| The
End of Exercise, by
Rod Macdonald Can-Fit-Pro |
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What is your most
recent memory of exercise? For many of you reading
this, you need not look any further than earlier
in the day. Unfortunately for most Canadians,
their most recent memory of exercise or sport
is likely from when they were in high school or
college; being picked last for a team (or not
at all) |
ridiculed for what they were wearing, or their poor performance.
Who would want to remember that?
Putting that “pleasant” memory aside, ask
yourself: what are some fun memories you have from your
childhood? I would guess that many of them involved
tobogganing on a chilly winter day, making snow forts
until your parents had to practically drag you inside,
or snow ball fights that left your cheeks flushed from
the cold air.
What about today? Statistics Canada reports that Canadians
watch on average 21.1 hours per week of television.
Imagine if we could get Canadians to shift even one
quarter of that time towards exercise. How different
would our society be if every Canadian performed some
kind of vigorous activity for about 5 hours per week?
The dilemma is they never will.
The problem is not having enough time, since we are
spending so much of it watching television. The problem
is not the money either. Canadians are choosing not
to exercise because, to them, it is not fun, interesting,
or pleasurable in the least. Their perception of exercise,
heavily influenced by their childhood experiences, is
that exercise is boring, painful, and emotionally charged
with feelings of self loathing. Who would want to do
anything that makes them feel that way?
If we want to make a real difference in the lives of
inactive Canadians, we are going to have to scrap our
current exercise model and start over. Fitness and working
out, as we know it, is fine for ultra-athletes and converted
exercise evangelists, but we are the minority. Until
we can connect with the majority, they will continue
to stagger through their lives in an endless state of
near-diabetic shock, with numb limbs from wearing clothes
that fit 10 years and 5 sizes ago.
Instead of making a workout about work, we have to
make it about fun! Look at which classes are the most
popular at your clubs. Which trainers are the most successful?
The ones that are the most fun, while still delivering
results are invariably the most successful.
I challenge you to bring fun back into your facilities,
classes, and programs. You have the ability to inject
fun into the lives of inactive Canadians. Do whatever
it takes to get them active. Play games, make it interesting,
and most importantly have an awesome time- maybe you
could even take them tobogganing!
As a fitness professional, you are an “action
activist”! You can change the course of a person’s
life from despair and fatigue to one of energy and passion
for living. Make this your best year yet, and help inactive
Canadians take action with their lives. You can make
a difference!
www.canfitpro.com
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