Overcoming Psychological Barriers To Exercise
Exercise is not everyone’s cup of tea and there is no shame in admitting that you don’t enjoy it or particularly want to do it.
However many of the barriers to fitness are mental rather than physical and if we can overcome them then it might lead to you finding a love for exercise…
1.Fear Of Failure
This is a very common mental barrier to exercise and a very understandable one. When you don’t have experience in the gym or aren’t used to regular exercise, the idea that you will fail can be scary and lead to you avoiding the chance for that to happen.
Here we highly suggest booking yourself into a class or into a 1-1 session with a trainer so that you have some support for the first few sessions. A trainer will help you to find the right weights and exercises so that you feel more confident and less worried.
2.Feeling Self Conscious
This is another common feeling and we can understand why you may feel nervous in a gym environment. Again we recommend going to the gym with someone for the first few sessions so that you feel like you have support whilst you get to know the space. We also encourage you to chat with people as this will reaffirm that no one is watching you, everyone is there to feel fitter and healthier!
3.Lack of motivation
We all have the struggle sometimes to get motivated for exercise. Everyone has good days and bad days but it’s the consistency that really makes the difference to our training.
If you struggle with motivation then we highly recommend 1-1 sessions as these will ensure that you turn up and workout even when you don’t feel like it. Accountability is the best way to help motivation so having someone to keep you on track will make a big difference!
4.Previous Injury
This is a very common mental barrier as well as physical as often we panic or worry about injuring ourselves again through exercise. If you are returning to the gym after exercise, we recommend starting slowly. Even if it feels easy, really take your time to get familiar with the gym again so that you feel confident and don’t feel you are over pushing.
It is also a good idea to book one or two sessions with a trainer who can give you some advice and support on how to manage your training as this way you will feel confident about exactly how to train.
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