Most assuredly, you are one who takes full responsibility for your own health. You exercise regularly and you eat healthily. But when you try to inspire your friends and family to do the same, sometimes you run up against opposition, excuses, and yes, laziness. Here is a small collection of thoughts and facts that might help you be more persuasive.
To start with, when you’re talking to a non-exerciser, avoid using the term ‘fitness’ or ‘exercise’. These words tend to create barriers and scare people away. Instead, try using use physical ‘activity’ and highlight the movement rather than ‘exercise’. Chances are that the person you are encouraging will begin to enjoy this movement rather than thinking of it as an onerous task.
An inactive person is far more likely to become obese and develop a disease during their lives, starting with hypertension, heart challenges, and risk of stroke. They are more likely to develop diabetes and cancer. Each of these creates a severe handicap to living a happy self-sufficient life AND inevitably causes stress for the family. Inactive people also sacrifice years for a shorter lifespan. So, by not getting active, you take great personal risks. Incredibly, inactivity is far more damaging than smoking.
What about the cost to society and those around you? We each pay tax. And this tax increases when people aren’t active. Again, we inherit the cost of the inevitable hospital system. It’s estimated that over 60% of admissions are the result of poor lifestyle choices. Inactivity alone costs Kiwi taxpayers $530 million a year! Not only that, inactivity costs our economy $2.3 Billion a year!
Richard Beddie, CEO of ExerciseNZ says that 93% of Kiwis aren’t active enough. While 48% don’t even hit global activity targets making New Zealand one of the least active countries in the world. Clearly, YOU and I have work to do if we are to positively influence the lives of those important to us.
One way you can do this with Club Physical is to encourage your friends and whanau to take up a FIVE DAY Trial for $29. This might be enough to ‘kick-start’ your friends into a higher gear. Let’s work on this together.
