As a certified personal Trainer whose primary focus is special populations and senior health, I’m always sympathetic when asked to train people who haven’t exercised in years. Workout anxiety is real, but we must overcome it to live long, healthy lives.
Working Out is the Best Medicine
The American College of Sports Medicine recognizes that exercise is medicine. We need to move more. But it doesn’t have to be what you think.
The Fear of Exercise
A lot of people dread exercise. There’s a lot of workout anxiety around finding the recommended 30 minutes 3 times a week, maintaining proper form, looking stupid at the gym, and trying but failing to lose weight.
Over the years, I have developed a simple, non-threatening program to help people overcome their fears and start exercising.
Here are the secrets I share with my clients to help them move more without the anxiety.
Forget Time Limits
Is it better to work out for 30 minutes, 5 minutes, or 0 minutes?
Of course, 30 minutes is the ideal, but what if you don’t have 30 minutes? Five minutes is better than no minutes. With exercise, anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. Don’t let a lack of time stop you from doing something.
A lot of us have workout anxiety because we can’t fit daily exercise into our schedules. But you don’t need to find 30 whole minutes. Stand down and sit up for five minutes. Run up a flight of stairs. Dance to your favorite song. These short bursts of activity are better than nothing.
Make it Fun!
Exercise often feels like work. We have to go to the gym and spend 30 horrible minutes on the treadmill, bored out of our minds.
Or do we?
The first think I do with my clients is convince them that exercise is nothing more than child’s play, and second, I show them that just like child’s play, it can be fun!
Use Fond Memories
Before I even attempt to teach some basics, I sit my client down on a chair facing me and ask them to remember back to their childhoods or even tell me about the goofy things their kids or grandkids do, like rolling around on the floor, doing somersaults, bouncing on the floor, and things like that. (No, we don’t bounce Grandma on the floor.)
You Don’t Even Know It’s Exercise
After a few minutes – talking and laughing about their memories, I ask if they could do me a favor and stand up. Without hesitation, they stand up, and I quickly ask if they can sit down. Then, before they can react, I ask them to stand up again and praise them for doing two squats on their own.
In every case, the client is astounded that they just did a squat.
I use this method to ease folks into the first phase of an exercise program by showing them how everyday movements can be considered exercise if you do more than one. Sit down and stand up ten times, and you did ten squats!
Teaching Simple Moves
From there, I teach folks how to use their legs to stomp the floor while seated in an exercise I call “kill the cockroaches.” As they stomp the floor, I point where I want them to move their legs by joking, “There’s a roach, get it!”
Getting all the roaches is a fun game, but it also works out the leg the muscles.
After a few sessions, I get folks to trust me and begin exercising with weights, bands, and balls, even progressing to boxing with real gloves.
The Secret To Overcoming Workout Anxiety
Did you catch the two big secrets to moving more?
First, you’re already moving. Do what you’re already doing, just add a few extra repetitions. Don’t just get up and go – get up, sit back down, and do it all over again. Don’t just walk to the sink, walk there and back again.
The second secret is to make it fun. You can get fit by adding little dance moves when you wash the dishes, indulging your inner child in a silly race, or rolling around on the floor. Instead of going for a jog, pretend you’re giving chase. Instead of going to the gym, play a beloved sport.
Bringing the fun back into your workout will help you stick with it and make exercise a part of your daily routine.
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