The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak – you want to start, but there are oh-so-many reasons you can’t quite do it. But why is that, and more importantly what can you do about it? The following article sets out the three most common hurdles, and suggests ways you may finally be able to pass them.
“Health is wealth” it’s a cliche we’ve all heard maybe a million times before, we know that a healthy lifestyle involves keeping active (regular exercise) together with proper nutrition, and yet (food insecurity aside) we still see a large portion of the global population failing to be sufficiently active to keep healthy. To put it another way, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) about a quarter of the total world population can be described as living sedentary lifestyles – in simple terms, we are little more than a bunch of couch potatoes.
WHO describes exercise as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscle that requires energy expenditure.” By this definition, exercise can be any movement that requires some effort, though it recommends a specific amount of exercise to avoid lifestyle-related diseases.
Truthfully, we can say that most people begin their fitness lifestyles with less concern about lifestyle-related diseases and more about the functional and aesthetic potential of a physically fit body. We want to be fit because being fit is attractive, and we like to be attractive because it makes us feel good about ourselves. The functionality of fitness extends beyond the gym and into our daily lives, helping us carry things around the stuff more efficiently, walk up and down the stairs without being winded, and bend over to pick things up without any trouble.
Despite the clear benefits of being physically fit, the feelings of apprehension and difficulties in staying the course that many people experience on their road to fitness are fully understandable, and here are three clear examples of just why that is, as well as a few experience-based tips on how to possibly overcome them.
There is a steep learning curve
You can’t sugar coat this one, if you’ve been mostly sedentary prior to enrolling in a gym you are not going to switch from blob to god in a day; the number of things you need to learn and life changes you need to make can seem a little overwhelming.
It doesn’t matter how “basic” a workout is – you first have to break it down into its smaller parts, the basics of posture, repetition (reps) and groups of reps (sets) that need to be followed to be safe and get maximum benefit. While most of us don’t usually mind (or even notice) a sloppy or imperfect posture in our everyday lives, in the gym an incorrect posture can literally end in disaster, causing accidents and injuries that are not only painful and demoralising in the moment, but can take a long while to heal. The first rule is always to keep safe, you can’t get fit if you are flat on your back with an injury.
Experienced gym-goers will inevitably seem leagues away from your own capability at first, but that’s only because they’ve been at it for a while longer than you. Looking at how hardcore they can be, it’s hard to picture them as once being beginners and failing at things, but I assure you, they’ve also been fumbling newbies at some point. See them not as a reason to be dispirited, but instead as an inspiration of what you can be when you too make the needed commitment to exercise. There is a reason why the gym community is (mostly) a friendly and supportive one – we’re no strangers to the challenges of starting a fitness journey and we admire anyone willing to commit to such self improvement, no matter if that’s finally a small or big change.
Take your time in learning the fundamentals. Progress takes time. Taking the time to learn the basics is an essential part of the process. Don’t be intimidated by the weights and machines or the difficulty of the exercises others seem to be doing when compared to you. Stick with it, you’ll get there at some point but only if you focus on the task at hand, doing your own best in your own workout routine.
Level up your exercises one step at a time, don’t move on to the next level of effort until you are comfortable with where you are, listen to your body and know your limits – this is a competition only with yourself, but do remember to set new goals and self-improve over time. The growing strength and improved techniques you acquire will, bit by bit, compound, and before you know it you might well be the one extending a helping hand to the gym newbies.
It’s very physically challenging
Strength and endurance are essential attributes you need to build as you work on getting fit. Exercise raises your heart rate and breathing rate, accelerating your circulation, generating heat, and producing sweat. As a beginner, this means getting hot, sweaty, and generally uncomfortable. You’ll feel out of breath, and you’ll inevitably feel lightheaded at times. Remember to keep well hydrated before and during exercise, and if you find yourself to be low energy despite that, consider a healthy protein snack next time (before you work out) to bring a little extra energy – but avoid sugar based products that bring an unnatural high and little else.
Don’t overdo it. When you get lightheaded your body may be telling you it’s all going a little too hard or too fast. The harder you work out, the greater muscle pains you may have to endure later, but a little soreness after a workout is fine – it’s part of the process of muscle development, but being too sore to come back the next day won’t help you at all, so keep a measured pace – remember the tortoise and the hare, healthy living is a marathon not a sprint. Work your body to the extent that you get moderately tired, but not so tired that you won’t be able to function afterward. Use lighter weights with more repetitions (as opposed to heavier weights with fewer reps) if you have to, but more importantly, don’t forget to warm up and cool down properly for exercise to avoid injuries.
Motivation is hard to come by
Contrary to what the name implies, physical fitness involves more than just physical effort. Getting fit involves training your mind as you train your body. Showing up at the gym every day and pushing through the intense discomfort of a workout requires resilience, stamina and mental fortitude. Many gym enthusiasts say that the mind gives up before the body does, and they’re right.
Here’s the thing – motivation and resilience doesn’t just happen. It’s something you have to actively create. While there are many tips out there on how to find the motivation to work out, mine is a bit more simplistic: integrate it into your daily routine.
Humans are creatures of habit. We get up, have breakfast, brush our teeth, and get on with our day. By the end of the day, we have dinner, brush our teeth again, maybe read an ebook or browse social media, and get to bed. Slotting in your daily gym time somewhere in there will give you a bit more structure in your fitness lifestyle. It will then become a non-negotiable. Just as you have to eat and brush your teeth, you have to go to the gym.
Set a daily workout minimum – one that is moderately tiring enough to work you up a sweat, but that you can do even after a long day. This daily workout minimum is absolute, but you can exceed it on days when you can go stronger or longer.
Factoid: Some say that it takes 21 days to build a habit and 66 days to make it automatic.
Be mindfully consistent in your routine as you begin, but eventually, it will become so integrated into your way of life that it will become natural to the point that not doing it will feel out of place.
Key take away points to success?
- Don’t set unrealistically quick goals, self improvement is an incremental upcurve
- Physically pace yourself and listen to your body, it knows its own limits
- Routines take time to build, the longer you try the more natural it becomes
