Are you someone who HATES to workout? ...or maybe you don’t do it because you just chock it up to laziness.
You see someone like me who is all happy & bubbly doing burpees with a smile and ya just wanna slap me? ? Haha… it’s ok. I know I can be annoying like that sometimes.
Well, you’re certainly not alone in this department. In fact, I bet you’ve even commiserated about it with your co-workers or friends. Serious bonding can happen when you can loath something together. #WorkoutHatersUnite
There are plenty of women - and men - who hate exercising. They just do it because they know they should - it’s how they’ll lose weight or get healthy - and so they suffer through every grueling minute… ever notice that time feels like it stands still when you’re working out? That’s a blog for another day.
So, what if you’re just lazy? You don’t stick to it, much less even START it, because you’d much rather sit on the couch to cue up netflix than get off the couch to cue up & actually DO a workout video.
After a few decades of data when it comes to the effects of the diet industry on our culture psychologists have come to see a certain phenomenon happening. There are groups of people who hate exercising. They loath the idea of working out. They see themselves as either too lazy, in too much body pain or simply that working out is not for them.
It’s now referred to as “Exercise Resistance” and I think it’s worth exploring for a minute.
The mere fact that we are human beings means it is in our biology to move our bodies.
Yes, we seek easier ways to perform tasks, true, however there is a direct correlation between moving your body and firing up your mind, igniting your happiness and living a more fulfilled life.
To deny yourself of this basic human instinct could be worth a better understanding about yourself, don’t you think?
Here are 3 questions to ask yourself that may help you think deeper as to why you hate it so much, why you call yourself “lazy” or why you may have used the pain in your body as a reason to hold back movement in your life.
- What if you approached “exercise “ as movement instead?
Humor me & forget about exercise as traditional exercise for a moment. Imagine there are all these ways you move your body - you sit, you stand, you’re on the floor, you get up. You drive to work. You stand & watch your kids’ ball game - you reach your arms up & cheer. These are ways you move.
What if part of that happens to include dancing, or kickboxing, or lifting weights or yoga? These are just ways you like to move, they are not “exercise.” ?
- Do you have pain in your body that you use as a reason you don’t like to workout?
That pain is to show you something more than just the physical attention that your body needs. There is also a mental & emotional component. For this question, I highly recommend Heal Your Body by Louise Hay. Her work might just change your life.
- What if you acted like you loved yourself?
Seriously. What if you could step outside yourself for a moment & observe what you might do if you acted like you loved yourself. What behaviors would you possess? What behaviors would you no longer have an interest in? How would you treat yourself? What hobbies would you take up?
These are all incredibly important questions to explore if you are in a situation where you can’t seem to follow through on a workout plan and you find inner resistance coming up & fighting you every step of the way.
Your thoughts & behaviors on working out and taking care of yourself came from somewhere. It is often in your own upbringing and what you learn from your parents… and from their parents. These things can be so ingrained they appear as our TRUTHS as our REALITY. And what if it’s not? What if there is more to your story?
When I go off the workout wagon my story is usually “I don’t have the time”. You helped me to see that my story was a by-product of a self-worth issue. I had an issue giving valuable time to myself beyond getting dressed and eating. I see now it’s about being nice to myself – I would never turn a friend or family member away who really wanted 30-60 minutes of my time – so why would I do that to myself? I’ve evolved my thinking around investing this time of my day to my well-being.
YESSS!!!! Excellent shift in perspective, Gina!
Let’s see….when I was heavy, I think, maybe ya, I didn’t like working out so much. Then I noticed my clothes getting bigger. This was a purposeful process. I knew that since the weight didn’t arrive yesterday, it wasn’t leaving tomorrow. Once I saw the progress I was all “hell ya!”. I probably did 6 days a week no strength as I hadn’t met Dana yet. When I joined here, before I began to love myself, I did view it as somewhat of a chore. When I discovered me and little by little me time became my norm, I have a different view of exercise. I love the challenge and when I don’t work out I won’t beat myself up. It’s still me time but in a different way. My personal evolution is ongoing. Sometimes I’ll start a work out and think evil thoughts but I love how I feel when I’m finished. And am I really finished?
It’s interesting to observe that kind of natural evolution with learning to love yourself and appreciating exercise, eve if there are certain days you’re not that into it – you still overall see how it’s more in line with taking good care of Teri. Love this. Thanks for sharing!