Exercise Helps with Aging Gracefully
I tell my students. “Pat yourselves on the back. You made it HERE for exercise class!”
My personal advantage is that I am a fitness and yoga teacher. Teaching makes me accountable and forces me to exercise on the days when I don’t feel like it!
I DO have excuses to NOT exercise. Would YOU like some?
Excuse: When I exercise at home alone, nobody knows if I miss a day… or a week!
BUSTED: Commit to just one minute of exercise daily. When I go for one minute, I’ll usually do more! And if I do that every day, it becomes routine, and it’s WHAT I do. It’s WHO I am. It becomes a MINDSET!
Excuse: When I am going to a new group exercise class, it’s SCARY! What if I can’t keep up? What if the students aren’t friendly? What if they laugh at me for being uncoordinated or weak?
BUSTED: Change my thinking. I don’t HAVE to do this. I’m CHOOSING to do this because it’s good for me. I might make new friends, but if they’re not friendly, I’ll just focus on me and see how well I can do. Who cares what someone else thinks anyway?
Excuse: When I go to the gym, it can be an unfriendly place because so many people are wearing earbuds. They’re in their own worlds, with either blank faces or heads bobbing to music that I can’t hear. I can’t just ask, “Do you know where… ? Can you help me… ?
BUSTED: Just last week I saw someone without earbuds and said, “What should we talk about since nobody will hear us?!” We laughed about how different the gym is compared to when we were younger when we could easily make friends while working out. Nonetheless, it started a conversation.
HOW HARD IS IT TO EXERCISE?
It’s SO HARD that your heart will have to beat faster, you’ll break into a sweat, and your body may start trembling from effort and exhaustion.
Yes, it’s REALLY challenging!
Keep up the good work and keep trying new remedies to conquer your excuses! The benefits of exercise make it all worth it!
Read more Aging Gracefully articles on the Benefits of Exercise:
- Benefits of Exercise: Better Driving
- Benefits of Exercise: Flexibility
- Benefits of Exercise: Understanding Bone Loss
- Benefits of Exercise: Prevent Depression
Please share your thoughts in the comment box below!
Do YOU have some excuses or excuse-busters to share?
What do YOU do to bust your excuses?
It’s goo d to get started and it’s kind of self perpetuating … once I started , I don’t want to miss a day
Thank you for bringing up that very good point, Carol!!
Hi Kathryn,
Hope you are doing well! I loved this article and your suggestions for “self talk”. I had a teacher once tell me that to “begin a task is to be half done”. I have found that to be so true when comes to exercising! Once I’ve dragged my lazy butt to the gym and get started all is good! One other thought, I have NEVER come home from exercise session said that I was sorry that I went.
Klaus
What a great attitude you always have, Klaus! We feel lazy until we get to the gym – and then we feel accomplished afterward! I’m working on some one-minute videos for people who want to exercise at home! You’ll see them on the website soon!