drinking too much and staying out late this one night. To be able to enjoy myself guilt-free, I kept pretty close control of my nutrition plan the weeks before and after the party and made damn sure I had some good workouts during those weeks as well.

This included scheduling a 10-mile run on the Sunday after the party. It looked pretty good on the calendar but after a fun night of celebrating with friends, the run didn't seem like such a good idea. My mind was full of reasons why I should skip the run. Here are some thoughts that were running through my head:

"I didn't sleep a lot last night and I had a really busy week last week plus I've got a hectic week coming up so I should probably skip the run and catch up on my rest."

"A lot of people have been sick lately; it feels like I'm coming down with something. I should probably rest up and build my immune system."

"You know, I'm 40 now. I've worked out every day this week except one and I won't get another rest day until next weekend. Masters athletes need a lot more recovery time than 20 somethings. Maybe I need the rest more than I need the run."

"I've got a few things I need to get done today. We've got to walk the dog, get groceries for the week, I've got to get a few files organized, I should call my parents, I need to spend some time with Samantha as we've both been so busy lately and haven't had much quality time. Yeah, I really don't have time to do this run today."

So I was too tired, too sick, too old and too busy to do my 10-miler. I thought they were great excuses to skip the run. I'm sure many people reading this would definitely agree and could relate to these feelings. These excuses continued to play in my mind as I put on my running gear and dragged my tired, sick, lazy ass out the door, did my warm-up and began my run.

My trick? Three things. First, I didn't try to stop my mind from thinking; that's impossible. I just decided not to listen to it. You see, just because you have a thought doesn't make it right. Second, I made a decision. I decided it was more important to me to stick to my plan and do the run. I gave myself 20 minutes of leeway; I'd start the run and if within 20 minutes I was truly feeling sick or overworked I'd stop. And third, I said two magic words to discard the excuses. "Screw 'em."

So what happened? Well, I didn't feel great after 20 minutes. My legs felt heavy and I felt like I was running in molasses. But I knew that I wasn't really sick and I wasn't overtraining so I kept going. Even the tunes in my iPod weren't helping rev me up. But I still kept going. 20 minutes. 25, 30, 35, 40.

And then something happened at about 45 minutes. My body began to feel lighter; my gait wasn't so stiff; I began to feel more alive and the pounding in my head subsided. For the next 30 minutes I felt better and better and actually threw in a few short interval bursts. When I finished the run I felt waaaaay better than when I started and in fact, I could have kept going. But I completed my plan and really did have a number of things to do today so I stopped.

If you ever feel like you're too old, too tired, too sick and too busy to do your workout just follow my simple routine. 1. Don't try to stop these thoughts but realize they're not necessarily correct. 2. Make a decision on what you're going to do, then DO IT. 3. Say the magic words "Screw it" and do your workout. Give yourself 20 minutes and if you truly are sick or on the verge of overtraining you'll know. But chances are, you aren't.

Until next time, stay fit and stay healthly.

C.

www.ultrafitness.net