Did you know that with over 7 thousand health and fitness clubs and around 63% of adults in the UK claiming to be physically active (i.e. doing at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week) - the UK is the 2nd biggest fitness hot spot in Europe?
So why is it then that according to government statistic, 36% of adults in the UK are overweight and 28% are obese?
There are certainly enough fitness clubs out there but why aren’t people using them? We think this is down to 3 main reasons:
Fear
This is the fear of not knowing what you are doing, how the machines in the gym work, how the process of joining, attending, signing in and using equipment works and also the fear of looking silly.
Starting out with any new form of fitness is difficult, in fact the term “gym-timidation” sums this up nicely.
Many people who want to start fitness do so because they are slightly overweight and need to lose a few lbs and being overweight can make movement & exercise difficult. It’s natural, therefore to think that you’re the only one with this issue and that everyone else is already fit and active.
At Get Fit Today we focus on getting ‘inactive’ people ‘active’ and we do so by making fitness fun again. We have different ability groups in our sessions including dedicated beginners sessions focusing on slow and steady movements, raising your heart rate and body temperature and then allowing you time to recover before doing so again.
This method means that during an hours session, you will be in the higher heart rate, fat burning zone you want to be in for longer. If we asked you to run as fast as you can for as long as possible, for most people this wouldn’t be very long 😀. However, if we asked you to run as fast as you can for 10 seconds and then jog or walk for 30 seconds and then repeat this, you will be able to work harder for much longer.
It’s these breaks in between the efforts that make it work. You spend longer in the right training zone, burn more calories for longer and because you were able to do it, you feel better about it as well!
Time
This is about not having enough time to exercise, but for the majority (if not all people) it’s just not true. To maintain your current weight the NHS recommends that you do at least 2.5hrs a week of moderate exercise. That’s just 22 minutes a day which is about 1% of every day.
Do you really not have 20 minutes to spare? Or maybe an hour every 2-3 days instead? A lot of this is down to how much you ‘want’ to exercise and how badly you want to shed that excess weight and tone up those sagging arms or thighs.
If you want to do it - you can, and if you really want to do it - you will. At Get Fit Today, we offer training 6 days of the week across our venues in Northampton. The style of training we offer is perfect for burning fat, toning up and becoming stronger but it’s also good fun. You will meet lots of other people who feel exactly the same as you do about fitness and were also worried about coming along for their first session, but once they tried it they will all tell you they love it.
Sure, they still struggle to make it to a session occasionally but because our membership options are so reasonable, they can always fit in enough for their needs. Don’t forget as well, that the first session you do is always FREE so you can try us out before spending any money.
Results
This is the final reason I think people aren’t exercising - the lack of instant results. We live in an age of technology and getting instant responses to everything.
Are you old enough to remember ‘dial up internet’ and how long it used to take to ‘log on’ and look at a website, waiting patiently for it to load? Imagine waiting for that now?
With fast food, 5G internet on our phones, 15-minute meals and all the various streaming services - we don’t even wait a week anymore to watch the next episode of our favourite programme, we just sit & binge watch.
So, it’s only natural for people to want to see instant results from exercise too. Go out for an hours walk and then get back home and step straight on the scales. Cut down on your meals for the day and weigh yourself in the morning to see the results…😟
Sadly, our bodies don’t work like this. That extra layer of fat around your stomach, thighs or the back of your arms didn’t appear overnight - it’s probably been building up without you realising for the last year or two.
Have you been working from home recently? This is a big cause - it’s much easier to have a few snacks throughout the day if you’re working from your own dining table rather than the office, and because you’re not leaving the house to go to work, your not getting the exercise that you used to either. It all adds up…
Example
There are roughly 130 calories in a bag of crisps and half an hours walking will burn off around the same. That’s 260 calories a day which over a month is 7,800 which is the equivalent to just over 2lbs in added weight - in just a month (that’s a stone in 7 months!).
The UK has been in and out of lockdown for the last 18 months so if you have been working from home during that time, the chances are you could easily have put on an extra 2-3 stone without even realising it - until you tried to put your old work trousers back on that is! 🙂
What next?
The question is what are you going to do about it? Some people will plan to start something new next Monday, or next month or after their holiday and very rarely does it ever happen.
If you’re reading this blog, and some of the things mentioned above sound familiar NOW is the time to act. Don’t put it off until a later date or plan to think about it for a day or so - do it!
At Get Fit Today, we offer a FREE trial so you have literally nothing to lose except a few lbs maybe….😀. You can book that trial session right now by clicking this link.
If you are feeling really positive about things, maybe the best thing you can do is commit financially to it today. We offer a weeks worth of sessions for just £5 or you can sign up to one of our monthly memberships for either £22, £32 or £37 depending on how often you want to train.
All of our memberships are monthly so there isn’t any tie-in period, joining fee or cancellation fee. We want you to enjoy coming along and feeling better about yourself rather than feeling like you have to.
Ready to commit to a membership for a month? Click here…
What will you do…? 😉
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