Best Excuses for Not Going to the Gym

When you first start going to the gym and are full of enthusiasm for your newfound hobby the thought of missing a scheduled training session seems ridiculous. You don’t even think about calling up your training partner to cancel a session and you need little persuasion to drop what you are doing for an impromptu, extra workout outside of your weekly schedule. But after a few months or for some people even a few weeks this enthusiasm starts to wane and after work the thought of heading straight home instead of hitting the gym grows in attractiveness and the prospect of you missing a session becomes increasingly likely. Some people accept this fact and understand that reaching your fitness goals is a long journey that for some never ends. It is ok to miss the odd session and have a life outside the gym. When someone asks you why you weren’t down the gym last night it is ok to simply say “I didn’t feel like it”. But for some people they cannot admit they chose not to work out and invent tall stories and unbelievable excuses to either fool themselves or their friends into thinking they are still a 100% dedicated to the cause.

If you haven’t reached that point yet and haven’t heard the litany of excuses for not going to the gym or you are just reaching that point and need something to tell your training partner when you blow off tonight’s training session for the second time this week have a look below at the best excuses for not going to the gym. If you’ve heard some good ones in your time or have even come up with some great excuses leave a comment below.

In at the top of the list is the timeless classic of I’ve forgotten my gym kit. This one didn’t work in school when forgetting your PE kit only meant you had to endure the shame of wearing something out of the lost property bin which was usually an old pair of extremely short shorts in a colour better suited to the opposite sex. But now that you are older this excuse does actually work if you want to get out of a training session. Gone are the days of rifling through the lost property gear or exercising in your pants with bare feet. Unless you train at a spit and saw dust gym training in your jeans and shoes is not going to be allowed so for you no kits means no training.
I’ve got an injury. If you really do have an injury then you really shouldn’t be training. If it’s something long term that you can’t seem to get rid of then you might just have to train around it but in the early days of a fresh injury resting it is usually the best option. The only problem with this excuse is that you need to explain when you actually got injured and if you are fobbing off your training partner chances are they won’t remember that dodgy bicep curl you did in the gym last night if it never happened! The old classics of slipping in the bath or getting up too quickly won’t work for most people unless they are over 50 so think carefully before using this one as it could backfire!
I’ve run out of protein shakes. Some people get so focussed on pre and post workout nutrition. They take all the advice from the protein shakes and recovery drinks manufactures as gospel. They actually believe that if you don’t have a protein shake immediately after your workout then your muscles won’t grow and the whole training session will be wasted. This is utter rubbish and although some workout supplements and nutritional products can be very helpful, not using them doesn’t mean you aren’t going to get stronger or grow bigger. Did no one lift weights or take part in sports before the arrival of the supplement companies?

If you’ve come up with or used any excuses for avoiding the gym leave a comment below or send us an email via the contact page.