Why is it so hard for a lot of us to maintain a regular exercise practice?
While chatting with a friend recently, we spoke about how hard it can be to stick to regular exercise, especially when your routine is disrupted. Life seems to get in the way and even though we feel so good after a workout, whether it’s a gym session, a run, a yoga or Pilates class, it can often be hard to maintain any consistency. Why is that?
Exercise makes us feel good, that is a proven fact. It lightens our mood and reduces stress, it gives us more energy through the day, and helps us sleep better at night. It’s a no brainer, exercise is good for you, mentally emotionally and physically.
As we continued our chat, my friend agreed that exercise makes him feel better, but says he still struggles with motivation. Hmmm, let’s talk more about this.
We are funny creatures, it seems for a lot of people, everything must be exactly right in order to engage in some form of exercise. There is always a reason/excuse for not exercising, and I’ve heard lots of them in my time as a teacher: it’s too cold, it’s too hard to get up that early, I’ve got a busy day, I can’t fit it in, I can’t be bother once I get home from work…. I could go on, but I won’t.
While chatting, we both agreed that when we are young, most of us are generally quite active in our daily life so we experience more ‘incidental exercise’ like running around with our kids, or taking the stairs, pushing prams or carrying babies. But as we age, we move less, and this is where scheduled exercise becomes more important. We cannot afford to NOT exercise! We lose muscle tone, joints get stiff, correct posture declines, balancing and core strength diminish. The demise of our physical fitness seems to creep up on us over a long period of time, finally realizing that we are no longer able to do the same physical activities as we once could. Use it or lose it as they say. How much more motivation do we need!
So, as we ended our conversion, we both agreed that the only motivation we really need to focus on is investing in our long-term health and wellbeing, quality of life as we reach our senior years. Siting in our chair or staying in bed may be ok while it is a choice, but not bringing regular movement into your life may take that choice away. And being too busy for exercise will soon have a negative effect on your quality of life.
As I walked away from our conversation I wondered if our chat had inspired my friend was to go for a run rather than find a reason not to.