Exercise Hurts?

Why do we tend to avoid exercise?

If you exercise on a regular basis, you probably are scoffing at the idea that the average person avoids exercise. But the reality is that most people have a good reason for avoiding exercise and that is because exercise is painful and time-consuming. Just think about how the average American only takes off 16 days in a year, so making time to exercise means taking time away from work and other activities.

But the question has more to do with why we avoid exercise if you avoid exercise?

There is some interesting research that points to how we talk to ourselves lead to us avoiding exercise. Experiential avoidance is the idea that we avoid things that are negative in our lives.

Exercise is good for us, but with the good, there comes the pain of getting the results you want. It isn't easy to lose weight, it isn't easy to run up a big hill, and it isn't easy to find time to exercise.

The other problem with exercise is that there isn't always the results that are expected from the activity. I say this because you look at a fitness magazine and see pictures of people that exercise and they are insanely skinny and toned. These false images portray an ideal that is based on people that exercise and diet at levels that aren't disclosed.

Can you suppress the negative thoughts to force yourself to exercise? You can and you will if you want to get to the finish line in your first 5K or whatever goal you set for yourself.

There are plenty of reasons for not exercising, but if you make irrational excuses, well, maybe then it is time to take a look for ways to motivate yourself to look at exercise in a way that will benefit your life.