It is easy for us humans to come up with excuses not to be active and why we should not stick to our exercise program. These excuses appear more frequently when our motivation levels begin to wane and we lose sight of our health and fitness goals.
Although one or two missed exercise sessions may feel insignificant at the time it may signal the beginning or a much more important motivational lapse that can cause a critical change in a person’s commitment to a healthier lifestyle. All lengthy breaks in exercises begin with a missed session or two.
What can separate a single missed session from the ‘beginning of the end’ is what happens on the next scheduled session. It is important that you do not miss this session and if you have more excuses not to exercise examine them and come up with a solid plan to counter then and get yourself back on track immediately.
It is normal for commitment and motivation levels to be stronger or weaker at different times. What got you going yesterday may not do a darn thing today. You will always be at a crossroads about whether you do or whether you don’t. The idea is to keep it manageable and easy to fit in. This can be done with making sure the exercise time you outlay is effective and not wasted doing low intensity recreational activities that will do little to boost your metabolism or strength.
For the most ‘bang for your buck’ in time outlay is of course a proper exercise program that contains mostly strength training exercise. This directly targets all of your major muscle groups taking them through their ranges of movement under a load in the shortest possible time frame. You will only need two sessions of 30-40 minutes each week if you do the exercises at the right intensity level (degree of difficulty).
You can get three times the results in half the time when you do it properly. The idea is to work hard enough to boost your metabolism not only during the session but for hours (even days) after the session. This will give your fat burning machinery a tune up that no amount of endurance type activity can give you. Save these sorts of things for after you have done your proper program and only if you have time left over. Just do not do them instead of your program if you want results.
If your sessions are kept to a minimum and you try and work harder when you do them you will be very pleased with your results. Keep reminding yourself of the many benefits: weight loss or weight management, boosted metabolic rate, more energy, stronger muscles and bones, better mood, better sleep and reduced risk of injury and disease.
Everyone would agree that proper exercise is a vital component of any long-term self-care program. So, establishing a routine that easily fits into your life is important and you will find strength training exercise will do that so you can live a higher quality of life.
