We all know exercise is good for us. It builds healthy muscle tissue, helps get rid of fat and is great for our hearts. Besides these obvious benefits, exercise can make you  help you beat depression and is great for your brain. Despite knowing all these things, many of us still struggle to make exercise a regular part of our lives.

Roughly, 7 out of 10 adults in the United States don’t get the required amount of regular exercise.  62 percent of adults get exercise during leisure activities, but very few exercise regularly. Regular exercise is what gives the health results you need. Even if you just go for a brisk walk for 30 minutes five days a week that can have a tremendous impact on your health.

Why don’t we exercise?

There are a number of reasons people give for not starting an exercise routine. Those reasons can be…

• lack of time
• hatred of exercise
• giving up on exercise because you don’t see result
• inability to afford a gym membership
• not knowing how to exercise
• feeling intimidated and overwhelmed by exercise
• lack of motivation
• lack of self-discipline

Making exercise something you love.

To many people exercise is something you specifically do for the health benefits. When they think of exercise they think of spending a half hour on the the a stair machine, exercise bike or treadmill. It doesn’t have to be like that though.

You can get physical exercise doing something that you enjoy, if you’re not wild about going to the gym. Try taking dance classes. If you like competition get involved in a sport like tennis, soccer or football. If you’re interested in learning to defend yourself, take a martial arts class. If you like outdoors, start hiking or kayaking.

Exercise doesn’t have to be some punishing thing. Combine it with a hobby and you’ll find it much more enjoyable.

If you can’t think of anything that involves physical exercise that you’re already interested in, try something you haven’t done before. You might like it. You never know until you try.

The Gym

Some people love the gym. They thrive in that environment. They love being around other people exercising. It makes them feel motivated. It makes them want to exercise more.

Other people feel intimidated by the gym. All the people around them looking like they really know what they’re doing just makes them feel bad about themselves. They don’t know how to use the machines. They don’t know the lingo. They feel like they’re too fat to be at the gym. They don’t think they have the right exercise clothes.

I used to have a friend who was a personal trainer. He had very strong opinions about gyms. He thought that everyone should join one. That was the best way to workout. He constantly urged me to join a gym, but I never did.

I was a member of a gym once when I lived in Korea and going to it was a real struggle for me. I just didn’t like it at all. I hated all the machines. I hated changing in the big open locker room. I just hated it. Some people aren’t gym people and that’s okay.

If you can’t afford to join a gym or you just don’t like gyms, that’s fine. Don’t join one. Instead, take a class, start an exercise group, or buy some exercise videos to workout with. All of these things are good ways to get exercise. Sticking with it is much more important than where you exercise. You can even buy exercise equipment that you can use in your own home.

Not seeing result?

Many people expect to see results too soon. The change that takes place in your body can happen slowly over time. If you haven’t dropped a certain amount of weight in a month, don’t give up. Continued exercise helps to sculpt your body. It can take 12 weeks before you see any changes in your body at all and even then the changes may be small. Keep going. There are other benefits to exercise besides weight lose.

Don’t feel intimidated.

You may feel intimidated or overwhelmed by the whole idea of exercising. Don’t let yourself become scared of something that’s good for you and can be so much fun.

Learn about it first. Do some research about exercise and how to do it properly. If you want to join a gym, when you join ask for some help using the exercise machines. Many gyms will offer you one free session with a personal trainer. Try working with a personal trainer to help you learn how to exercise correctly.

If you can’t afford a personal trainer or gym membership, talk to your friends. Find out who exercises regularly and what kinds of exercises they do. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from people you know. Starting an exercise group with friends is another good way to learn about exercise and stay motivated.

There are also plenty of exercise videos you can buy. You can even watch exercise videos online for free.

Finding the time.

There are 24 hours in a day, but often times it can feel like every hour is jam packed with things you have to do. Squeezing exercise in might seem impossible but it can be done.

Look at your schedule honestly. Is there anything you can cut out? Could you cut out a half hour of TV time to exercise?

Working out while doing something else is another option. You can exercise while watching your favorite TV show or do some bicep curls while talking on the phone.

Exercising in several 10 minute intervals is as good as exercising for a block of time straight. If you can only grab a little time here and there, use that time to do some lunges or sit-ups.

Work exercise into your normal schedule by parking farther away from the store or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Here are some more ways to work exercise into your day.

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Finding discipline and self-control.

Discipline and self-control are a main factor in finding time to exercise. Like the muscles you’ll be exercising, self-control needs to be exercised too. If you’re out of practice with it, it’ll take a lot more to cultivate.

Try to make exercise a habit. You can do this by doing trials. On Steve Pavlina’s blog he does 30 day trials. Tonya TKO, a video blogger, does 21 day challenges. These are all good ways to form habits.

Pick a block of time and commit to exercising everyday until that time is over. You should aim to do the trial for at least 21 days in a row. Doing something for that long everyday gives you a set amount of time to do it. If you don’t like it, you’ll know you’re going to stop after 21 days.

What you’ll find with exercise is that doing it everyday for that length of time will make it a habit. After the time is over it will feel strange not to exercise. Making it a habit will make you more likely to maintain a good workout routine.

Photo by filtran

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