How to Get Pass 7 Common Roadblocks To Getting In Shape

• 1. Gymtimidated

  

The idea of walking onto a gym floor where everyone seems to be in super duper shape with buffed chests. anaconda sized arms and model bodies can definitely send one headed for the exit.

You're probably thinking what many fitness professionals have heard time again from clients and gym newbies: 'I need to get in shape before I go to the gym'.  It doesn't work like that.

Here's a few tips to help you:

1. Hire a Personal Trainer at the gym.   He or she will be able to show you how to use the gym equipment.  They can also familiarize you with your body's basic anatomy and show different ways you can exercise to achieve the results you're looking for.

2. Take a Group Fitness Class.   They can be an excellent way  to introduce you into the gym atmosphere and you get the added bonus of having an instructor lead by example.

3. Take the Pressure Off Yourself.  Most people at the gym are too focused on what they are doing to really pay attention to you.  Without prematurely projecting your mindset onto others, if by chance the gym has a snooty environment, then find another gym.  You have options.

Intimidation Be Gone!

 

2. Confused/Overwhelmed

 

 

We know what your're thinking:  There are so many machines and pieces of equipment everywhere that have all these settings that I don't know how to use.   Plus I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing.

What are reps and sets ...?  How do I work on my arms and chest?

Dumbbells and kettlebells, resistance bands and medicine balls!!!???  WTH!!!????

Here's a few tips to get past the confusion:

1. Ask for help.  It's been said time again and it still holds true, the worst question is the one you don't ask. Find a staff trainer and simply ask them to take a few moments to instruct you on how to use a piece of equipment or suggest a few exercises for the body part you're interested in working on

2. Take time to read the instructions.  That pec/delt thing-a-ma-jig machine over there 9 times out of 10 has illustrated instructions showing what muscle group it works and how to use it.   Still having a challenge?  See tip no. 1

3. Subscribe to a fitness magazine.  No not Muscle & Fitness but Men's Health and Women's Health are two magazines that are geared towards the everyday Joe and Jane who want to exercise and improve their bodies.

Or like Freddy, he took action and joined us at GS Fitness Boot Camp.  Here's what he had to say

 

3. Self Conscious/Doubt

 

Everyone seems to be already in shape and know what they're doing.

You're thinking; 'I'm not on their level and am so far out of shape that there's no point in starting now.  I can't do it'.

Yes you can.

Keep these tips in mind:

1. Tell yourself,  'I may not be able to do it now but I will find a way to do it'.

2. Work with a Personal Trainer or go with a Friend who exercises regularly.  A Fitness Professional or Fit Friend can be a source of motivation and can push you beyond your normal comfort zone.  Before you know it, you're doing gym stuff that normally you wouldn't have done left to your own devices.

3. Kill the Self Saboteur.  Basically get out of your own way.

4. Don't Enjoy Exercise

 

Is it possible that you equate exercise with pain, being sweaty and out of breath?   Yeah that doesn't sound too enjoyable either.  We're not going to front and say that some of those effects are non existent.   Keep in mind that pain is a sign of something that is wrong.  Exercise doesn't cause pain, it causes soreness because it stresses muscles in a good way.

After having worked with quite a few clients over the years who've made exercise a routine in their lives, their mentality towards soreness changes; they look and expect it post workout.   Yep, clients comment that as they've gotten better at exercising, their bodies aren't as sore and they question if they're working out hard enough.  It indirectly becomes a measure of progress.

So here's a few tips that can make exercise more enjoyable:

1. Make exercise a routine.  Give yourself a chance to get past the initial discomforts of sweating, being winded and the soreness that happens at the beginning stages of exercising.  After a while, you may find that as your body becomes stronger, you'll be looking to go harder in your workout and what were once discomforts are no longer a big deal.

2. Be open to trying something new.  Are lifting weighs or the thought of running on a treadmill turn offs? Try out alternatives ways of exercising that you may enjoy.  There's boot camps, hiking, biking, tennis, zumba classes, yoga, martial arts, boxing ... .

 

5. Too Tired to Exercise (Low Energy)

This here is a self fulfilling cycle - don't exercise and your energy level continues downward.

Numerous studies have shown that previously sedentary individuals develop more energy to get up and go after engaging in a regular exercise program.

Yes, you must use energy to exercise but in turn you'll gain more energy because your body will have increased and more efficient oxygen delivery and processing.

It's highly unlikely that coming home to plunk down as a couch potato in front of a television is going to leave you feeling energized.

So here's a tip to get the energy up to exercise and more:

• 1. Exercise in short bouts.  Try to fit in at least three 10 minute work-out sessions throughout your day. Think about it, only 10 minutes put aside to get in some exercise. You'll start finding that your energy level will improve so much so that you'll be able to increase the duration of the time you're exercising

• 2. Exercise.  Yes just start.  If you're feeling tired and are tired of feeling tired and having low energy, start exercising.  The energy will come.

Listen to what Julissa experienced after joining us at GS Fitness Boot Camp...

6. No Time

 

Time, hmm it seems there's never enough of it.  Yet somehow we make time for those things that are important to us.  Are your health and well being important enough for you to make time for them?

There's the commute home and then getting in the door then changing into gym clothes and then getting to the gym or trying to get a workout in while your kids want to know 'What's for dinner?'.  It can all be a bit much and yes, eat up quite a bit of time.

All is not lost though.

Here are some creative and sensible tips to help you find the time to exercise:

• 1. Wake up a bit earlier.  Get up a half hour earlier in the morning before everyone else wakes up to get in a sweat session.  Go for a bike ride, jump rope or a run.

• 2. Join a gym close to work or home.  Then you've set yourself up for the following

  • At lunch time, instead of whittling an hour away at your desk or sitting in a restaurant, you can hit the gym to get your workout in

  • Before you head home after work, hit the gym, get your workout on and have the rest of your evening to yourself

• 3. Workout during commercial breaks

• 4. Become a weekend fitness warrior.   Work obligations and schedules may be less demanding allowing you to go for a run, bike ride, pick up game of ball at the park...

7. Family Obligations

Whether its watching your kids, checking in on elderly parents or other, caregiving and tending to family obligations can be a special challenge to being able to exercise regularly.

These are ways to still get your exercise in.

Try these tips:

• 1. Join a gym that offers childcare sitting.

• 2. Include your kids.  When exercising, take them with you for a walk or follow an exercise video together. They'll think its fun and benefit from the exercise too.

• 3. Trade babysitting times with your neighbors.

• 4. Talk with your spouse.  Ask them to watch the kids while you take time for yourself to get in an exercise session.  Make the case for how important it is for you and you have a built in support network.

• 5. Arrange your schedule and stick to it.  Plan your workout sessions on specific days or blocked out times when you're not visiting or tending to family responsibilities.