We heard you were ready for a gut-busting 2006. This would be the year you'd stick to your muscle-building, fat-burning covenant: the New Year's resolution. No missed days. No empty calories. No wimp-outs. No excuses.

No, really.

We still believe in you. Of the 16 percent of guys who resolve to work out more in the new year, however, 49 percent fail to adhere to their resolutions. We've heard all the excuses. (We've used a few ourselves.)

So we made a list of them—the lame and the understandable. Then we called around to psychologists, dietitians, trainers and men who manage to work out no matter how busy their lives are.

First, the legitimate excuses. We found four: You're sore, you're sick, you're exhausted, you're hurt. That's it.

Soreness means your body needs a break: "Recovery is as important as working out," says Carter Hays, C.S.C.S., a Houston-based personal trainer. Overtraining keeps as many men from reaching their goals as undertraining does, says Hays. An illness means you should knock off and let your body fight the bug. If you're so tired you're drowsy, you could hurt yourself. And if you're injured—especially if you're experiencing joint pain—let your body heal.

As for the rest of the excuses, listen up:

"Looks like rain." Men's Health cover model Gregg Avedon lives in Florida. Do the names Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne mean anything to you? Avedon spent much of 2004 lifting storm shutters and storing away patio furniture, then taking cover. He still looks great. Avedon says your home gym—those dumbbells over there, and your chinup bar—makes staying in a viable option. You can also spice up your indoor cardio by jumping rope or running up and down stairs. Or tie both ends of a resistance band to a doorway, place a towel across your chest, face away from the door with the band (cushioned by the towel) across your chest, and run in place.

"I have no time." Combine things you do anyway—work, breathe—with athletics. Set up business meetings during which you walk or jog; play tennis with your date; take a spin class to find dates; or take your family hiking, suggests Charles Stuart Platkin, M.P.H., author of The Automatic Diet.

"I pack my gym bag and then The O.C. comes on." Get TiVo. Then tell yourself you're going to do just half of your regular routine. "It won't seem so insurmountable, and you'll end up doing the whole workout," says Edward Abramson, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Lafayette, California.

Source: http://health.msn.com/centers

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