Do You Have A Fear Of Exercise?
If you didn’t grow up in an active family, or active yourself, it can be scary to know where to start. Throughout my years of coaching adults and children, I have had more than a handful of clients with a genuine fear of exercise. None of these fears are unfounded or should they be blindly dismissed. These fears stem from a genuine place of concern for themselves and a concern of how others perceive them. I want to give you a couple tips on how to lose your fear of exercise.
Shed The Information Overload
Anytime we start something new, it takes a bit of mental energy to organize it in our beautiful brains. It could be the choice to eat healthier, lose weight, decide on a career path or even what to do when you are bored. Is this a good use of my time? Do i really want to TORTURE myself? Making a decision to start something without knowing what you want from it can be a waste of time and effort. Have you ever stood in front of a vending machine with a single dollar and a hungry belly? Talk about hard decisions.
It Is So Much Easier Than You Think
Well, starting a fitness plan has this same effect on people. If you are starting from scratch and only thinking of hitting your end goal, it can be an overwhelming decision. Should I start Zumba, kickboxing, MMA, spinning classes, roller derby, walking backwards for time or purchase a body jiggling machine? So many choices to make! There is a way to help you process a new endeavor like fitness, with purpose and conviction. It takes a little bit of thinking up front, but pays a huge reward over time.
How To Lose You Fear Of Exercise
To overcome this fear of exercise or just getting started you have to realize that fitness is a long game. That is not meant to discourage you, but meant to get you in the right frame of mind when approaching this for the 1st, 5th or 30th time.
Start where you are. Mentally, this is probably the biggest obstacle to getting started. If you are coming from no fitness base whatsoever, walking daily for a few weeks is a great place to start. Let’s say you have previous experience workout out and lifting weights. Get started again using your bodyweight to do compound exercises such as air squats, lunges, push-ups, etc. Start light to get your neurons firing efficiently before you increase any other variables. Be realistic about where you are and realize that you don’t need to overthink this stuff. Just give yourself a couple of weeks to adjust to whatever it is you are doing. There is no rush.
Stop feeling selfish. I have had new clients who feel completely selfish about spending any available energy on themselves. This idea needs to be surgically removed and tossed as far away from you as possible. You are most ready to serve as an employee, family member and friend in a strong mind and body. Fill your cup first and give the others your overflow. Don’t fear all the amazing things that exercise will afford you.
It doesn’t have to hurt to work. This is a real fear and it only surfaces because of a lack of knowledge. People have a tendency to get hurt by going all in without any direction. For example, you just bought P90X and you are going to go all in everyday as if you were an athlete. Another example would be deciding you are going to run your first marathon in 12 weeks with no running baseline to build off of. If you ease your way into fitness, your body will give you signs in advance that it might need some attention in certain areas. Build up your exercise tolerance slowly and methodically. Small increase weekly until your body gets acclimated to the new workload.
It costs no money. Your fear may be based around money. Maybe you are worried about gym fees, spending money on workout clothes or the cost of those yoga classes. The truth is, you don’t need any of those things to get started. You have body weight workouts, whatever clothes you have available now and plenty of free online yoga classes to get you moving. (The guys tend to laugh at the yoga recommendation until they do a solid 30 minute routine that kicks them in the rear). Commit to yourself without external pressures for some time, and then you can make decisions on how you would like to proceed.
It doesn’t take as long as you think. Maybe it is a lack of time that you are worried about. Maybe all this time you spent worrying about if you should get started could be put into actually going for a walk? You can make time and even include the family for some amazing memories. Kick Facebook and Instagram to the curb for a bit and get your move on. You can start with 10 to 15 minutes a day. You have that much time. Yes, I am looking at you.
Settle in for the long game. Choices are a lot less scary when you don’t put the pressure of what is going to happen in 60 days and have to make or break that commitment. Realize that you need your health and fitness for the rest of your life. Only then will you understand that it is a journey. This takes a load of stress off your big shiny brain. A little bit, most days of the week, over years will get you further than all in for 30 days with a subsequent burn-out.
Remember, You Deserve This
It can be very overwhelming to get started if you let it get to your head. Let me tell you how best to get started quickly. Start walking 15 minutes a day. Yup, that is it. Walk 15 minutes everyday and build a habit for yourself. I am not talking about time you already spend walking around the office, to and from the car, etc. I am talking a purposeful 15 minutes that is your workout time that you commit to on a daily basis. Stop wondering if you have 90 minutes to do P90X, or 1 hour of cardio a day. Start with 15 minutes, and as you get comfortable you can begin seeking more info from a place of action instead of inaction.
P.S. I love you all. You deserve to live a long, healthy and adventurous life.
