Tom Holland, fitness trainer, author and triathlete, talks about the Motility Training app and how it will help you get fit. He also mentions the top five excuses he’s heard while working as a personal trainer and what you can do to overcome them.
Here are the common excuses and Holland’s responses:
1. I HAVE NO TIME. Stop. Enough is enough. I don’t care who you are or what you do, you have time. The average American watches something like three hours of television daily, yet the most common excuse for not working out is lack of time. A disconnect? I don’t care who you are, you can get up 30 minutes earlier. Studies have consistently shown that getting in a workout first thing in the morning give you more energy, not less.
My best clients are the busiest. You need to make your workout a priority. Are you a busy mother who thinks she can’t take time away from her children? Your kids will thank you for getting your workout in. Trust me. You will reduce your stress level and be a calmer, more patient mother as a result of your workout.
Don’t wait until you have a health issue to find the time to exercise. Do it now.
2. I HAVE A SLOW METABOLISM. Even if you do, which is most commonly self-diagnosed or diagnosed by someone with questionable credentials, so what? The weight gain attributed to this, even if true, is not a significant percentage. And most important? If you believe you have a slow metabolism, there is one surefire cure: eat less.
As my crazy friend Chris likes to say, “It’s not your metabolism, it’s your fork.” Having a slow metabolism means you don’t need as many calories. Remember, it’s about energy intake and energy expenditure. If you burn less, you need less, so you should consume less.
This is also the very reason you should be focusing on strength training. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat. That means that the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn 24/7. Without doing anything. So you can actually speed up your metabolism, revving up your fat-burning engine, through exercise.
3. I EAT REALLY WELL BUT STILL CAN’T LOSE WEIGHT. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Once again, you need to get honest about what you eat. Snacks, drinks, handfuls of this and that, everything. Ever watch the show “Survivor” ? The contestants are stuck in remote locations for several weeks, with limited access to food, and the pounds fall off each and every one of them. It’s a great illustration of how much we all consume and how every body type will lose weight when subjected to caloric restriction.
Over the years I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of people tell me what they “think” they eat. What I want to tell them is not to bother. I know what they eat. I’m looking at them.
4. I’VE BEEN BUSTING MY BUTT BUT STILL AM NOT SEEING RESULTS. Then you haven’t been working out long enough, or at the right intensity or with the right exercises. Or all three. It amazes me how many people think they should see major changes after just a few weeks of working out. You didn’t gain 20 pounds in a month, and you won’t lose it in that amount of time, either. You may also be doing your cardio at the wrong intensity. Or your overall program design may be flawed. The bottom line is that if you are working out correctly and at the right intensity, you will absolutely see results.
5. I DON’T WANT TO GET BULKY. Fear of the “b” word is one of the main reasons women avoid certain exercises and exercise routines and one of the primary reasons they don’t achieve their best bodies. It drives me batty when I hear a woman fretting about getting “big.” Being bulky is caused by excess fat, not by building “big” muscles. Not only are you deceiving yourself by avoiding certain exercises for fear of building too much muscle, you are keeping yourself from having the body you always wanted.
For more information about Holland, visit www.TeamHolland.com.