The reason exercise takes more effort when you’re unfit or overweight.

(and why that shouldn’t matter).

Are you familiar with the couch potato conundrum? Whilst nestled deep into sofa cushions like a sloth in a bed of cecropia leaves, the couch potato repeats the same four thoughts:

1) ‘I need to exercise.’

2) ‘I don’t exercise because it takes too much effort.’

3) ‘I know that if I started exercising, then it wouldn’t take as much effort.’

4) ‘I need to exercise’.

It’s a circular problem, a non-starter, the ball and chain that keeps sedentary people anchored to their sofa.

I empathise because exercise does take more effort for the unfit and overweight.

I’ll explain.

When we exercise, we expend a lot of energy over a short period. Muscles demand blood and nutrients, reducing the energy stocks available to our internal organs and brain. Sooner or later, fatigue and exhaustion kick in to protect our bodies from the harmful effects of excessive energy expenditure.

But when we’re overweight, we use more energy moving heavier limbs, accelerating the onset of fatigue.