3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Working Out After 40

Listen, if you’re a woman in your 40s and you haven’t made fitness a priority in your life yet, what’s holding you back? I’ve discovered 3 reasons why you probably aren’t working out after 40, and I want to debunk them one by one.

The “I Don’t Have Time” Reason

Let’s just get that one right out of the way.

You. Have. Time.

Without going into a deep dive diatribe – every human who has ever made history has been given the same amount of hours per day. It’s an equal playing field with the clock. Now, many of us have fewer “available” hours per day, but we all have TIME.

This is not a TIME issue, it’s a PRIORITY issue. Plain and simple. I’m a no-nonsense, tough-love kinda girl, and I’m not going to let you slide with “I don’t have enough time.” Put down your phone, turn off the TV, and go move your body. Period.

There are no hall passes with me. I homeschool two kids – two boisterous boys – who both have special diagnoses. One Autism, and ADHD. I have a needy German Shepherd who demands attention pretty much all day. And I have a husband. Need I say more?

But Mandi, don’t you have any compassion? I’m a really busy mom!

Look, we all have obligations of our time. Mothers have the least amount of available time of all the people on the planet. It’s how we use the time available to us that counts.

I guarantee if you write out your daily plans every day for a week, you’ll see where you can carve out 30 minutes – for at least 5 of those days – for your physical and mental health.

The “I Don’t See A Benefit” Reason

By now, you’ve had some experience with working out – at some point in your life. You might have enjoyed it; you might have hated it.

Either way, you didn’t take it seriously long enough to connect the dots. OR you had an awful experience and that’s, unfortunately, the dot you are connecting to. 

The fact of the matter is that exercise is not solely about losing weight. Sure, diet culture has bastardized the idea of exercise to the point that anytime someone has an important event – whether it’s a wedding, reunion, or beach trip – they feel the need to start a program of some kind to “lose the weight.”

Tell me I’m wrong, sis.

Exercise is the most underestimated form of mental health. And the fact that we are still having issues with this simple concept means there is a flaw in the instruction model. Reframe your mind around the idea that exercise is in your own best interest, for both physical and mental health.

The “I Don’t Have Any Idea Where To Start” Reason

This one is legit – to an extent. If you take a trip without a map, it’s going to take you a long time to figure out the roads to your destination, and you’ll most definitely get lost along the way. I get it.

But there are these people, called Certified Personal Trainers, and their WHOLE PROFESSION is built on teaching others how to exercise! You might have heard somewhere that *I* am one of those people. More on that later…

If you had a toothache, who would you call? You’d make an appointment with a dentist.

If your car has a rattle and you don’t feel safe driving it, you’d probably take it to the car dealership to get inspected.

Why on earth is finding someone to help you with your fitness any different?

There is something really important thing I will say about personal trainers. You can visit any gym and hire a trainer. You can hire an online personal trainer. But for the love of Pete, make sure the person you hire has these things:

• A legitimate certification from a nationally recognized and respected business – NOT a Beachbody coach or random fitness “influencer” who has great vanity metrics but no actual qualifications.
• Experience with clients with your unique requirements – NOT someone who is a “Jack of All Trades” trainer and hasn’t taken time to focus on a niche.
• A process that puts you first in your training – NOT a generalized training program that they sell to every client who comes through their funnel.

Thoughts?

I know these 3 reasons are hard pills to swallow. Why not send me an email and tell me all about it?

Let me know what’s holding you back!

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