How to Overcome the Fear of Fitness Failure
By: Kelly Schur & Ally Ponte
Have you experienced one (or more) of these things before?
● A “diet” that didn’t work
● No motivation, interest or enjoyment in exercise
● Lack of time to workout
● An injury which prevented you from working out
● A gym membership you never used
● Conflicting exercise/nutritional advice
● Workouts with no results
● A lofty fitness goal with no support
Let me guess….you’ve searched for answers, enlisted the help of your friends, and maybe sought advice from an app or a blog. You think you’ve tried everything but nothing works, so you’ve given up. You are not alone. Many people struggle with exercise even knowing the health benefits associated with it.
Overcoming exercise barriers proves to be difficult when you think you have done all the “right” things….set a goal, invested in cute new leggings, and even crafted a color-coded schedule of your workouts in your calendar.
Honestly, if you’ve read this far… you’re already ahead of the game.
The human brain is designed to take the easiest and most efficient path in order to protect us from failure or harm. When our body is presented with a challenge or obstacle, our brain is wired for us to change course to avoid hassle and defeat. It’s natural to avoid or even abandon something that is hard to do. For example, was exercise more a part of your new year’s resolution last year? How long did it last? What happened for you to divert from your plan?
At one stage or another, we have all encountered setbacks. Experiencing stumbling blocks can trigger negative emotions and feelings of disillusionment and frustration. How then exactly do we stop fear of failure from allowing us to move forward? Ironically, overcoming fitness failure has less to do with fitness and more to do with overcoming failure as it applies to fitness.
First of all, be kind to yourself and show yourself the same grace you would show your best friend in the same situation. Secondly, shift your mindset to learn from your experience rather than judge yourself for your behavior. Reframing your situation can have a positive effect on how you view future complications. And last, use failure as a tool for motivation which reinforces the “dust it off and try again” mentality. In order to succeed at anything, you have to be willing to not be good at first.
“There are many ways to keep going forward, but only one way of standing still” ~ Franklin D Roosevelt
A quick Google search on how to get in the habit of working out solicits about 262,000,000 results. Rest assured that developing and forming healthy fitness habits may look different for different people. From habit stacking, to atomic habits, find the one that fits best with your personality which will set you up for the greatest opportunity for continued success.
Published Content: Forsyth Neighbor Magazine | December 2022 Edition
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.