Give me your best "excuse busters" (How do you push through the excuses to not workout?)
shelbycolada
Posts: 3 Member
My brain gets the best of me. My favorite thing to do is to write down mantras, like "I will not feel deprived when I turn down junk food" "I am capable of reaching my goals". But damn, sometimes the excuses just overwhelm me and I end up skipping what could have been a bomb workout.
What are you most successful ways to push through those excuses and crush your workout?
What are you most successful ways to push through those excuses and crush your workout?
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I'll allow myself to quit if I exercise for 5 minutes and still don't feel like continuing. I've never actually end up quitting.9
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Find something you enjoy doing. I do CrossFit and I absolutely love it. It is my favorite part of the day. Running, on the other hand, I struggle with sometimes. Things I do to stay motivated are sometimes just getting dressed in workout clothes. Once you are already dress, that seems to add motivation to do it. Time of day can matter too. If you workout in the mornings, sleep in your workout clothes so you are ready to go right away. I also like morning workouts because they help wake me up and I am usually not awake enough to talk myself out of it. If you go to the gym in the evenings, go straight after work. I found that if I stopped at home first, I was much more likely to talk myself out of it. Don't think of your workout as an option. Make it part of your schedule and just do it.4
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auzziecawth wrote: »
Yes, to both of these posts. In order to overcome excuses I don't allow them in the first place. I consider my workout time as part of my work day. As mentioned above, it's not an option, it's part of my day. Sure, things happen occasionally and I have to work around it but once it becomes a habit the excuses tend to fade.1 -
It's such an ingrained habit at this point, I can't imagine I would ever skip.
When I was starting out though, I did the "I can quit after 10 minutes" thing. And I never did, either.
I also never let myself sit down when I got home from work. Something about sitting down tanked all motivation. I got home, changed into gym clothes and hit the gym. Even better if I could hit the gym before I even got home, but kids sports didn't let that happen often.2 -
Like JetJaguar, I make a deal with myself to do less. Sometimes I break the deal and finish my regular plan. But sometimes I do less, even if it’s just to make the point that a deal is a deal, not just a trick.2
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I also make the deal that I only have to do 5 mins. Mostly for running. As long as I run 5 minutes I can quit and walk the rest. Last night I ended up running 30 minutes instead of my planned 20 (with the deal that I only had to do 5, I wasn't feeling a workout at all). Felt so good after 20 mins I just kept going. Which means I just skipped from week 5 to the end of c25k lol.
I always make deals with myself for things. Like if I'm having a hungry day, I have to wait X mins and then I can have a snack. (Sometimes I lose track and go longer, which is the idea)5 -
MsMaeFlowers wrote: »I also make the deal that I only have to do 5 mins. Mostly for running. As long as I run 5 minutes I can quit and walk the rest. Last night I ended up running 30 minutes instead of my planned 20 (with the deal that I only had to do 5, I wasn't feeling a workout at all). Felt so good after 20 mins I just kept going. Which means I just skipped from week 5 to the end of c25k lol.
I always make deals with myself for things. Like if I'm having a hungry day, I have to wait X mins and then I can have a snack. (Sometimes I lose track and go longer, which is the idea)
Me, too!0 -
I always remember the saying "you won't get the booty you want sitting on the one you have" reminds me that it is imperative I get into the gym to work hard if I want to reach my goals.5
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I have 2 things:
Mantras, my favourite of which is, "Keep showing up for yourself." I also like, "You never regret it once it's done."
Promise myself that if it sucks after 10 minutes, I can quit. I've probably only invoked that clause twice in the past year - once after 14 minutes because I was actually coming down with the legit influenza at that very moment, and once I quit a specific workout but then finished by walking half an hour.1 -
I enjoy my exercise...I like cycling and lifting and doing a bit of hiking and rock climbing...0
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I have never regretted a work out but I have regretted not working out. When it comes to running I just think about the fact that I always feel better and have more energy afterwards.The more I run the better I get, so going out for a run will get me one step closer to being a better runner. For strength I look at other people's results and progress photos LOL. After a while it becomes habit. At this point I just do it and don't have to fight the mental games because it's just part of my day. It helps to keep the bigger picture in mind as well. I see the long-term benefits of exercise in the people that I love, and how detrimental not taking care of your body can be. I also enjoy getting time to focus on things that don't revolve around taking care of everybody else, and I get to just take care of myself.0
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Telling myself I can quit after 15 minutes, but I never do. Other times, I just tell myself to shut up and do it.0
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I also tell myself "you can quit after 10 minutes," although I've never actually quit. I love my workouts, so it's less about not enjoying them and more about just getting through that first 10 minutes when I'm being cranky and lazy.
I've had days where I had to tell myself that it's okay to downgrade to a different workout based on how I'm feeling that day, but it's not okay to do absolutely nothing. I'm pretty strict about getting in my lifts, but I allow myself a lot of flexibility when it comes to running; I've had days where I was feeling awful after work and knew that a run would SUCK, so I moved my planned run to a different day and instead took the dog on an extra-long walk.1 -
Another vote for postponing the decision. I do workout videos so I just need the mentality to hit "play" after I get up in the morning. So many times I hear my brain saying "you are stiff, you might hurt yourself. you are tired, you should skip today. you are not feeling well, you might make yourself sick"
So far I have told myself "Just hit play, if you still feel bad 5 mins in you can stop it easily enough" By the time I get to that point my sore muscles have warmed up, my sickness has passed, and I'm waking up.
Maybe twice I have still felt like stopping before the end, but by then I"m over halfway through the routine and I tell myself "meh you have 10 more mins you can do it" and always feel proud of myself for persevering.0 -
I have really grown to love workouts. I am motivated by the amazing feeling I get after working out and especially after the shower. Also motivated by how much better I sleep. I do Les Mills classes and really do love them. I think the only thing that will ever stop me is an injury or illness as I believe I am hooked for life. I think a good thing is to focus on these immediate benefits (the feeling after you shower, the better sleep) rather than on the weight loss as that takes much more time. There really are aspects of fitness that provide immediate gratification.
Also find something you like to do and just do it consistently.0 -
Seriously, I remind myself of everyone who said that I couldn't lose weight, that I would always be fat, that I'm lazy and worthless, that I'm not good enough. Well FU to them, and everyday I prove them wrong.
Normally, I just keep going because I love the results, sometimes I need a kick in the butt to get me started.1 -
I just put on my workout wear...it's on now..what else am I going to do?!
If I'm really reluctant I say I will only do my favourite parts of dance fitness.... inevitably this leads to a full blown workout. I always regretted not doing it when the energy comes later though as I need to wait 2-3 hours after eating or I feel sick. So, it's 4-6am time frame for me or nothing due to my schedule.
In the beginning I told myself any movement was better than nothing. If I had been lazy & not done a workout I could still walk to get that activity up without the sick feeling later in the day. Habits stick & eventually you don't really think about it except when you're legitimately ill or life prevents you...then you may even find that you're annoyed or disappointed you can't work out!
Lastly, find something you enjoy...that you look forward to. If I want fun, I do dance fitness. If I want to be immersed in music, I run. If I'm enjoying a Netflix programme I do strength training in front of the TV. If I'm feeling more gentle I will walk my way through some of my favourite podcasts.
It's all good compared to the majority of my adult life, sitting on the sofa eating mindlessly...took me a few months to figure out it's not always about the duration or intensity, it's about doing better at whatever speed is comfortable. I used to actually feel like a failure when I'd see folk doing hardcore workouts while I was out of breath & sweating after 10 minutes. But that's them & I was me. I admired them so much but they were where I was at one point...they didn't magically wake up with the ability to go full pelt for an hour with bodies they were proud of, they worked hard for it in stages. Now I guess I could be classed as being in that camp(surreal, let me tell you!) & I'm proud because I fought through the reluctance to build myself up. The rewards of this are almost indescribable!
Best best luck with finding the joy - go get em warrior!3 -
Much of my transportation is exercise.
I take the bus to cover longer distances, but walk pretty much everything else.
So one day each week, for example, I take the bus into town, but then I walk to my university, and after class walk to work ... up and down hills and with a heavy backpack on ... for a total of 5 km of walking.
When I run errands at lunch ... walk.
To catch the bus ... walk.
Dr appointment ... walk.
I do other exercise too, but at a minimum, I'm walking.0 -
Ugh. The mind has a way of sabotaging us, but we're smarter. I also do the "only workout for 5 mins" thing. If I really can't keep going, then I don't. 98% of the time I complete the original workout and sometimes more.
Getting started is the hardest part. I find that making exercise a nonnegotiable part of my routine helps, too. Now if I skip my early morning workout my whole day is off.... who am I? 😂0 -
Like a previous poster said, find something you love to do. For me, it's 9Round (kickboxing exercise workout). I can't wait to go back. I'm there at least 8-9 times a normal week. 35 minutes a workout, and a new workout starts every 3 minutes, so there's hardly ever a wait & you never have to worry about being late. It's hard, but it's fast paced, fun & quite therapeutic.1
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No excuses, just do it - I've been working out at least 5 days a week for the last 6 years without fail. Its become a habit which I never think of not doing, would feel strange to not to. Ok so some days I'm feeling bleh or tired but I just get on with it, 30-40 mins out of my day is not much to push myself to complete. In the beginning I committed to doing it for 30 days, on some of those days I didn't want to do it but I so much wanted to finish out the 30 days. The habit stuck.1
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Thank you for everyones response! I had no idea about the "5 minute" bargain concept but it's really genius especially because I never regret doing a workout, it's just getting to the gym that's the hardest part! You all are so inspiring!1
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Doing anything workout beyond your fitness level will make you feel that way.1
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