Make NO excuse!

Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I would like to tell you that its time to stop making excuses in the gym.  Being in the gym for as long as I have, both in the number of years, and the number of hours a day, I hear people come up with excuses all of the time about why they wont do an exercise.  It boggles my mind sometimes, because they are there in the gym to work out.  It is hard enough to find the time and energy to get into the gym; those who don’t make it to the gym probably had an excuse to not be there.  So for the people who are already there, stop making excuses and get exercising!

My friend John Buatsi is in my opinion one of the best personal trainers around.  Its not measured in the number of formal awards and accolades he has won, but he will constantly have someone asking his advice or looking to train with him, especially other trainers.  I had the fortunate pleasure of learning to lift with him when I was young, and his lessons are to this day priceless.  One of his greatest lessons to me was to not make excuses in the gym.  When he and I trained together, we worked out at a bare bones, hard core gym that often had people literally “throwing weight around”.  Sometimes people would even put plates back on racks in no particular order.  One time I remember a 45 pound plate I needed being buried on a rack by several 25 pound plates.  Instead of removing all of the 25 pound plates to get to the 45 pounder, I was going to use the lighter plates instead and just not “go up” as heavy for my next set.  When John caught me doing that, he was incredulous, and told me to stop making an excuse and to dig out the 45 pound plate I should have been using.  His friendly mocking helped instill the lesson, that I was there in the gym to lift, so moving some plates to get to the one I needed shouldn’t have even been a thought.

While that example is specific to me, and might not happen everywhere, I do see similar examples of people choosing to not do an exercise when they are already in the gym due to some silly excuse.  I frequently see this in the cardio area.  I will often see someone walk into the cardio area all geared up to do a session and then they stop in their tracks and turn around.  When I ask them why did they stop and choose to not exercise, they say because someone else is on “their” machine.  It’s pretty silly to me, particularly when there are plenty of other machines open, particularly the same exact type of machine.  I also see this when people are finishing their workouts and have one other exercise to do.  But, when they go to the machine and see that someone else is on it, they decide to just end their workout right there and then instead of “working in”, waiting patiently, or choosing to do a comparable exercise.  Again, this excuse is unacceptable when almost every exercise ever thought of can be done in another way.

One other excuse that keeps people from doing an exercise is the thought that "I can’t do that.”  This is one of the worst excuses to ever be used, because it keeps people from ever trying something new and holds them back from reaching their goals.  While it’s true that not everyone can do everything, it is also true that every exercise can be modified so that almost everyone can be successful at it.  Its one reason that weight machines have so many different plates to select from, and there are racks of different size dumbbells in the gym.  Don’t let the thought that you can’t do something be your excuse to not even try.  Even if you think you cant do it, I am sure it can be modified so that you can.  You can also find a personal trainer like myself or John to help you with new ways to reach your goals.

There are so many reasons and excuses that people come up with to not have the time to get to a gym to exercise and become healthier and fitter.  So, once you have made the effort and have actually gotten to the gym, leave all excuses to not exercise at the door.  You have already advanced past so many others just by getting their; don’t let anything else hold you back.  If you are one of the ones determined enough to take charge of your health and get to the gym, don’t let any excuses in the gym keep you from reaching a fit new you!