Reasons women don’t exercise
Having worked with peri-menopausal and menopausal women for over 10 years, I realise that the same reasons come up time and time again.
- We don’t like to put ourselves first
- We are afraid of being judged
- We lack confidence with what to wear
- We don’t have enough time
- We don’t know what to schedule
- We don’t know what to do or where to start
- We lack motivation
These are just some of the reasons women don’t exercise. This often means we end up doing nothing!
So what if I told you that doing LESS is MORE! And what if I told you to schedule LESS too. I used to love scheduling in a 60 mins strength training session or going on a 2 hour bike ride, but as a woman in my 40s now that system doesn’t work for me. And I’m not even going to feel guilty about it BECAUSE a) it doesn’t matter and b) I’ve found a much easier and more fulfilling way.
How much time do you need?
I know I have a spare 10-15 minutes most days. In fact when I started looking at how I spend my time throughout the day, sometimes 90 mins was lost just doom scrolling. This often certainly doesn’t make me feel good.
How to make a big difference with your lifestyle
So if you are a peri-menopausal or menopausal woman who is looking to make a BIG difference to your exercise routine and in fact your lifestyle, start thinking beyond structured and scheduled exercise. Let’s start thinking more about where in our day there are opportunities where we can move. If motivation is lacking, then I also have another tip to help with that.
Here are my TOP 5 tips on how women can schedule less exercise and move less too:
- Leave a tea towel by the kettle: Grab it first thing in the morning as your kettle boils and reach overhead with it or reach towards the floor. In fact reach anywhere around your entire body and just think space around you. Where can you go? Remember to keep some tension there for that extra shoulder burn!
- Pick a time in your day, where you’d like to include a new habit: Before lunch, after breakfast, just before dinner, as you walk in from work. It doesn’t matter when, just pick one time. Attach this new habit to something you know you’re going to do. This will help when your motivation is lacking.
- Get weird: This is something that often gets mentioned during my activities. I love moving in weird and wonderful ways. Whilst it’s not for everyone, I can guarantee that the weirder your movement, the more likely it is to make you smile. How many different ways can you walk down the road?
- Commuting intentions: You may still have a commute or maybe you work from home? Either way, what could you do to slightly change these journeys by 10-15 mins? Could you park further away from the office? Could you include a 10-15 walk to your home office? Accomplishing small fitness goals, like completing a set of push-ups, can improve self-esteem and build a sense of achievement.
- Deskercise: Are you sitting at a desk most days? Why not try the pomodoro technique (set a clock for every 25 mins), then move after this time in a different way? Or maybe try not sitting at a desk at all. Sit on the floor, kneel, lie down. I can guarantee you won’t spend long there, so it will encourage you to move again.
Remember, every movement counts! By reframing how we, as women, view exercise and start making movement snacks part of our daily routine. This means we can feel more confident, happier, it doesn’t matter what we wear and most importantly with less time.
If you are a woman over 40 and need more help with exercising less and finding weird and wonderful ways to move throughout your day, then why not sign up to my ‘Stronger for longer club’ – Stronger For Longer – RJ Fitness & Coaching
