Difficulties in Participating in Physical Activity & How to overcome: by Dr. Neeraj Mehta (Ph.D.), Researcher at American Sports Fitness University & COO GFFI Fitness Academy
With so many reasons to do so, why wouldn’t you? Physical activity is crucial to maintaining good heart and brain health as we age, and this is especially true in our midlife years. But despite a wealth of research showing that staying active is one of the most effective and affordable ways to prevent chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and dementia, statistics show that relatively few people in their midlife years move as much as health experts suggest they should.
Determine what’s holding you back.
Make a list of everything that prevents you from exercising. Have a hard time fitting everything in throughout the workday? Do your loved ones have a problem with your desire to become fit? Is exercising bad for you? Anything that comes to mind as a potential roadblock is a fair game.
Once you’ve made your list, ask yourself whether the challenges you’re facing are real or just in your head. Real hurdles are those that you have to face in order to become more physically active. Increasing physical exercise may have the drawback of creating a barrier in the mind of the user. For example, a lack of time might be a real hindrance. For the gym, you may have to reschedule your timetable. Working out may be physically taxing, which can be a deterrent. In order to avoid discomfort, it’s important to identify the activities or exercises that you find most distressing.
Given how beneficial exercise is to one’s health, one would question why so few individuals engage in it.
Identifying and overcoming typical obstacles to physical activity might help you make it a part of your daily routine.
New technology and other amenities have made people’s lives simpler and less physically demanding. It’s also common for individuals to have their own personal motives for not doing anything. Because of the following reasons, most adults do not wish to be more active:
boredom, lack of confidence in their abilities and not having joy exercising are some of the reasons why exercise is difficult for some people to accomplish (low self-efficacy)
There are a number of reasons why people struggle in school, including a lack of self-management skills that make it difficult for people to create objectives, assess progress toward those goals, and reward success toward those goals. support, encouragement, and friendship are absent from your life
There aren’t enough parks and sidewalks near people’s homes or workplaces to make walking safe and enjoyable.
How to Overcome Obstacles to Physical Activity
If you find no time.
Find open times. For a week, do this. Find five 30-minute blocks of time for exercise.
Every day, do some kind of exercise. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk the dog, exercise while watching TV, and so on.
When you’re not at work, you can do things like walk, jog, run or climb stairs (it’s up to you can take 2 minutes, 4minutes, or a little extra)
Use any space in your home or office just for 2 minutes and just do a fast spot run this will not take any support. You can the workout plans available on google (free of cost) at work to stay healthy. If you can, try to go to meetings and conference calls with other people, if you can. Try to stand, stretch, or walk around while you’re on the phone.
Social Support
Tell your family and friends about how active you are. Ask them for help.
Invite your friends and family to come along. Plan activities for your friends to do.
Make new friends who are active. Join any recreational club, fitness campaign, or join a hiking group to meet new people and go on hikes together.
If you find lack of Energy
The best time to do physical activities is when you are the most alert.
Physical activity will give you more energy if you try it out, so convince yourself that it will work for you.
Lack of Motivation / Apathy
Prepare. Make exercise a part of your daily or weekly plan.
Then, invite a friend to work out with you on a regular basis and set up a meeting time and place on both of your calendars.
Join a group that works out.
Apprehension / Fear of Injury
Make sure you know how to warm up and cool down.
There are a lot of websites where you can find out how to warm up, exercise sessions and cool down the right way for your age, level of fitness, skills, and general health.
People who want to do things that aren’t very risky should pick hobbies that are
Incapacity / Lack of Skill
Choose activities that don’t require new skills, like walking or going for a jog.
Think about taking a class.
Because of the costs and the lack of resources, people don’t want to go.
Choose low-impact exercises, like walking, jogging, rope jumping, or calisthenics, that don’t hurt.
Find low-cost, easy-to-access resources in your neighborhood (community education programs, park and recreation programs, worksite programs, etc.).
Weather Conditions
Plan a set of activities that can be done no matter what the weather is like (yoga, bodyweight exercises, indoor cycling, aerobic dance, indoor swimming, dancing calisthenics, stair climbing, rope skipping, mall walking, etc.)
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/physical-activity-overcoming-the-barriers
https://blogs.dal.ca/healthydal/2016/02/29/overcoming-barriers-to-physical-activity/
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Barriers_to_Physical_Activity
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/getting-active/breaking-down-barriers-to-fitness
https://www.change4health.gov.hk/en/physical_activity/facts/overcoming/index.html
