SPRING CLEANING: CLEAN HOUSE BY LOSING YOUR EXCUSES

It’s time to reawaken the hibernating bear in all of us and kick start a commitment to good health. Follow these tips from the experts at Life Fitness to recognize the excuses that may be sabotaging your seasonal goals.
Excuse #1: I’m too overweight to exercise.

Some people are afraid to join a gym because they think they’ll be the only overweight person there. In fact, you will find people of all shapes, sizes at the gym and most gym-goers will be far too focused on their own bodies to pay any attention to yours.
Even if a gym environment is not right for you, there are plenty of other options. Put on a pair of walking shoes and start striding through your neighborhood in the morning. If you’re not comfortable with exercising in public, perhaps it’s time for you to invest in a piece of home cardio equipment. Doing so will allow you to exercise in the privacy of your own home.
Excuse #2: Exercise is boring.
It doesn’t have to be. Variety and playfulness are essential to healthy movement. When you were a kid, exercise was fun because you didn’t call it exercise. You called it ’riding bikes’ or ‘going swimming’ or ‘playing tag’. At what age did we stop having fun through movement?
Try putting activities like this on your list: play hide-and-seek with your kids; play Frisbee with your dog; play tennis with your spouse on Saturday mornings. The important word here is play. If you’re working out indoors, make your experience fun by watching a movie or listening to great music while you’re moving.
Excuse #3: I don’t have time to exercise.
The calories you burn at 6:00 PM are no different than the calories you burn at 6:00 AM. The important thing is to work on your cumulative caloric burn throughout the day.
Making a 10-minute workout your very first activity of the day is a great way to start your mornings. If you are not a morning person, try fitting a 10-minute workout into your lunch break. Or take 10 minutes for exercise as soon as you get home from work, while watching your favorite news show or sitcom. If you manage to do all three, congratulations! Those 30 minutes of exercise are just as good for you as one full 30-minute session.
Excuse #4: It’s my genetics.
This is true to a point – genetics play a role in cholesterol and heart disease, but 70 percent of aging is simply lifestyle. So the little choices you make every day – like taking 10 minutes at the beginning and end of your day for exercise – are just as important as genetics in determining how long you live and how well you feel.

Fit Tips are provided by Life Fitness, the leader in designing and manufacturing high-quality exercise equipment for fitness facilities and homes worldwide. For more information on Fit Tips and other fitness advice and expertise visit http://www.lifefitness.com/.