If There Are So Many Benefits, What Gets In The Way Of Exercise
On Monday I talked about the psychological benefits of exercise. As a personal trainer it’s important that you understand these because besides losing weight and getting stronger these are elements that can be more tangible for clients. Today I am going to talk about what gets in the way of people being able to exercise.
You probably hear a lot of reasons why people don’t exercise: tired, busy, I got stuck in a meeting, my daughter was sick or my car broke down. The reasons to not exercise can be perceived or real. For example, if the client says that he couldn’t work out yesterday because he got stuck in a meeting. His perception is that he couldn’t work out because he got stuck in a meeting versus the reality of the situation which might be that he could have worked out but at another time or in another way. The problem is, although you and I can see this and understand how to work around it, your client does not.
Time, unrealistic goals, lack of social support, social physique anxiety and convenience are some of the most frequently used reasons for people to not exercise. They are all valid reasons but they continue to get in way for clients. It’s important as a personal trainer to help your clients think about the reasons that get in the way and work with them to come up with alternative ways to overcome those reasons.
Time
The most frequent reason given for not exercising is lack of time. In one study, 69% of non-exercisers cited lack of time as a major barrier. Usually after a closer look at an exercisers schedule it reveals that what people perceive as lack of time is not reality. One technique that exercise psychologists use with clients is a time journal. A time journal allows clients to keep track of what they do during the day for three or four days to gain a general sense of how the exercise utilizes their time. In most cases the problem lies in how the exerciser prioritizes their day. For example, in many cases free time is used to watch television, to surf the web, or to send e-mails. Being able to bring awareness to how much time and exercisers spends participating in these types of activities is important and can shed light on where to cut back in order to make time for exercise.
Unrealistic goals
As a personal trainer it’s essential to help your clients define what’s realistic. It is very difficult for people who are newer to exercise to understand what’s realistic and what’s not realistic. After weeks, months, or years, something has triggered your client to start exercising but that does not mean that they had any sense of how to start, what to do, or what is necessary to sustain exercise for a lifetime of health. In fact, many people in this position start off way too fast with far too many unrealistic goals. For example, a goal to lose a large amount of weight in a relatively short time is unrealistic and unhealthy. It is your responsibility to talk to your client about setting up a plan for losing weight in a realistic and healthy way.
When done properly goal setting is designed to help increase motivation and build self-esteem. It also allows an exerciser to see and feel successful. Unrealistic goals on the other hand lower motivation, decrease self-esteem, and does not provide the exerciser a sense of success. It is not uncommon for someone to try and make up for missing weeks or years of exercise by engaging in unrealistic and intense exercise programs that lead to injury or death.
Lack of social support
Ask your client questions around exercising alone or with other people. Some people do like to exercise alone. These people are generally the people who have been active for quite awhile; they know what they are doing and don’t necessarily need other people to exercise. People who are new to exercise generally do need support whether it’s for motivation, accountability or socialization.
Social support is probably the most important type of social influence on exercise. Social support refers to the perceived comfort, caring, assistance, and information that a person receives from others. There is research to support the motivational and adherence value in exercisers having social support.
Social physique anxiety
Social physique anxiety is a concern with body image. In an exercise setting this includes a sense of difference in body type and attire preferences. Exercisers who experience social physique anxiety overemphasize the difference between their body type and the body types of others when in a fitness facility. Their perception is that they are more overweight and more out of shape than most others and then less able (capable) to participate in exercise.
Similarly problematic for people who experience social physique anxiety are situations where fitness facilities design exercise programs for people of similar body types. People in this situation do not feel comfortable being singled out.
Studies done on women in a group exercise setting and the clothes they wore revealed that women with higher social physique anxiety stood further away from the instructor and wore less revealing clothing. For these women standing at the back of a group exercise classes and wearing long, baggy exercise attire are strategies that women might use to ward off other people seeing and evaluating their bodies.
Social physique anxiety is a real problem for many people particularly those who are new to exercise. As a personal trainer, try to work with your client to normalize their body type. One suggestion is introducing your client to people of similar body types who have become comfortable in a similar exercise environment.
For a client who is dealing with social physique anxiety it’s vital to talk to your client about appropriate attire for an exercise environment and where to buy that clothing. A client new to exercise may not know what attire is appropriate for exercise nor will they know where to buy the appropriate attire. For example, many people new to exercise do not know that wearing cotton is no longer the best material for exercise.
Convenience
Convenience or lack of resources can be very difficult. People who are new to exercise are dealing with psychological and physical barriers to exercise: lack of access to facilities (physical spaces), classes (lack of social support: accountability, socialization and motivation), personal trainers (lack of support, lack of understanding the benefits and lack of knowledge) and instructors (positive affirmation and positive role models) may be limited based on physical location or lack of adequate financial resources.
Sometimes convenience of the physical location of a fitness facility is based on an individual’s perception rather than the actual proximity of the facility. Examine all options available to your client. If exercising at home will help your client, come up with a program that is affordable and easy to do at home outside of an exercise facility or when practical think about providing an in-home service. Other options might include: recreation centers, local schools or colleges and churches that provide exercise aside from the traditional health club.
Conclusion
There are many reasons that people do not exercise and whether these are perceived or real is not for us to decide. Your role is to help your clients find solutions to those things that get in the way. Using the above example, time seems like an issue for many people but as they evaluate their time, people come to understand
- What they are actually doing with their time and
- Realize that they have more time than they thought.
Help clients build their repertoire of ways to overcome barriers that get in the way of exercise.
On the other hand, barriers might not always present themselves if clients are aware of the individual benefits they can gain by exercise. Adding onto the time example, if a client perceives that he doesn’t have time in his day to exercise but is then connected to how exercise will relieve his anxiety and stress and actually give him more energy, time may no longer be a factor.
Dr. Michelle
Photo credit: Graela
