Given the health benefits of regular physical activity, we might wonder why Americans are not active at recommended levels.
Understanding common barriers to physical activity and creating strategies to overcome them may help you make physical activity part of your daily life. To learn more about how to overcome barriers to physical activity, read below and visit Getting Started.
Suggestions for Overcoming Physical Activity Barriers
Lack of time
- Identify available time slots. Monitor your daily activities for one week. Identify at least five 30-minute time slots you could use for physical activity.
- Add physical activity to your daily routine. For example, walk or ride your bike to work or shopping, organize school activities around physical activity, walk the dog, take the stairs, exercise while you watch TV, park farther away from your destination, etc.
- Select activities, such as walking, jogging, or stair climbing that you can do based on the time that you have available [e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes].
- Take advantage of work physical activity facilities and/or programs. Hold walking meetings and conference calls if possible. During phone calls try to stand, stretch, or move and walk around some, if possible.
Social support
- Explain your interest in physical activity to friends and family. Ask them to support your efforts.
- Invite friends and family members to exercise with you. Plan social activities involving exercise.
- Develop new friendships with physically active people. Join a gym or group, such as the YMCA or a hiking club.
Lack of energy
- Schedule physical activity for times in the day or week when you feel energetic.
- Convince yourself that if you give it a chance, physical activity will increase your energy level; then, try it.
Lack of motivation
- Plan ahead. Make physical activity a regular part of your daily or weekly schedule and write it on your calendar.
- Invite a friend to exercise with you on a regular basis and write it on both your calendars.
- Join an exercise group or class.
Fear of injury
- Learn how to warm up and cool down to prevent injury.
- Learn how to exercise appropriately considering your age, fitness level, skill level, and health status.
- Choose activities you feel you can do safely, and increase the amount you do gradually as your confidence and abilities grow.
Lack of skill
- Select activities that don’t require new skills, such as walking, climbing stairs, or jogging.
- Take a class to develop new skills.
High costs and lack of facilities
- Select activities that require minimal facilities or equipment, such as walking, jogging, jumping rope, or calisthenics.
- Identify inexpensive, convenient resources available in your community [community education programs, park and recreation programs, worksite programs, etc.].
Weather conditions
- Develop a set of regular activities that are always available regardless of weather [aerobic dance, indoor swimming, stair climbing, rope skipping, mall walking, dancing, or home activities including indoor cycling, calisthenics, exercise videos, etc.]
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Most of us are familiar with the most common barrier to a regular physical activity routine -- the lack of time. Work, family obligations and other realities of daily life often get in the way of our best intentions to be more active. There are many additional barriers that vary by the person and life circumstance.
If you're committed to a physical activity program and setting goals for yourself, it’s helpful to first identify your personal barriers. By troubleshooting and developing tactics in advance, you’ll have better success overcoming them.
Here are some of the more common barriers and solutions for overcoming them:
- Barrier:
Lack of time
Solutions: Monitor your activities for one week and identify at least three, 30-minute slots you could use for physical activity. Select activities that you can fit into your home or work routine so you’re not wasting time on transportation to another venue to accomplish them. Walking in your neighborhood, climbing stairs at your office or exercising while you watch TV are all good options.
- Barrier: Friends and
family don’t share your interest in physical activity
Solutions: Explain your fitness and/or health improvement goals to friends and family and ask for their support. Invite friends to participate in physical activity with you. Join a local YMCA or walking club to find people with similar goals to offer support.
- Barrier: Lack of motivation and/or energy
Solutions: Plan ahead. Schedule physical activity for specific times/days and “check” it off your list or calendar each time you complete it. Determine what time of day you feel more energetic and try to fit activity into that time frame. Join an exercise group or class and seek others in the group to help motivate you and keep you accountable to attending.
- Barrier: Lack
of resources/equipment
Solutions: Select activities that require minimal facilities or equipment, such as walking, jogging, jumping rope or calisthenics. Identify inexpensive, convenient resources in your community, such as parks and recreation programs, worksite wellness groups, walking clubs, etc.
- Barrier: Family caregiving obligations
Solutions: Exercise with your kids -- go for a walk together, play tag or other running games, get an aerobic dance or exercise tape for kids. You can spend time together, occupy the kids and ensure they're getting the daily physical activity they need to stay healthy. If you have a specific class you like to attend, try alternating babysitting time with a neighbor.
- Barrier: Frequent work or leisure travel
Solutions: Join a YMCA or YWCA and ask about reciprocal memberships that allow access to facilities in other cities. Pack a jump rope and resistance bands in your luggage. Book hotels that have a pool and/or fitness rooms.
Written by American Heart Association editorial staff and reviewed by science and medicine advisers. See our editorial policies and staff.