This is why you don’t exercise, and how to fix it
The other day I did a poll on my Instagram Stories and asked “what stops you from exercising regularly?”.
50% of respondents said a lack of motivation or enjoyment
29% said time
14% said injury, illness, or energy levels
7% Not knowing what to do
Before I address all the answers individually, I want to remind you why exercise is SO important. It lowers the risk of many diseases and early death, it’s fantastic at maintaining mental health, it keeps our bodies strong so that functioning throughout life is easier, boosts energy, improves sleep quality and helps to reduce many menopause symptoms too! Honestly, if exercise was a drug, everyone (who’s not opposed to prescription medication) would be on it. The side effects are minimal too. There is a risk of injury from time to time and some people might take it too far and develop an over-exercising disorder. But that’s it. That’s why it’s soooooooo important to make exercise part of you life.
But I get it, regular exercise is hard. For the rest of this post I’m going to try to convince you to make regular physical activity a part of your life, and give you some tools to get started.
What to do if you aren’t motivated to exercise, or don’t enjoy it.
Feeling motivated to exercise and finding ways to enjoy it are very complicated issues. I believe they boil down to one thing - linking working-out to being thin. If you were alive in the 80s you would be well aware of the exercise craze that coincided with the launch of home video players. Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons and Dancersize were all the rage. It’s the first time we saw other people exercising. Everyone in the videos was extremely thin, very fit and barely sweating. Jane coined terms like, “feel the burn” and “no pain, no gain.” Seeing these videos made us feel like the only reason to exercise was to get “results” and the only results were the ones you could see - a change in body composition.
But as I mentioned above - almost all of the benefits of exercise are invisible. You can’t see the results, but you can definitely FEEL them if you are paying attention.
One way of dealing with this is to track the results in other ways. Click here to download my free exercise and mood tracker. Keep track of both for a month and notice the difference regular exercise makes to your energy and mood. Once you notice the difference it will help you to stay motivated.
Now, if you don’t enjoy exercise, you are simply doing the wrong type for you. Leg warmers and leotards are not required. A stroll in the sun, an afternoon of gardening, a yoga class, dancing in the kitchen, lifting weights, playing with the grandies - these are ALL valid forms of exercise. Try to break out of the “no pain, no gain” mindset and move in ways that light you up.
What to do if you don’t have enough time to exercise?
Firstly, I call bullshit. (Was that too harsh? Sorry 😞). But the reason I say that, is a tiny bit of exercise is better than none! I wrote an article for the local newspaper about this. Just 11 minutes a day can be so beneficial, and those minutes don’t even need to be consecutive. Three or 4 minutes here or there is fantastic.
My free exercise tracker breaks down your daily exercise to 3 sessions of 5, 3 and 3 minutes with ideas on what to do. Download it here and get started tomorrow (or now!)
What to do if you are injured, ill or lacking energy?
Firstly, I want to say, I see you. I understand how that feels and how it takes a mental toll. And it sucks because exercise is great for keeping us energised and healthy but not if we are already sick.
Here’s a couple of ideas. First of all - rest. Make the decision to let go of the whole exercise thing for now and focus on recovery. Sleep more. Use any energy you have to prepare nourishing foods. Secondly - practice things like meditation and journaling to help you heal. And thirdly - when you have small windows of energy, you could do a few minutes of stretching or take a short walk, and build up slowly but surely. You could also try this yoga class I recorded as I recovered from COVID a couple of years ago.
And, my exercise tracker is for you too. It has a section for intentional rest and meditation. Try these for a month and track your mood, and see where you end up.
How to exercise if you don’t know what to do?
Nowadays, there is so much information online about exercise, it can feel overwhelming. My exercise tracker breaks down how to include 11-minutes of exercise into your day. You could start there.
Or I love these walking workouts on YouTube. Or call up a friend and go for a walk. Or come to one of my yoga or fitness classes. Or get a personal trainer. Or try a class at a gym. So many options. Just try one and go from there.
I hope this post has inspired you to exercise, and find a way that works for you! And if Jane Fonda leg warmers are your thing, go for it!!
Start planning for 2025
I know we still have the silly season to get through, but 2025 is just around the corner and I’ve got a few exciting things in the pipeline!
I have some 4 week terms of yoga and fitness classes in January. Tuesdays 5.45pm yoga, Thursdays 7am Vitality 30 Menopause Fitness, Fridays 9.30am yoga. You can book your spot here. And if you want to start 2025 with bang, you can sign up for as many classes as you want in January for $99. Contact me to get this awesome deal.
I am putting together a small menopause health coaching group for the first 6 months of 2025. This will include a monthly in-person group session plus WhatsApp support in between sessions, plus recipes, meditations, 7-day challenges and more. Full details out soon but if you are super keen you can reserve your spot now.
I already have all my dates for retreats in 2025. Both Bali retreats are sold out but you can see when the day retreats and the Denmark retreat will be by clicking here.