Overcoming Exercise Barriers: How to Stay Active

In this article:

• Exercise challenges can lead you to stop exercising, which can negatively impact weight and health. Fatigue, lack of time, boredom, and weather are common hurdles.
• Read on to explore simple and practical solutions. 
• There are also tips for exercising safely with physical limitations or health concerns and strategies to stay motivated when progress feels slow or routines feel overwhelming.
• Lark can help you establish healthy habits for long-term change with 24/7 coaching to support your health and weight loss goals.

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Meet “Maria.” She’s motivated to lose weight and take charge of her health. She’s been making some healthier eating choices, and also wants to start exercising regularly. She decides to go for a 20-minute walk before work Monday through Friday. 

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She achieves her walking goals for the first two weeks, but one Monday morning, she feels tired. She hits the snooze button on her alarm clock twice. By the time she gets out of bed, she doesn’t have time to walk before work. 

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The same thing happens on Tuesday, but Maria’s determined to succeed. She decides to go for a walk after work since she missed her morning walk, but she stays late to help finish an important project. 

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On Wednesday, she decides that she’ll walk at lunch, but she forgets to bring her lunch. She ends up getting takeout with some of her coworkers and skipping her walk. 

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On Thursday, she packs her lunch and plans to walk at lunchtime, but it’s raining outside. She considers going to a gym, but she hasn’t been to one in so long and is too nervous to go.  

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On Friday, Maria decides there’s no point in trying anymore. She feels that since she didn’t take her walk Monday through Thursday, she might as well skip Friday’s walk. 

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Has anything like this ever happened to you? Have you ever tried to start or continue an exercise routine, but faced so many challenges that you had to stop? 

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You’re not alone, but it’s possible to overcome exercise barriers like lack of time or motivation, low energy, poor weather, physical limitations, and more. Here are some of the most common hurdles to exercise, and simple ways to overcome them so you can achieve your fitness and other health goals. 

Barrier: Too Busy or No Time to Exercise

Fitting exercise into an already-busy day can be challenging, but it may be more feasible than you think to squeeze in enough activity for substantial benefits. 

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Try these strategies. 

• Break it up. Break exercise into shorter bouts of 5 or 10 minutes at a time instead of worrying about doing an entire 20, 30, or 60-minute workout at once. An example is taking a 5-minute walk before entering the office at work, doing 5 minutes of weights at your desk in the morning and afternoon, and taking another 5-minute walk after leaving the office and before driving home
• Multi-task. Save time by exercising during tasks you’re already doing. For example, walk to pick up your children or while you’re on the phone, or use a stationary cycle, treadmill, or hand weights while you’re watching television or reading a book
• Schedule physical activity. Schedule time for physical activity in your calendar. That makes you less likely to schedule other events over it and more likely to do it. 

Barrier: Too Tired or Low on Energy

Getting through the day may leave you feeling tired or drained, and exercise may seem impossible or something to dread. However, staying active can increase your physical and mental energy.

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Try these strategies. 

• Support your energy the rest of the day and night. Eat meals with nutrient-dense foods and plenty of fiber and protein, hydrate properly, and get enough sleep
• Exercise when you have the most energy. The morning is a good time for many people to be active since it’s before the rest of the day can drain energy, but other people are at their best midday, mid-afternoon, or in the evening. Exercise at the right time for you
• Give yourself a break. Start slower, change to an easier type of exercise, or plan for a shorter workout if you’re unsure how much energy you have. You can always go a little harder or longer if you find that you feel okay after you start

Barrier: Exercise Is Overwhelming

It’s common to make exercise more complicated than it needs to be, especially if you feel the need to change your workouts each time or achieve specific milestones within each workout. That can make exercise feel overwhelming. Making your workout simpler can help prevent burnout. 

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Try these strategies:

• Focus on one type of exercise at a time. Instead of trying several exercises at a time, start with a type of exercise that feels simple to you, like walking or cycling. When you’re ready, consider adding another one
• Set realistic goals. It’s good to challenge yourself, but goals that are overly ambitious can lead to feeling discouraged
• Start with less. If you’re not sure you can do a certain workout, start by trying a shorter or less intense workout that you’re confident you can complete

Barrier: Extreme Weather

Mother Nature can offer beautiful scenery, energizing air, and plenty of inspiration, but some days and seasons come with natural challenges. Cold, wind, rain, and snow can make outdoor activities more difficult. Some conditions, like ice, whiteout, extreme heat, and thunderstorms, can make it dangerous to exercise outdoors. It’s best to have some indoor options available for any occasion. 

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Try these strategies:

• Go to a gym. It’s likely to be air-conditioned in the summer and open in the winter, in early mornings, and later evenings when it’s dark outside. You can get in your cardio, strength training, stretching, and group fitness classes.
• Walk at a mall. Many indoor shopping malls open early for walkers. You might find some walking buddies while you’re there. 
• Stay at home. If it’s unsafe or impractical to go anywhere, plan some possible workouts you can do at home. Many online exercise videos require little to no equipment. You can also use any home equipment you have, like a treadmill, exercise bike, resistance bands, or dumbbells.

Barrier: No Access to a Gym

You don’t need a gym membership, expensive equipment, or specific facilities to get fit or stay active. It’s possible to achieve physical activity recommendations for aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercises without any of these. 

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Try these strategies. 

• Perform body weight exercises. Push-ups, squats, tricep dips, planks, front and side lunges, and calf raises are examples of exercises that use your own body weight as resistance
• Use home objects as equipment. A backpack full of books, a gallon jug of water, and soup cans are examples of objects you can use as weights. Use a couch for step-ups and a bed for chest flies. 
• Find a free facility. Free facilities you might be able to use include sports fields and courts at local parks and schools, running tracks and bleachers at schools, and stairwells if you live in a multi-family dwelling. 

Barrier: Pain or Limitations for Exercising

Past injuries, chronic pain, and chronic conditions can hold you back from exercising, but there are modifications you can make. 

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Try these strategies.

• Ask a healthcare professional. Start with your primary care physician if you’re not sure who to ask. If needed, she can refer you to an appropriate specialist, like a physical therapist or exercise physiologist, for an assessment and personalized plan
• Know when to seek help. Ask your healthcare provider or exercise specialist which signs to look for that may require you to modify your activity or ask for help. 
• Modify activities. Ask for help modifying exercises to avoid pain or aggravating injuries.
• Stay low-impact. Water activities like swimming and water aerobics, walking, cycling, and an elliptical machine can help keep stress from your joints, which can lower injury risk. Chair exercises can also be effective if you’re unable to stand while exercising. 

Barrier: Exercise Is Too Boring

Boredom is a common reason people stop exercising sooner or avoid it altogether, but there are many ways to prevent boredom. 

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Try these strategies.

• Try more activities. Keep trying activities until you find some that you like. Dance classes, walking, an elliptical machine, circus classes, kickboxing, ice skating, gardening, and pickleball are examples of the wide variety of activities you can try. 
• Plan entertainment. Podcasts, audiobooks, language learning programs, music, and newscasts are a few things you can listen to. Watch news, movies, or TV programs. Talk on the phone, or exercise with other people. 
• Vary your workouts. Ways to vary your exercise sessions include doing different activities on different days, using different forms of entertainment, and varying the length and intensity. 

Barrier: Lack of Motivation

Motivation can decrease as time passes, especially if you’re not seeing the results you’d hoped for. Build and sustain motivation to keep yourself active.

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Try these strategies.

• Identify your reasons for wanting to be active. Physical and mental health, weight control, better mood, stress reduction, wanting to be in better shape to keep up with family, and better sleep are common reasons. 
• Track small wins. A week of hitting your exercise goals, a fitness milestone like running a mile without stopping to walk, and feeling strong at the end of a workout are all worthy of celebration. They can boost motivation. 
• Log and track exercise. Seeing workouts add up over time can be motivating and satisfying. 

How Lark Can Help

Sticking with an exercise plan can be one of the most important things you can do for your health. Lark can help. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for encouragement, nutrition and physical activity coaching, and habit tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications. 

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Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!

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