Overcoming barriers to exercise

Although there are already many gyms in all major cities and in many towns and villages, physical activity levels in England are still low and many people hold negative views about exercise. Work reasons, lost interest and time to do other things are the main factors that stop people from regular participation in moderate to vigorous sport or physical activity. So what gets people moving?

The key to getting yourself to exercise is to find ways to motivate yourself enough to sustain the change. Major motivational factors for taking exercise are: to feel in good shape physically, to
improve or maintain health, to feel a sense of achievement and to go outdoors.

Overcoming barriers to exercise:

• Complexity of exercise movements. Keep the movements simple and gradually build up the skills to increase your confidence.
• Speed of exercise movements. Avoid quick and uncontrolled movements, which could increase the risk of injury and trauma to the joints and surrounding tissues. Exercise at a preferred or comfortable pace.
• Graduated progression of exercise intensity. Ensure that workloads, repetitions and sets are increased progressively in accordance with your
  exercise goal.
• Start up resistance levels. Take into consideration your capabilities. Do not overdo it and cause yourself injury. If free weights are uncomfortable, then try alternative exercises for the same body parts or try out some resistance machines in a gym. Establish realistic starting goals. Goals must be attainable. You need to set yourself small goals to start with. Decide which activities best fit your daily routine and set goals that are sufficient and realistically challenging. Your goals need to be achievable, measurable, timeframed and realistically challenging to promote compliance.
• Keep the sessions varied to avoid boredom. Vary your programme goals or the programme. For example, use time, distance or calories goals or look at interval training programmes.
• Use social support structures. Get support from friends, family, a personal trainer, workout buddies, peers, and interest groups etc. to keep you on the exercising track.
• Relapse. Relapses are the norm. Many of us have relapses due to illness, work schedules, holidays, family commitments etc. Create a fall-out plan to prevent yourself from dropping out when unplanned breaks interrupt your schedule.
• Keep the exercise sessions fun and enjoyable. Motivation to exercise is generally improved during the first three months by clarifying your expectations, establishing exercise preferences and needs, setting realistic goals, establishing a sense of self-responsibility and using social support structures. If you still need motivation then give me a call. Please ensure you have the consent of your GP before embarking on a new exercise regime and do not undertake physical