5 Reasons Why It’s Hard To Stick With An Exercise Routine

Being completely honest here, most of the U.S doesn’t exercise. I’m not just saying this to say it, it’s a fact. A couple years ago the CDC conducted this study that showed only 23% of adults within the U.S meet the NHIS physical activity recommendations. That’s a wildly low number if you think about it.

The thing is, most people know that they should be exercising more often. Some of them may even start a routine and attempt to stick with it only to fall off shortly thereafter. Some of us seem to be stuck in this never-ending cycle of starting and stopping. If you’re there, you’re probably frustrated, you may feel helpless. But, CHIN UP! There are five common reasons most people can’t stick to a routine, take a look through. You’ll more than likely find your reason, once you do, it should be easier to stick to a routine.

Exercise Is A Punishment Or Compensation For Diet.

There’s a good chance anyone you know that has or continues to exercise has at one point, used exercise to punish themselves or to compensate for eating too much. Honestly, that’s a vast majority of the U.S after any large significant holiday. That’s not a strong enough reason to keep you going to the gym, it’ll certainly work to get you started and actually walk through the doors. But it’s not a convincing enough reason to continue to go back. 

Instead of punishing yourself, re-think why you’re there. Ok, maybe you ate too much turkey last thanksgiving... I probably did too and Hunter certainly did! But subconsciously, that won’t push you. Think about it in the large view of your life, on weeks that you don’t over eat or don’t have that fast food, do you feel better? Do you have more energy? Focus on that instead of punishing yourself. A positive outlook, with a clear goal as to why you’re exercising may make things easier.

“All or Nothing” Mentality Towards Exercise.

Most people fail at sticking to a workout because they have what's known as an “all or nothing” mentality. Meaning “If I can’t complete my whole workout every day for the next week. I’m a failure”. I’m here to tell you that’s not true at all, sometimes life gets in the way and you only have 20-30 minutes to exercise. That’s OK! Doing a little bit each day is better than nothing because you “think” you’re a failure.

If you find that you relate to this reason: Take a focused and determined look at your day to day and week to week schedule, where can you fit an hour workout in that won’t interfere with key things? Stick to that schedule, but don’t worry if you can’t make it due to an emergency or scheduling conflict. Have a backup in place that’s shorter. A short 20-minute walk instead of 45 minutes of cardio is better than sitting on the couch. Focus on getting a small bit of exercise in each day and you’ll be well on your way to changing that mindset you had before.

Trying To “Go Big, or Go Home”

What I mean by this is that you’re trying way too much way too soon. I totally understand why you’d think you need to go from couch to high intensity workouts immediately. But that’s a quick way to fail and not want to go back. You need to start slow, even if you’ve been in the gym in the past. Your body isn’t used to exercise just yet, which causes your muscles to be sorer for longer periods of time. You need to ensure that you give your body time to adapt.

Maybe start with bodyweight exercises instead of weights, or just a bar instead of plates on the bar. Starting small and building up to higher weight isn’t a bad thing at all. It’ll even help you learn better form because you can focus more on the movement. On average it takes 21 days to develop a habit, you can’t walk in to the gym after never being there before and be a triathlete. It takes time. You’ll get there.

You May Not Eat Enough

The common practice is to start this new exercise routine with some form of diet in an attempt to lose as much weight as quickly as possible. That diet usually involves cutting back on total caloric intake. More than likely in a manner that is more detrimental to your body than not doing it at all.

What most people don’t think of however, is that in order to exercise our body needs fuel. Calories are fuel, so cutting back on calories incorrectly has a huge negative impact. Its more likely that you have to eat more food than you think in order to lose the weight. If you exercise in the morning, ensure that you get something in before you hit the gym. If you exercise later in the day it’s crucial that you’ve been eating consistently throughout the whole day.

You’re Exercise Routine Isn’t For You.

There isn’t a single person I can think of that does something they truly don’t enjoy and sticks to it for any significant period of time. Exercise is no different. But for some reason most of us try workouts that we just aren’t in to, we try routines that don’t mesh with who we are. I don’t mean you feel uncomfortable during your exercise (That’s how you should feel, it’s you getting stronger) you should however feel good or empowered after the workout. If you feel like this, that’s totally normal. Just try to find some other exercise that you do enjoy.

There are plenty of forms of exercise out there, and more than likely there is an exercise that you can substitute for something you don’t enjoy that will work the same muscles. 

Hopefully taking a look at these 5 common reasons for not sticking to an exercise routine helped you narrow in on your reasoning for not sticking to something.

If you feel that you’re still struggling with sticking to a routine, please reach out to me. I would love to help you find your reason and assist in getting you to your goals.