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Physical activity is clearly beneficial. It helps you stay healthy, keeps you in shape, eliminates extra pounds. Nevertheless, the realization of all this does not always make you get up off the couch, go to the stadium or pick up dumbbells.
The intention to do sports often remains unrealized. You postpone it to Monday, then to the next week, to the beginning of summer. Let's try to answer the question: why does this happen and how to start?
Lack of motivation
The most common reasons that prevent a person from exercising are not original.
Tiredness after a working day, busyness with household chores, the exercises themselves cause boredom. In general, these three points are enough for explanation and complacency. However, the real reasons for the lack of motivation can be much more complex.
Unfamiliar activity
Workouts must have a certain structure, otherwise the effectiveness is greatly reduced. These are special programs tailored to the needs and capabilities of the individual with strict adherence to the schedule. When faced with something new and in the moment not the most pleasant, it is easier to postpone the activities for later. Take a break, think a little more, gather your thoughts.
This tactic is especially relevant for people who have a busy daily schedule. By evening there is no physical and mental strength left, there is no desire to strain the body and deal with the training program. This problem is especially relevant for people who have never exercised before.
Sitting comfort zone
The average person living in a large city doesn't have to move much. Many of us work at a computer, spend our evenings in front of the TV or with our phones, scrolling through the news feed. Some enjoy online games, maybe books, but it's still a passive pastime. Only the brain works relatively hard, while the body remains sedentary, resting in complete comfort.
Sitting and sometimes lying down becomes a comfort zone. It is always very hard to get out of it. Not only will you not be paid for it, but you will have to pay for it yourself. For what? You ask and stay on the couch.
Exercise is a luxury
Many people perceive playing sports in adulthood as a luxury. It seems as if it is the highest rung of the pyramid of needs that opens up once you reach the top. First earn a million dollars, start a family, have a child, buy a house and a car and only then satisfy other whims.
Such an image easily aligns with the pictures we see in social media and movies. Many famous people really did become rich and famous first, after which they began to invest huge sums of money in their health. You look at stories like that and think, “I guess the time hasn't come yet. I'll focus on my career first, and then I'll concentrate on sports.”
Too heavy loads
Training takes time, often costs money, because you need to buy a season ticket or at least sports equipment and clothes. As if this were not enough, they are also physically demanding. It is necessary to run, jump, pull iron.
Sometimes, walking down the street, you see a jogger or a kid, soaked not from the rain, but all the same to the thread, goes by with a ball with an exhausted face.
You think: do you really want to do the same? Perception paints sports as something extremely hard, monotonous, meaningless and therefore negative.
No negative consequences
You've put off the day you'll definitely start exercising many times already, and it's no big deal. Of course, you're aware of the long-term negative consequences. You'll gain weight at some point, you might get more serious health conditions, but after all, it's not exactly known, there's no set time frame.
Meanwhile, life is full of things that have immediate or soon consequences. You ignore a traffic light, you get in an accident. Miss a few days of work and you get a lower salary or go on the job market altogether. So working out seems like something not so meaningful with vague pros but pretty obvious cons.
How to motivate yourself
First of all, physical activity is aimed at the activity of the body, which enjoys all the benefits derived from sport. Strength, speed, endurance, finally, an attractive shape.
However, almost all obstacles to training arise at the mental level. Thus, to move on to body development, you must first work with your head and thoughts.
Realize how life has changed
Not so long ago, the average person had far more reasons to move. No online shopping or delivery. You had to go in person for every purchase. All household chores (from washing dishes to general cleaning) were done entirely by hand. Students usually walked to school.
Without the internet, we generally spent a lot more time outdoors. Modern technology makes life more convenient, but this comfort has its hidden cost.
Like extra pounds, shortness of breath after a 100-meter dash, and more serious ailments in the long run. Realizing that your body really isn't getting the exercise it needs makes sports a beneficial activity. It's not a fad, it's not striving for the perfect magazine cover image, it's a health concern.
Embrace the need
A strong and healthy body can only be obtained through effort. No miraculous pills, diets, surgical operations can compensate for the lack of physical activity. At best, you get a beautiful wrapper, which can cost you a lot later.
Do not consider exercise as a choice - it is a direct necessity like keeping a clean house, taking a shower, washing clothes. If you overpower yourself in the first few weeks, the obligation will turn into a habit. Don't assume it will always be as hard as the first few days.
Find the meaning
All workouts have a primary and understandable meaning - to get in shape, to lose excess weight, to get a beautiful body.
However, beyond that, there may be less obvious, but no less important goals. For someone it is a time of complete privacy with himself. Another, coming to the stadium, fights anxiety and stress. The third, doing sports, at the same time listens to audiobooks, which can not get to during the working day.
If you give extra meaning to exercise, it will become a desired and most anticipated event.
The right choice
Everyone has different preferences in everything, including sports. You may not like soccer, basketball, or any other team sport. In the same way, you may not like martial arts or a gym with exercise machines. Choose exactly what you like, without looking back at fashion and the opinion of others.
Maybe you don't like the very concept of fitness clubs, an hour-long ride on an exercise bike with a stare into the wall or monitor seems something silly. No problem - buy a real bike and choose any location.
Adjust the intensity of training - there will be no quick result anyway. So there is no point in overloading yourself in the first days and weeks. Roll in gradually, increase the load when you feel the need.
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