Overcoming Resistance to Exercise

Are You Destined to Sit on the Couch?

If someone mentions exercise do you think, "I hate to exercise. There's no way I'm doing that. Exercise is hard, it's a drag, it takes too much time." These types of beliefs may be keeping you from discovering a fun way to add to your weight loss plan.

I'm a prime example. When I was younger I didn't like participating in sports. I felt I was clumsy, I couldn't throw a ball to save my life, and I'd rather not try to catch one (might hurt myself). I never felt confident about my ability on the practice field and I didn't have a competitive spirit. I didn't really care if I won, which tended to anger my teammates. So, if anyone talked to me about exercise I'd say, "Thanks, but no thanks, I hate sports." But something funny happened on the way to the locker room; I discovered weight lifting. Keep your eyes and ears open and you may discover some activity you love.

If you're perfectly happy sitting on the couch, then just accept you'll stay heavier because of it. It is perfectly fine to choose not to get up and move around, but if you do get up more often, you'll find that it feels good to move. Our bodies were designed to bend and flex. Physical activity just feels good.

Change How You Think And You'll Change How You Feel About Exercise

Lots of people say they hate to exercise, many because they relate exercise to grade school physical education class where they had to wear dorky shorts, hated how they looked, and weren't as athletic as the other kids so they felt bad or were chose last for teams. (I wanted to be chosen last, I really hated sports). Maybe too, they just hated dressing down in front of all the other kids.

These early unpleasant experiences leave most of us dreading the mere thought of "exercise." You may have noticed kids who did enjoy sports though. They were always a bit healthier, running, jumping, becoming out of breath and slapping each other on the back. They seemed to have something you didn't. A certain vitality, zest for life? Wouldn't you like some of that?

Exercise can be anything you do that isn't just sitting or lying down. Walking upstairs or down is exercise, carrying grocery bags is exercise, and so is bending and stretching to wash clothes or load the dishwasher. It's all a chance to move, and movement is exercise. All the chores around the house are exercise. Start to pay attention to how you move. Bend from the waist and squat down, using your leg muscles. Stand on tip-toe while you brush your teeth. Don't grumble when you have to go get the mail; be happy! It's exercise time.

If you like participating in sports maybe you can find some like minded neighbors and put together a few evenings a week basketball game? If you start something and are consistent, then exercise will help you lose weight even faster. So called weekend warriors are better than nothing, but try to add something mid-week as well. Walking is good, brisk walking is even better. It may be for you that simply getting up from your chair is exercise.

Getting Started with Exercise for Weight Loss

We all must start at our beginning point and work from there. If walking to the front door is your exercise, good. Start there. Get up and walk to the door and back again, every day working toward the day when you walk out the front door and to the street. Imagine, one day you'll be walking around the block. It may not sound like much, but it isn't a question of quantity but quality.

I once heard of someone who'd been in a terrible accident and she used rolls of pennies in her hand for weights. Now that is truly starting at the bottom but eventually she regained strength and today is healthy and happy. If you're reluctant to exercise, it could be how you think of exercise. Change from thinking of it as jumping jacks and running laps to something fun like hiking in the woods or walking on the beach. A change in perspective could be all it takes to overcome your resistance to exercise.

Finally, an Exercise Even I Could Do!

My love weight lifting (body building) because it's something I can do by myself (I don't lift so heavy as to require a spotter), and I can see results quickly (usually in six weeks or less you will notice a real difference with weight lifting). I also ride a stationary bike because I can read while I ride and I LOVE reading. The idea is to find something you really like so you'll continue to do it. If you joined the gym and you dread it, then it's not likely you'll continue that program for the long-term.

All Movement Counts as Exercise

What about gardening? I know a lot of people wouldn't consider gardening strenuous enough but I beg to differ. What was it that kept most people in better condition 50 years ago? It was more walking to the corner store, standing at the fence gabbing with a neighbor, sweeping the floors, beating the rugs, mopping, washing tubs of laundry by hand, chopping firewood, hanging clothes outdoors (my mom used to do this). Chores kept us healthy. Today those of us who do our own chores have a lot of work savers like washing machines, clothes dryers and car washes. Even the grocery clerks don't get the exercise of moving their fingers because now they simply swipe the food over the scanner.

Some people get a rowing machine or treadmill and put it in front of the TV and exercise while watching their favorite shows. If you're going to watch TV no matter what, put equipment in front of it and go for it. Living rooms are perfect places to put some equipment. Most of us hardly use that room at all and generally it's one of the largest in the house! Add to your exercise time until you've got around 30 minutes or more a day of actual movement and you'll see the pounds slipping away.

Realize that all movement counts and you'll start to feel better about regular household chores (maybe you will, at least give it a try). Do you have stairs? There's a piece of workout equipment and it didn't cost you a thing. You can walk up and down them, stand on the edge of one and raise and lift your heels (calf raises). Walk on tip toe sometimes. Every time you get up from a chair, use your leg muscles, maybe even sit down again and do it again. Stand against the wall and slowly lower yourself to a sitting position (or as low as is comfortable even if it's only a quarter inch).

Your House is a Fully Equipped Gym

Your house is a fully equipped gym, so start to use it. Just because you don't own fancy equipment or don't belong to the gym doesn't mean you can get regular exercise. Look around and be resourceful. Empty milk jugs filled with sand are heavy enough for most men to use as weights. Canned food can become a handy weight too. See what ideas you can find and have fun putting some exercise into your daily life.

~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

Get The Daily Bites: Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending the Struggle with Weight Loss.

---

The History of Pilates ? It All Began With One Sickly Child

A look into the history of Pilates helps you understand the tremendous power that this form of exercise has to help strengthen and transform your body. Unlike yoga, which has a tradition that... Read More

The Amazing Health Benefits of Walking for Exercise

Walking for exercise is a purposeful, brisk walk specifically designed for the purpose of improving health. It is one of the best and cheapest forms of exercise. If you want to improve your... Read More

How to Maximize Your Fitness Results

What I am about to reveal to you can make a drastic change in the out come of your fitness results. Many of us are willing to dedicate a decent number of hours... Read More

Exercise Intensity

"Physical Fitness"Some physical activities (exercise) are not intense enough to help you meet the FDA recommendations for being physically fit. Although you are moving, these activities do not increase your heart rate, so... Read More

Programming Brief: Exercise Order

One of the fundamental principles of exercise prescription, specifically resistance training, is the principle of exercise order. Which exercises do I do first? Which do I do last? Does exercise order really matter?... Read More

Physical Fitness - Is Your Workout Missing Something?

Hiking along a rocky trail, two of the three friends carefully picked their way from rock to rock. But one leaped from rock to rock, bounding by the others like a gazelle running... Read More

The Many Benefits of Exercise

Health experts encourage us to include exercise as a necessary part of our daily routine to promote our general well- being. Together with healthy and balanced diet, adequate rest and relaxation, exercise is... Read More

Do You Have A Fitness Battle Plan?

In fitness, as in war, you want to be on the offensive, not the defensive and this means that rather than reacting to maladies as they occur, far better to be in good... Read More

Warning! Lack Of Exercise Could Be Harmful To Your Health

You know it's bad when the Surgeon General issues a warning that lack of exercise is hazardous to your health. And that was back in '96. Since then, the stats haven't improved much,... Read More

Flattening Your Stomach in Four Easy Steps

You look at it every day and wish it would just go away; that little pouch below your belly button that keeps staring back at you. You do crunches, sit ups, the works,... Read More

Exercise Tips: Move Your Body - Boost Your Productivity

Do you find yourself setting a New Year's Resolution (every year) to get fit/go to the gym/lose weight/drink more water? If you could answer yes to any of those. I totally understand. I... Read More

Benefit of Pilates

One of the main benefits of Pilates is it refreshes your physical and mental well-being. Pilates is a series of controlled movements that unite the body and mind and creates a direct connection... Read More

The Truth About Exercise and Why Its Not Always Good for You!

Exercise is often regarded as a panacea for many things..."if you want to lose weight, you must exercise"; "if you want to get those feel good endoprhins racing, take some exercise"; "if you... Read More

Calf Cramps - How To Get More Gain For Less Pain!

I cannot imagine that there is anyone past the age of about 10, that has never had calf cramps. Let's face it, they are horrible. From having no pain and full movement to... Read More

How to Choose a Good Jogging Stroller

If you lead an active lifestyle and you want to include your new family additions in your outdoor activity then you need to consider getting yourself a good jogging stroller.Choosing a jogging stroller... Read More

Defeating Back Pain Forever

Back pain, one of the most common physical, and debilitating ailments today, affects 70% - 80% of us at one time or another in our lives. However, as a result of the obesity... Read More

Top 10 Exercise Mistakes and How To Fix Them

This is a list of ten common mistakes made during exercise. Quite often the exerciser and even the personal trainer or coach is unaware of these mistakes, decreasing the effectiveness of the exercise... Read More

Diet and Exercise ? Without Going to the Gym

Exercising and dieting are tasks that are very difficult for many of us, but usually just the thought of it that makes us queasy. There are some simple ways to get out and... Read More

Six Simple Strategies to Turn Your Walks into Workouts

If You are already fitness walking several times a week ? great! Now its time to step it up a bit. Here are 6 ways to turn your walks into workouts. They involve... Read More

The Degradation of Fitness Science

The world and our selves evolve and exist in a cyclic fashion; good times and bad? ups and downs? we experience changes that seem to repeat, including everyday cycles of sleep-wake and cell... Read More

Best Flat Tummy Exercises for Great Female Abs

Are there flat tummy exercises that are the best for great female abs? Abs-olutely! To make this list, the female abs exercises must be safe, effective and can be done nearly anywhere. Your... Read More

Arthritis Exercise ? One Way to Relieve Pain & Stiffness in Your Joints (part 3)

There are three main types of exercises to include in a basic exercise program:Range-of-motion exercises - These lessen stiffness and help with improving flexibility. "Range of motion" refers to the area within which... Read More

How to Pick a Good Personal Trainer

One of the major benefits of the YourBestBodyNOW Program and several other programs like it is that you can lose weight and meet your fitness and weight loss goals even if you have... Read More

6 Things A Norwegian Fable Teaches Us About Healthy Perseverance Part 1

Author, H. Besser, in his book, "Perseverance: How To Develop It," shares a Norwegian fable about a man who left his hometown to rejoin his fianc?e. They were to get married when he... Read More

Weight Loss & Low Body Fat ? High Calorie Burning Techniques During Workouts!

My name is Greg Ryan. I am a fitness expert, professional bodybuilder, personal, trainer to movie stars, and former employee of Kathy Smith. For twenty years I have been able to continually make... Read More

Pilates Exercises ? Can They Give You The Body Youve Always Wanted?

Pilates exercises are a favorite fitness choice for many people including movie stars like Danny Glover and Gweneth Paltrow, professional dancers, and even some professional baseball players. Why this fascination with Pilates? What... Read More

Do You Want To Be A Bodybuilding Champion ? The Power Behind The PEN!

IT ALL STARTED ON A TYPICAL NOVEMBER MORNING back in nineteen eighty seven. Life was changing for me quickly; I just didn't realize it at the time. I had been successful in some... Read More

Exercise ? More is NOT Better!

Years ago when I was a professional bodybuilder, I fell into the mindset that the more I exercised, the less fat I ate, the better I would look and feel. At the time... Read More

Basic Abdominal Exercises

If it's six pack abs that you're after, daily abdominal exercises are the key to reaching your goal. There are a variety of effective abdominal exercises that you can try out to find... Read More