Find The Right Workout For You

Know you’re not exercising as much as you should be? Join the club! We look at some common issues that get in the way – and how to revive your workout mojo

Perhaps you’d love to make it to the gym more than you manage, or you’ve tried to take up running every spring for the last few years – but never turned it into a habit. It’s not just you – by the age of 50 only 32 per cent of us get active for 30 minutes at least once a week, according to Sport England. Government guidelines suggest, as a minimum, we should be doing 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days, so lots of us are lagging behind. Sport England’s research shows we know the health benefits – so what’s stopping us? “Exercise is often difficult for women for a number of reasons,” says clinical sports psychologist Carole Seheult. “Some women feel guilty for taking time out from family life and many were put off by bad experiences of PE at school, or feel self-conscious in the gym.” We’ve asked the experts for ways to get over the barriers.

If you never seem to have the time…

“This is a big problem for women who may be working full-time as well as looking after family,” says Carole. But there are still ways to fit in a workout.

“BUILD EXERCISE INTO YOUR DAY,” says exercise psychologist Dr Jeff Breckon. “For example, use your work lunch hour to go for a jog or to a fitness class.” Or you could run or cycle for at least part of your commute so your workout has a practical purpose and doesn’t eat into extra time.

SET YOUR ALARM CLOCK JUST 10 MINUTES EARLIER and do a mini workout at home. Try our 10-minute workout on page 77 or the 7 Minute Workout app (free, iPhone and iPad), for bodyweight exercises to do super-fast.