Why You Can't Get Yourself To The Gym
I’m not going to sugar coat this one, the only reason you can’t get yourself to the gym is that you don’t want to go.
You aren’t too busy. There are world leaders, CEOs of fortune 500 companies, and working moms who all make time for exercise. Believe me. If they can fit it into their schedule, you can fit it into yours.
You aren’t too injured. In college, I worked for the football team, and my primary job was to make sure the injured athletes still got a workout in on the sidelines. The exercises done by the injured athletes are less glamorous and far more monotonous, but keep them ready to rejoin the team when their injury heals up. If they can stay at an elite level injured, you can keep your waist size while injured.
You aren’t too tired. Look, you may be quite tired, I don’t know your life, but exercising isn’t the problem, it is the solution. Exercise helps you fall asleep faster and get more restful sleep. Soldiers exercise daily, and their sleep schedule is atrocious. A regular sleep schedule will make exercising far more accessible, but just because you missed a few hours doesn’t make you so exhausted you can’t walk a few miles. Many times in history, tired people have physically exerted themselves.
You aren’t too out of shape, too poor to afford a gym, too unmotivated, get too bored exercising, or whatever other excuses you can come up with. The only reason you have not to get yourself to the gym is that you don’t want to.
As a fitness professional, I get it. There are a lot of days when I show up to the gym and have no interest in working out. My job is teaching people how to exercise, and at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is stay for an extra hour and put myself through a workout. It just feels like more work. There are days where I’ll workout and think the whole time, “I don’t feel like doing this.” However, the feeling you get after exercise generally makes it all feel worthwhile. People talk about runners high or a rush of endorphins, and sure we all get those sometimes, but more often, after a workout, we feel good because we accomplished something we know is good for us. Mostly it’s the same feeling you get when you clean your apartment, glad that you got it done and a little happier with the space you inhabit.
There are days that my desire not to exercise causes a real half-assed effort at the gym and other days where I just don’t go at all. And that is ok, as long as you don’t eat like someone who is going to the gym.
There are tons of photos online of bodybuilders eating pizza and donuts, which many of them can do consequence-free. Bodybuilders will burn between 200-600 calories exercising in a day and have resting metabolic rates (calories they burn when doing nothing) far higher than the general population due to their muscle mass. If you eat pizza and donuts, you will likely gain weight, or if you eat anything that increases your average calories per day. Ignoring all the incredible benefits of exercise for your mental and physical health, the main reason I exercise is that I like to eat. I want to eat large quantities, and I enjoy dessert. An exercise routine allows me to eat ice cream a few times a week and not gain weight.
Why do you want to exercise?
You know my main reason, and besides the professional obligation, I want to look good and feel great. On the days I don’t want to exercise, I try to focus on the reason I’m at the gym. The meal I’m going to eat after, or the steps closer I am to achieving whatever physical fitness goal I have set for myself. No matter what your reason is for exercising, focus on that instead of “I don’t want to exercise.” It isn’t always going to work; in fact, most of the time, it won’t. However, about 25% of the time, it will give you the motivation you need to get out the door. The other 75% of the time, suck it up. Exercising is a habit like anything else; it will get easier the more you do it.
There are a lot of ways to stay fit even if you don't want to go to the gym. This book is filled with them :)
