The hard bit of exercise is getting going

There's a bit of a misconception about the kinds of people who come to fitness professionals for help. They're not all die-hard fitness fanatics.

In fact, a surprising number have a distinctly negative attitude to exercise. For us, one of the hardest areas of the job is to change their perspective.

Trying to get someone to exercise when their heart isn't in it isn't easy. In those situations, the question I always ask is: "Why are you wasting your time and hard-earned cash on something that you really don't like?" My next question is, "What do you enjoy doing?"
I've yet to find someone who doesn't like any form of exercise. They just haven't liked the training (and possibly the trainers) that they've tried so far.

The fitness industry has grown like crazy over the past 20 years, and we're lucky enough to live in one of the biggest cities in the world, where there are so many different ways to get your muscles working.

So whatever might float your boat, from salsa lessons to circus skills to Dynamic Pilates, it's out there. And with a little bit of research and some trial and error, even the most hardened gymophobes can find themselves enjoying and benefiting from exercise, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

Once you've found something that works for you, you're already halfway there. Then all you need is a good fitness professional who'll help you achieve the other 50 per cent. And suddenly that's the easy bit.

David Higgins, co-founder and Master Trainer at TenPilates, tenpilates.com