Paul Plakas Slays the Most Common Excuses for not Exercising

As anyone who struggles with getting - and staying - fit knows, we have a myriad of excuses as to why we aren't getting enough exercise. We spoke with Paul Plakas about the top excuses we use, and he slayed every one of them (well, almost)!

I don't have enough time. "This has to be the top excuse that I hear from people. You need to schedule out your life and work out what things are the most important uses of your time. You need to go to work and make money, you need to spend a certain amount of time with your family, etc. Then you need to find the pockets of time left in your day that you can do some kind of activity.

If you have 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes in the evening, then that is a good start. You've got to slot that time in to take care of your body. You make time for the other important things in your life, and taking care of your body is just as important. Lack of time is not a valid excuse for not exercising."

I hate exercise. "I hear this all the time from people. I tell them if you hate going to the gym, stop going to the gym. Find something that you like to do. Go for a swim, or go cycling or play a sport. It doesn't matter what activity you do, just find one that expends calories in order to burn fat. There must be something in this world that you like doing. Find that one thing, and do it!"

Exercise is too hard. "People think that they need to lose all their excess weight so quickly, so then they go to the gym and kill themselves. That is totally the wrong thing to do. You have to go in there and build up your workout slowly over time. Don't make it too hard from the get go."

I don't know what to do. "I get people saying to me, 'Paul I don't know where to start.' And I tell them, just do something, even if it is just walking. If you really need help, hire a personal trainer to do a few sessions with you, then you will get a program to follow that way. Otherwise just put on your shoes and walk. If you are just starting out, the key is to progress it to harder and harder stuff eventually."

The only valid excuse, according to Paul Plakas, is fear. "There is only one valid reason that people have not to exercise, and that is fear. They are afraid to exercise because they are afraid of change. If your lifestyle is coming home, eating dinner, watching some TV on the couch and then having ice-cream and maybe playing video games, that is a habit your body has formed over many years, and your body has changed as a result of that habit.

If you are going to make a change to your body, you can't do those things, you are adopting a whole new way of living, and people are afraid of that change. That is what stops people from exercising. You have to counteract that fear by loving yourself enough to take care of your body. For me, I value my body tremendously, which is why I take such good care of it. People don't feel like they are worth the effort and are afraid to change."

This post is a repeat, but look forward to more original content to come in the future.