All of Your Scariest Fitness Fears Dispelled

Regardless of age or ability level, sometimes it’s just hard to find the energy, motivation, or confidence to get back into a workout routine. Whether you fear getting injured or are just reluctant to get back into the gym, it’s important to remember that a little anxiety about recommitting to exercise is perfectly normal.

This Monday, take a moment to consider the thoughts that are holding you back. By identifying our own barriers, we are better equipped to break them down.

Check out our list of common fitness fears, and start overcoming them.

Little/No Time

Our schedules are pretty tight, but there’s always some time to fit in some fitness. If you’re stuck helping with homework or cleaning up after dinner, use this time as an opportunity to perform some quick-and-easy kitchen workouts, like counter pushups or stove squats. You can also find more creative ways to fit in fitness, like parking farther away from store entrances or taking an additional walk up and down your staircase.

Intimidation

Getting back into exercise can be a lot to handle. Build up your confidence and squash feelings of self-doubt by repeating a few positive affirmations throughout the day. These words of inspiration provide the extra courage and focus you need to take your first (and second) step towards exercise.

Lack of Support

You don’t need to be working out next to someone to be part of a fitness community. Create your own virtual workout group by connecting online with friends, colleagues, or distant cousins. You can send each other sweaty selfies or other (maybe more flattering?) evidence of your progress. If you’ve got a full household, get everyone involved in your workout by practicing some easy family yoga poses.

Low Energy

A lot of factors contribute to your energy levels, but a restful sleep can really make a big difference. Try getting some extra shut-eye, and make sure to schedule your physical activity for times you feel the most awake and energized.

Missing Motivation

Sometimes, even the assurance of better health is not a strong enough motivator. To solidify the commitment, try scheduling a specific time to work out, and write it down on a calendar, weekly planner, or in a fitness journal.  If your workouts are getting a bit drab or monotonous, mix up your exercise routine to infuse it with a some more fun.

Fear of Injury

An important way to avoid injury and stay physically active is to understand your fitness level and know your health numbers. A quick self-assessment can help you identify which parts of your body are strong and healthy, and which may require some extra attention. Before doing any strenuous movements, make sure that you warmup beforehand and learn the proper form. Engaging in some simple stretching at the beginning of a workout can also reduce the risk of a strained muscle by improving your flexibility, coordination, and balance.

Lack of Skill

You don’t need to be a fitness junky to get in a decent workout. Any regular physical activity—walking upstairs, jogging around the block, carrying groceries—can be converted into a form of exercise. Try finding ways to fit in fitness; you’ll be surprised at how quickly those steps add up. Even an activity as innocuous as gardening can be a useful form of physical activity.

Cost

Want to work out for free? Easy. You don’t need any expensive gym membership or equipment to exercise. Walking, dancing, home workouts, and free online fitness classes and tutorials are all no-cost exercise options that can spice-up your fitness routine without busting your bank account.

Poor Weather Conditions

It’s too wet; it’s too cold; it’s too hot—these thoughts always cross our minds when the weather isn’t ideal. But on these less than perfect days, consider taking your workout or Monday mile indoors. Getting a modest workout even on days when you don’t feel like will help you stay consistent and on track.

Here’s Why Warmups and Cooldowns Need to be Part of Your Workout Routine

Warming up and cooling down are two important components of every fitness routine, but how can you use them to improve the quality of your workout?

Benefits of a Warmup

Although there’s no strict definition for what constitutes a “warmup,” the basic idea is doing an activity or exercise at a slower pace to help prepare the body for more intense aerobic workout.

A warmup gradually engages your cardiovascular system, which raises your body temperature and increases blood flow to the muscles. This improves the elasticity (the stretchiness of muscle tissue) and can help reduce muscle tightness, pain, and risk of injury.

A warmup can also be an exercise in itself. Stretching during or immediately after your warmup can improve your flexibility in both the long and short term. Just remember to stretch after you’ve done a short aerobic exercise to get the blood flowing to your muscles.

Properly warming up before a workout can also benefit your mental state. If you start your fitness routine with heavy weights or a strenuous aerobic fitness routine, you’re more likely to be discouraged. Starting slowly and easing yourself into your exercises gradually prepares you for a full and effective workout.

Benefits of a Cooldown

After you finishing a workout, a 10-minute cooldown allows body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure to return to their normal levels. Stopping an intense exercise abruptly without a cool down can possibly lead to dizziness or even fainting.

Cooldown exercises, like stretching, walking, foam rolling, and deep breathing, can help lower your risk of injury and reduce stress to the heart and other muscles.

If you’re looking to incorporate more stretching into your workout routine, try starting with some beginner yoga poses. Stretching helps improve your flexibility as well as range of motion around the joints, while also benefitting balance and bone health.

This Monday, take a few extra minutes before and after your workout to fit in a warmup and cooldown.

First Things First: Talk to a Doc and Know Your Health Numbers

Are you physically healthy? — Seems like a simple question, right? But if you’re like most people, you might have trouble coming up with an answer.

That’s because health is a tricky thing to quantify.

Now that you’ve decided to incorporate more physical activity or exercise into your daily routine, it’s important to have a foundational understanding of your physical wellbeing. And there’s no easier way to do that than by talking to your doctor and getting to know your “core numbers.”

By knowing these measurements, you’ll be able to approach physical activity with a renewed sense of confidence and safety. And your numbers can serve as the baseline from which you can measure and track your progress.

Research shows that Americans say they are most likely to call to schedule a doctor’s appointment on Monday (40%) than any other day of the week (Tuesday is next at 9% and 30% have no preference for the day of the week).

So, this Monday, make an appointment to meet with your doctor and make sure you leave knowing these core four measurements of health:

Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a widely used formula to measure body fat, and although the calculation has its flaws, most notably its inability to account for factors like bone density and muscle mass, it is still useful in gauging whether you are overweight. BMI is a simple calculation that uses your weight and height. Although you can figure this number out yourself, it’s best to go discuss the details of your BMI with your doctor or physician.

Blood Pressure (BP)

A blood pressure reading measures the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels. Having high blood pressure is often the precursor to heart attack, loss of visions, heart failure, or stroke, which makes knowing and understanding these numbers critical. Blood pressure can fall into five different categories of severity, so it’s best to discuss your blood pressure results thoroughly with your doctor to understand the most appropriate course of action.

Cholesterol

As one of the most discussed indicators of health, your cholesterol is an important number to know. Having high LDL (bad) cholesterol and low HDL (good) cholesterol can lead to the formatting of plaque around the arteries, leading to heart attack, stroke, and a myriad of other health risks.

Blood Sugar

Maybe the most important number to know, high blood sugar indicates that your body doesn’t make insulin or properly use it. Over time, this condition can damage the blood vessels, nerves, and organs. Ask your doctor to check your fasting glucose level or hemoglobin A1C as part of a routine blood test.