Some people hate to exercise
Not dislike, but actually hate to even think of it. There, we said it. We acknowledged it. We know it to be true. If this applies to you then today will be especially helpful.
One way to help you overcome this hate is to change the wording that you use. Your thoughts are a powerful thing and if you say that you hate exercise – you are absolutely going to hate every form of exercise out there.
Hate is a strong word. Anthony Robbins says if you think, “I have to do this activity” you won’t enjoy it as much as when you think of it differently. Instead think “I get to do this activity.” It gets the same results physically, but completely changes how you feel about it.
Another trick is to find your passion words. These are words that get you fired up. They will trigger strong emotional responses – so make those positive. What you put into your brain is what you get in return.
Everyone has exercises they don’t like to do, but saying you hate all exercise is like saying you hate fish or broccoli. When that isn’t actually the case, you just haven’t cooked it the right way or found the exercise or activity that you love.
There are so many different activities that you can enjoy while you exercise. Think of things you used to do as a child – ice skating, roller blading, playing tag, taking hikes, walking the dog, shooting hoops with friends, snowboarding, skiing, swimming – that is an awful lot of things to hate.
Answer these questions
They will help you understand why you feel the way you do about exercise.
- Are there specific exercises you don’t like?
- What about coordination? Do you feel like you couldn’t learn dance moves to save your life?
- Did you get made fun of while exercises in your life?
- Are you afraid that people will watch and make fun of you?
- Is it hard for you? Like, truly physically difficult?
- Do you feel like you have better things to do with your time?
There might be a hidden reason that you don’t like to exercise. It could be from your childhood or even that you don’t like to sweat in front of other people. Whatever it is there is a way to overcome this feeling towards exercising.
Can you think back to a time that you were physically active and were having a great time? This type of activity is what you need more of.
Have you tried something new that looks like fun? Some people will stop themselves from trying an activity because of the cost or they think it looks too hard. Rock climbing could be one. It might be hard, but how do you know unless you try.
Photo: Fit Approach/flickr
Stop the hate, and try this
- Start small
When you think of exercising three to five times a week every single week for the rest of your life it’s overwhelming.The brain visualizes the time and effort, then freezes up.
What happens next? Nothing. You do absolutely nothing. Instead don’t look at your entire lifetime. Take it one day at a time and create a small daily habit like we talked about yesterday.
What kind of activity can you do today? Five minutes today is all that you need and it’ll be over before you know it. You could have been marching in place while reading this article and it would be over already!
When you’ve gotten used of doing five minutes increase it. Small habits compound into huge results over time. So even if you stay at five or ten minutes a day – you’ll do so much more for yourself then doing nothing.
- Don’t beat yourself up or shame yourself
It is a fact that people have negative self-talk – especially when they feel like they are not doing something right or didn’t do something they set a goal to accomplish. What happens then? They stop doing whatever activity that they were doing.
Stop making yourself feel bad because you didn’t reach a magical number that is supposed to be a good amount of time to exercise each week. Who cares if you exercise five minutes every day this week or thirty minutes twice a week?
Today’s assignment: Exercise for five minutes
Do a set of 10 jumping jacks, walk around your block or even your house, play with the dog, ride bikes with the kids. Do an exercise today. It doesn’t matter what it is or how long you do it. Get it done.
Notice how you great feel afterward! Your mood will improve and you’ll soon realize that you can do this!
Don’t forget to work on the small habit you are working towards that you created yesterday and drink your water!
You’ll enjoy tomorrow’s lesson and we give you lots of tips that will help you succeed.
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