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What to do about exercise information
There is more exercise information now than ever before, never before have so many magazines, newspapers, TV and radio programs and books been available on the E word -– E-x-e-r-c-i-s-e. But how do we know what are exercise myths because there often are so much conflicting advice about exercise? And most importantly, the real bottom line is …..what will work for us.
The maintain game
How many times have you, in the fashion of the ‘Biggest-Loser-TV-show’ (you know where you nearly kill yourself?), started that exercise regime with almost military like zeal? Only to have it fall by the wayside in a similar fashion to other exercising attempts? Or are you the other extreme, so obsessive about exercise that you have exercise bulimia? Despite enough exercise information to sink a battleship - those home exercise machines stand gathering cobwebs, gym contracts expire barely used and those running shoes lie dormant in your cupboard for months. But all the exercise information out there only seems to mention the physical side of the equation but truth is… the fact that you’ve gone back to couch status is only half the problem. The other half is that each time we give up on an exercise program we also land up flooding our bodies with are health-eroding Guilt (with a capital ‘G’) neuropeptides! I you’re anything like I was – you can hear that harsh inner critic giving you hell. You can hear it saying things like: “C’mon…I mean, how difficult can it be to do 30 little minutes of aerobic exercise (supposedly the only kind of exercise that counts) 4-5 times a week? You’re a weak-willed, good for nothing!” I did this over and over to myself- chastised and berated myself. That horrible voice inside my head seemed married to me at the hip. Um… this happened even though I’d read up on plenty of exercise information showing me just how dismal the maintenance of exercise programs was – so I wasn’t alone.. Thought power and exercisingI wasn’t only an expert at yo-yo dieting, I was also skilled in yo-yo exercising too. I was either almost killing myself or collapsing on the couch. Usually it was the latter because the truth was that I thought I hated exercise.
Did you notice the word ‘THOUGHT’ in that sentence? Most people read over it and read “I hated exercise” because that’s what resonates with them as their own truth. They think exercise is a dirty word... I confess I used to too until I found it wasn't exercise that was problematic, it was just that I hadn't found a way to make it fun yet. Just like dieting, I had to change my relationship with dieting using 'a mind make-over.' because all the exercise information in the world wasn’t going to change the fact that the real problem started with the misconception that I hated exercise. So just as with dieting, the change had to happen in my MIND before exercise could become fun instead of something I loathed.
The problem is we have psychological hooks about exercise. It’s the same as thinking that food is our enemy instead of thinking of it as fuel. When we think of exercise as a bore and chore instead of fun and en-joy-ment – we’ve just got the wrong mindset about it.
We need a mind makeover. So let’s ask a few questions…Well if the answer was just more exercise information and if all we read was so easy, this wouldn’t be such a common pattern and a lot of us would be fitter, leaner and healthier.So…. • What’s the problem? Well the biggest part of the solution is getting blowing a few exercise myths right out the window. Watch this space as I'll be adding plenty of exercise myths over the next few weeks. Myth # 1: Only aerobic exercise countsI’m so sick of reading that aerobic exercise is the only exercise that counts… it isn’t. That’s an exercise myth –. Click here to find out why I say that.Myth # 2: There’s a right way and a wrong way to exerciseUnless you’re an elite athlete or doing a sport like weight lifting where you can be easily injured, there really doesn’t have to be a ‘right’ way or a wrong way to exercise. Click here to see the logic behind this exercise mis-information.Myth # 3: Just join the gymWhile it’s certainly true that gyms are popping up faster than flower in springtime. We didn’t need a gym when we were little – our environment was our natural gym. If gyms turn you on that’s fabulous – keep going. But if they don’t, click here to see how we can free ourselves from having to join the gym, or at least find ways to make gym play.Myth # 4: No pain no gainThis is a very prevalent exercise myth. But I tried this no pain, no gain approach – it didn’t feel honoring of my body, I hated it and inevitably it was only a short-cut to yo-yo exercising. Click here to read more….Myth # 5: Push through the painUnless I’m aiming to be some sort of professional athlete, why oh why would I want to buy into this exercise myth and push through pain?Myth # 6 : Fitness is
Watch those exercising faces? Do you detect any laughter? Hardly likely... they're too busy looking at their heart monitors! But we can take this whole fitness lark less seriously.
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