MTSU Faculty-Staff Wellness Program
STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING EXERCISE BARRIERS
By Mark H. Anshel, Ph.D., Program Director
Barriers are inherent to starting and maintaining any new healthy habit – exercise, improved nutrition, coping with stress, and taking recovery breaks, to name a few. Here is some information on ways to combat barriers to the program’s number one goal – adhering to your new exercise program. Each of these barriers, although real, are controllable and, therefore, can be managed, according to the research exercise psychology literature.
Not Enough Time: Without question, this is the most common explanation for not exercising – or dropping out after starting a fitness program. Is it realistic? Can we actually run out of time? Answers: (a) The excuse of “no time” is a perception – a person’s subjective view of things. It may or may not have anything to do with reality. (b) There are 168 hours in a week. If we exercised just 3 of those hours, which is the minimum that researchers suggest, that would be only ONE PERCENT of our total week (3 of 168). (c) Exercise is an investment; a bit less time now to do other things, but much more time to do things later and more efficiently due to more energy. Not enough time? We spend 10% of our week in front of the TV, and 5-6% on the phone. What’s your priority when it comes to good health? How about waking up an hour early twice a week for an early a.m. exercise bout? Perhaps coming home one hour later twice a week due to your exercise routine after work?
Lack of fitness information/knowledge: A very common problem, because no one teaches most of us how to exercise correctly. Consequently, our poor form results in discomfort, injury, and lack of effective results. That’s why this program has coaching – a lot of it (e.g., fitness, nutrition, mental health, work-related). I also invite you to purchase written materials on fitness, such as the book we use in our undergraduate fitness program on sale at the bookstore, or any other written materials that are available. Be your own coach. Or hire a personal trainer.
Lack of confidence: This comes with improvement, mastery of exercise skills (such as weight training, proper use of the machines), and the perception of competence. Most of us in higher education have a personality trait called high need achievement. We place ourselves in achievement settings, set challenging goals, and have high self-expectations toward achieving those goals. Therefore, it is natural to feel low confidence (and, therefore, be uncomfortable) in settings in which we are novices or relatively unskilled. As you gain experience and progress in your exercise skills and fitness level, your confidence will increase – dramatically. Confidence is all about task mastery, so stay the course!
Intimidated to exercise in public: We have discussed this before. First, most people are too busy exercising to pay attention to you – even the students. Second, stop caring what other people think. Stop empowering others to dictate your behavior. Third, the best way to stop thinking about what others think is to develop routines upon entering the exercise venue and keep moving. No need to stop and look around, unless you feel comfortable making eye contact. Working out with a friend is one way to focus on the task at hand and avoid intimidation.
Do not have exercise partner: We – your coach - can help you, here. Tell your fitness coach you are looking for someone with whom to exercise. Your coach will ask around for others who exercise at a similar time and are also happy to work out with a partner. You can also invite your partner (spouse, friend) or work colleague to exercise with you.
Lack of support from partner and others: This is a tough one. You don’t want your desire to get fit, lose weight, and become healthier grounds for divorce. Perhaps your partner is insecure when you are away, or that losing weight will result in becoming “too attractive” to the opposite sex. Insecurity does nasty things to people’s minds. First and foremost, try to include your partner in your exercise routine. Second, try exercising at home – again, with your partner, if possible. Third, try to exercise during the day when at work rather than leaving the house early or coming home late due to your exercise routine. If all else fails, then work with a professional counselor to determine the reasons your partner or family will not support your wish to exercise. Bottom line is this: healthy relationships are based on supporting your partner, especially when it comes to improving one’s health. If someone does not want you to exercise, seek professional help to find out the reason(s) and change the situation.
Have history of giving up: This is amazingly common. So many people say “I tend to stop what I start, anyway, so why even try.” Or they will quit exercising when they are forced to temporarily stop, perhaps due to illness, vacation, or injury (a phenomenon called the “abstinence relapse effect”). Your body will “retrain” quickly after stopping temporarily. Do not give up. Also, an exercise partner, personal trainer, goals, meeting social needs, exercising in a comfortable venue (even home), and detecting progress are all ways in which a person can feel reinforced and positive about his or her exercise participation.
Too expensive (e.g., exercise clothing, personal trainer, club membership): Exercise clothing and equipment make great gifts, so ask for something that will promote your exercise habit. Or save up a few dollars, buy one less new outfit, or take a few extra dollars from that next paycheck and treat yourself well. Do all that you can to support your new exercise habit.
Not close access to exercise facility: Researchers have found that people will not travel more than about 3 blocks out of their way between work and home to attend an exercise facility. If this is your situation, try to exercise at work (if not in a fitness facility, then walk stairs, walk across part of campus, do sit-ups in your office, ANYTHING that causes you to move), or buy exercise equipment for your home. The reason we tend to ignore our home exercise equipment is because we lack structured routines to use it. In addition, we tend not to think of home as a place to relax and spend our time with passive entertainment devices, eating, speaking on the phone, anything but exercise. Equipment collects dust – our promises and New Year’s Eve resolutions to the contrary.
Fear of injury: Not at all uncommon, especially as we age and have a few aches, pain, and previous surgeries and illnesses. So, with assistance from your physician, personal trainer, and, perhaps, a physical therapist, exercise intelligently. Be sure to be aware of your physical limitations, but do not avoid movement. Your muscles – including your heart, which is a muscle - need it.
Find exercise unpleasant: Bottom line is that many of us just dislike exercising. Of course, we have trained ourselves to be sedentary, so exercise – which we all KNOW is good for our health – so, naturally, so force our body to move quickly is stressful and unpleasant. “You are who you train to be!” (another program mantra). Some of us can also blame our former physical education teachers and sports coaches who made us exercise as a form of punishment (where we started associating exercise with bad behavior, making exercise something to avoid), and a culture of laziness. We do not enjoy moving our body. But as we age, we begin paying a heavy price for our sedentary lifestyle. Disease, malfunctioning body parts, and low energy start to become more obvious. We begin to pay the price of our poorer health, less happiness, reduced work productivity and lower quality of life. Welcome to the MTSU Faculty-Staff Health and Wellness Program!
GET ENTHUSISTIC ABOUT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE; YOU CAN’T BE UNHAPPY AND ENTHUSIASTIC AT THE SAME TIME!