TOP 5 excuses from those who skip workouts

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2013-05-17

Hello, I have been training for 14 years now. During all this time, I have only missed a few workouts (you can count them on your fingers). This, of course, refers to the times when I was actively training. There were also times when I didn't train at all.

I have been coaching for 6 years now. Like any coach, I often have to listen to excuses from those who frequently miss training sessions. The "excuses" are listed in order of their frequency.

1. I don't have time because of work

If work interferes with your training, then quit that job. I'm not joking. Look at this situation more globally. It turns out that work is preventing you from doing what you enjoy. The question is: why do you need a job like that?

In response, I hear: "But how will I make money then?" Working from morning to evening every day and earning a little money doesn’t require much intelligence. So I seriously respond to such an excuse: "Quit that job! And come up with something. Are you a man or not!"

2. I don't have time because of studying

I often hear this from students, citing that they have exams. I was a student for 5 years. I passed 10 exams. And not once did exams interfere with my training. Moreover, when I was a student, I often took side jobs. If I worked all day, I would go to training the next day or late in the evening on the same day.

3. I couldn't afford the gym

It's actually funny to hear this. Especially from men. One acquaintance told me: "There shouldn't be such a thing as 'too expensive.' If you can’t afford something, that's purely your problem." And I completely agree with him.

Again, when I was a student, I would plaster until deep at night. I unloaded freight cars at night, dug soil, and so on—all to earn money for gear, travel to competitions, sports nutrition, and more. I understood perfectly well that these were purely my problems.

4. I got sick

This is also not an excuse. The average person rarely gets sick to the extent that they genuinely cannot train. A common cold is not a reason to skip a workout. It’s a reason to significantly reduce the load. That's all. I trained even with a broken arm just 4-5 days after the fracture. I trained after surgery in the groin just 7 days later. There was a time when I hurt my back so badly that I could only crawl. During that time, I "crawled" to training and trained again.

Some might say: "What a fool." But when you have a goal, you don’t pay attention to circumstances. It’s just you and your goal. You either do something to achieve it at that moment, or you don’t. You either move toward it right now, or you stand still.

5. I'm so tired from the day

If by evening you're barely dragging your feet, it's time to reconsider your life. If, of course, being tired isn’t the meaning of your life. You must remember that you have training in the evening. And you need to save energy for it. And if it comes to the point that you are very tired—come and do half a workout, but don’t skip it.

Conclusions:

Learn to prioritize correctly. Of course, besides training, there is work, family, and studies. You can’t live solely for training. But if you are spending your time and energy on something, then do it wholeheartedly. Otherwise, there's no point in starting it at all.

Understand that life is one. You need to spend every second of it only on what is truly important to you. And no circumstances can prevent you from doing what matters to you. If it is truly IMPORTANT to you.

P.S. By the way, I forgot to mention critical days for women. But I already have an article on that: Gym workouts during menstruation.