Overcome Your Fear of Exercise
You Win By Using Fear
Using fear as your ally prevents fear from controlling you and stopping your momentum. As a senior, you must find the best ways to motivate yourself to exercise. At age 72 I understand that. I have found that a great way is to actually be afraid of not exercising. If I don’t exercise my body will deteriorate at an even faster pace than age already causes. So embrace that fear and own it. By doing so you’re not in denial of time, you’re determined to fight it.
I Fight Time
The author, 72, embracing fear of challenges
Your Body Will Surprise You
Here’s a secret: Your body has more ability than you’re aware of. As we age it’s normal to realize our physical capacities diminish. But usually, we think it’s diminished more than it actually has! It means that we should stay as active as possible. What this means is you are actually less active than you can be. And if you are less active than you can be now, you’ll be even less active than you can in the future. This is definitely a risk, and you can use this particular fear by telling yourself: “If I don’t meet my true capability today, I’m making it worse for my future self!” Or to put it in positive terms – being as active as possible today makes it easier tomorrow.
Aren’t we all concerned about our most elderly years that are coming soon? What you do now determines what those years will be like. A solid and regular exercise program is what you need. You must commit to doing it. By using fear of what happens if you don’t you’ll stay with your program.
Using Fear to Motivate Me
In my daily battle against time I remind myself; If I don’t exercise today I won’t feel as good as I should. If I don’t exercise I won’t eat the way I should and I won’t sleep well. If I don’t stick with my exercise plan it will be harder to get started again. If I don’t push myself I’ll regress and at age 72 I’m not going to let that happen. I’m afraid to let that happen and you should be too.
Defeat Excuses
Doing nothing may seem like it’s easiest. And it is easy to find reasons for not doing what we know we should do. Don’t let that mindset dominate you. Change that thought to – maybe it seems easiest to do nothing now, but it’s going to make it a lot harder later! So if it helps you, use that fear of losing your physical and mental ability to get yourself moving. Once you’re underway with your daily exercise program it will become automatic. You’ll be afraid to stop; better yet you’ll learn to love it.
Challenge Yourself
You can always do more than you think you can. Whatever you’re already doing is not all you are capable of. Are you just thinking about starting to exercise after many years of being inactive? Are you overweight? Do you have joint pain? These and other maladies are common for seniors and you may think that these or other issues prevent you from exercising. That’s just not true. Your strategy is to start small and gradually advance over time.
See the Seniors Starting a Fitness Program for help getting started!
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