It's guest post day! I'm really excited about this guest post because it is written by my high school BFF, Nancy Klotz! We reconnected in the last year or so and I found out that Nancy is a certified personal trainer and lifestyle and weight management coach (writer, great all around person, mom, wife, educator...)! Who better to share wonderful insights with us regarding health and exercise? None other!
I'm thrilled that Nancy took the time to share her insights with us in the midst of teaching classes, maintaining her website,
Naper Fit, writing posts for her blog,
NaperFit Fitness Blog, writing feature articles for
examiner.com and working on her first novel!
Without further ado- because I could really go on and on and on about Nancy- I gladly share with you Nancy's take on how to:
Conquer Your Barriers to Exercise!
Excuses, excuses. We all have them for one reason or another. But what are your excuses for not exercising? While ‘lack of time’ is the most common excuse for not exercising, some people don’t even consider exercising at all. Research has indicated that the benefits from physical activity are tremendous:
Health Benefits!
- helps control weight
- can prevent or manage chronic health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, arthritis, high cholesterol, osteoporosis
- reduces stress – boosts your mood
- gives you energy – improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your system
- increases performance – improves your muscle tone and endurance
- improves physical appearance with toned muscles (helps you fit better in your clothes!)
Barriers
Barriers can be real or perceived. They can be environmental or internal to your self. Although some individuals may not even think about exercising, there is another group that is still considering the pros and cons of starting to add physical activity to their lives. The benefits are the pros. Some examples of the cons are:
Environmental
- lack of time
- location of fitness facilities
- financial limitations
- lack of social support
- family demands
- no interest (boring!)
- childcare
- weather
- medical issues or injuries
Internal
- anxiety about appearance or ability (like comparing yourself to others)
- intimidation of surroundings at the gym (like not knowing what to do or how things work)
- personal thoughts and feelings about physical discomfort (like sweat, increasing heart rate, muscle soreness)
- belief in your ability to succeed (like past failures and negative experiences)
- beliefs about exercise that may or may not be true
Then there is the group of people who start exercising and then stop. Making a permanent lifestyle change is difficult! Research indicates that 50 to 65% of people who start an exercise program stop within the first three to six months of participating.
Options
First, you need to be ready to try to add or keep physical activity in your life.
Make sure your healthcare provider approves of your plan.
You need to make some goals. Start out small and simple, like walk for 10 minutes a day, five days a week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website defines physical activity guidelines for adults. There are some good ideas on how to build up your goals and what types of exercises to do. “10 minutes at a time is fine.”
Next, you need to reduce or eliminate your barriers.
Finally, you need to plan for overcoming lapses or obstacles that will stop you from sticking to your goals.
Conquering Barriers
There are many ways to turn a negative into a positive. Sometimes you need to be creative. Here are ideas for conquering barriers.
Environmental
- Take a walk with your children.
- Take a hike with your family.
- Pack a gym bag and leave it by the door where you go out in the morning.
- Leave an extra set of work out clothes in your car.
- Join a gym that is on your way to work or on your way coming home from work.
- Try different forms of exercise to discover what you like doing best.
- Walk or jog in your neighborhood.
- Take a bike ride with friends or family.
- Try exercise videos or follow an exercise program on TV.
- Just move! If you are sitting in front of the TV get up during commercials and try some step touches, knee lifts, or hamstring curls.
Internal
- Find a role model using someone who has successfully done what you are trying to do.
- Find a partner to socialize with, motivate each other, and get each other to show up when planned.
- Start slow so that you become familiar with any physical discomfort you may have.
- Define goals that you can succeed at to develop confidence in your abilities.
- Ask a trainer, instructor, or friend what the ‘rules’ of the gym are. Try a group fitness class and learn how to use equipment. You can observe and explore.
Lapses and Obstacles
Many of life’s events can cause you to go off your program, like, vacation, holidays, illness, someone in the family needing care. Plan ahead if you can. Be aware that many people slip up or relapse. This is not a failure. It’s time to identify what caused the slip and to recognize where you are in the scheme of things – like are you not exercising at all or back to twice a week?
Find social support. Can someone in your family support you? Is there a group at work or the fitness center that you can exercise with? Use your partner or role model to help get you back on track. Can you self regulate yourself? Try keeping a record of all of your achievements.
Time to drop the excuses and do something wonderful for your self. Get active!
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