People tell me all the time that they are going to get fit. They will start going to the gym next week. They know they need to go to the gym and will start soon.
None of this makes the slightest bit of difference to your physical body. It also doesn’t really work for your mental state. Saying these things may make you feel better temporarily. It doesn’t change anything really, and at heart you know that.
Some people even tell me that they’ve bought a gym membership. When I ask them, if they’re using it, they will often admit they are not. I usually tell then that it doesn’t work like that. They nod or laugh – they already know that.
Waiting for the time to be right to go to the gym
Many people never go or hardly ever go, because they are waiting for the time to be right. When the evenings are less dark. When I’m less tired. When my children are a bit older. Ask yourself honestly: are these reasons or excuses? Decide now – are you going to go? Or are you going to go on making excuses?
Waiting to be thin enough to go
People who are overweight often feel they need to lose the weight BEFORE they go to the gym. They are ashamed of how they look. They may feel they will be laughed at in the gym. Read my blog post on this and how to overcome it.
Waiting to be fit enough to go
This may be more common among men, but some women have this too. They don’t want to go to the gym and be pathetic. They don’t want to be slow on the treadmill. They don’t want to get breathless on the skier. They don’t want to struggle to lift even puny weights. But waiting won’t get you anywhere. You won’t become stronger and fitter that way. Go to the gym. Get stronger. Get less breathless. Get faster. These are things everyone does who goes to the gym regularly and works out hard.
And being really unfit when you start is in some ways the dream way to start. You will see improvement come very quickly because you are starting from such a low point.
Deciding to work out at home
People sometimes say: “I don’t need to spend money on a gym membership, I can work out at home.” Of course, my response is always: “So are you doing that?”. The answer is usually no. By all means workout at home, but only if that works for you. Yes, you can save money that way. Yes, you can save the time you would have spent travelling to the gym. But home workouts don’t work for most people, because they are just not disciplined enough. “I’ll do it later” can quickly become “Oops, it’s time for bed. I don’t want to workout now because it will wake me up too much.”
If you really do wnat to work out at home, check out my review of the amazing HASfit videos.
There are always reasons not to go to the gym. But there are far more reasons to go and workout, working towards creating the body and mind you want.
