When You Just Don’t Feel Like Exercising

Q: How can I wrap my brain around the motivation to exercise? I know it’s important to do, but I never have the urge to do it and even if I try to do it anyway, I have a hard time fitting it in.

A: People who work out are as busy as people who don’t. The difference is that some way, somehow, they make themselves exercise—even when it’s the last thing they feel like doing. Sports psychologists, behavioral nutritionists and exercise physiologists have spent years trying to pinpoint what motivates regular exercisers in the hopes of using that information to spark the less motivated.

There’s no easy answer.

Some research points to a possible genetic component connected to the tendency to be active. Put a group of mice in a cage with an exercise wheel and some will jump right on, others do so sparingly. Likewise, some people literally can’t wait to get home from work and throw on their exercise gear and go out for a run or hurry to their favorite exercise class. But others can’t think of anything less appealing.

Let’s face it: You can rationalize your way out of doing anything. You can always find an excuse for why you don’t like an activity or why it’s not right for you, or why there are a zillion other things you could—or should—be doing. But when it comes right down to it,there is absolutely no acceptable excuse not to fit some daily physical activity into your life. Even if you already have illness or physical limitations, you still need to figure out what you can do and how to make yourself do it.

And you can’t afford to put it off, either. The more you avoid exercise, the more negative repercussions you face. Not only are you at higher risk of many diseases (or at risk of exacerbating illnesses you already have), you’re likely to have an earlier death. And in the shorter term, you’re likely to gain weight. Plus, you’re going to get flabby, feel less energetic, and become weaker. And this atrophy speeds up the older you get. So while you might not notice many deleterious effects of being inactive in your 20s, by the time you’re in your 50s or 60s it will make all the difference in how you look and feel. Want to be a 50-year-old who looks like an old fogey? Just continue not to exercise (and while you’re at it, eat badly, too). Or do you want to be one of those vibrant, active, inspirational 50-, 60-, or even 70-somethings? Well, you know what you need to do.

The question remains: How in the heck do you motivate yourself? There is no one perfect approach, you may need to have an arsenal of make-yourself-workout tactics to pull out when appropriate. Here are some ideas:

1. Give it 10 minutes.

This approach is surprisingly effective. If you can simply lace up your sneakers and get that patooty out the door, that’s 90 percent of the battle. Chances are you’ll get into the groove once you get started. Very few people quit once they are actually moving, but lots of folks never even make it to a genuine workout moment, despite their best intentions.

So, if you need to bribe yourself by committing to a mere 10 minutes only of walking or hopping on the cardio machine, then do that. Chances are, once you’re moving, you’ll keep on and extend the workout. But even if you did stop cold at 10 minutes, you will have still achieved something—climbed out of your rut. Plus, even a daily 10 minutes adds up to more than an hour a week of exercise that you might have otherwise missed.

2. Repeat  the reasons why you want to work out like a mantra.

Are you hoping to look better for a college reunion or wedding? Or are you wanting to look in the mirror and feel better about what you see? Are you wanting to have more energy to play with your kids or grandkids? Whatever it is that you know you can get from regular exercise, you need to wield that expectation like a weapon to bat away your urge to plop on the couch. Visualize what it is you want and how you will feel. Let that vision push you out the door, or onto an exercise machine.

3. Find an activity you like or a way to enjoy something you don’t.

Yes, it’s true: Cardio machines are boring as hell. But that’s what iPods and TVs are for. Cardio machines are tedious, but they are also a tool, and if you re-jig your perspective you might appreciate the multi-tasking ability you can take advantage of. For example, if you want to learn a language, load your iPod with some French or Spanish lessons and commit to listening three times a week while walking on the treadmill. Or, rather than laze on the sofa and read, load up an iBook and listen as you sweat. If you are a Lifetime movie fan or a political news junkie, what better way to waste all those viewing hours than by pedaling your way through them?

But gym machines are far from your only option.

Group fitness classes are designed to motivate you. That’s what an instructor is for. So promise yourself to try every single type of class on the schedule of your local club until you hit upon one that makes you want to go back. It could be sports conditioning or tap dance or step aerobics or Spinning. Better, commit to attending two different classes of each type, taught by different instructors. Some teachers have a personality that will inspire you. And some teachers have such excellent teaching skills  that they can present an aerobics routine in a way that has you empowered and actually doing the moves, rather than tripping your way through them. (By the way, if you feel like a klutz in a class, that’s the sign of a bad teacher; one who’s showing off their own moves, but not bothering to break them down into achievable steps that can be performed by non-pros.)

The gym might not even be your scene. Check out parks for group sports lessons like tennis or volleyball. Or check out dance and/or martial arts studios. Somewhere there's bound to be an activity that clicks for you.

Do you have a fitness or weight-loss question for Martica? Send e-mail to experts@microsoft.com. Please include Ask Martica in the subject line. Each of our experts responds to one question each week and the responses are posted on Mondays on MSN Health. We regret that we cannot provide a personalized response to every submission.

Martica Heaner, Ph.D., M.A., M.Ed., is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and an award-winning fitness instructor and health writer. She has a Ph.D. in behavioral nutrition and physical activity from Columbia University, and is also a NASM-certified personal trainer. She has written hundreds of articles for publications such as Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of eight books, including her latest, Cross-Training for Dummies. (Read her full bio.)

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