Participaction's "Frustrating Five"

Participaction recently released an awesome report on the state of physical activity in Canada. Why is this report so special? Because it addresses REAL concerns of people across GENERATIONS.

Maybe we need a new mantra? "If Elmo can, YOU can!"

For the purpose of this post I wanted to share Participaction's "Frustrating Five". These are the 5-barriers/reasons across generations that impact health and physical activity for us Canadians, and the "reasons" why only 32% of Canadians aged 18-64 are getting the recommended 7500 steps per day or more.

1. Lack of Motivation

2. Fatigue & Tiredness

3. Time

4. Cost

5. Weather

*Based on a 2025 PARTICIPACTION survey

Let's (briefly) address each point...

Lack of Motivation 🏃

This NOT due to you being "lazy" or lacking "information". We've said it here before (and will continue to do so) - ACTION PRECEDES MOTIVATION. Motivation doesn't just find you "one day", you CREATE IT through action. By DOING / TAKING ACTION on our health and wellbeing, we create motivation like a snowball. One thing leads to another. Ultimately our perceived "lack of motivation" can be chalked up to a "lack of ACTION" and I belief that motivation is some magical thing that will make it's way to us someday.

Now that said, our perceived lack of motivation AND our inaction, can also be chalked up to our APPROACH and MINDSET. We're waiting for ourselves to be "motivated" to do things we really DON'T want or care to do. This is an argument (as we often discuss here on the blog and with coaching clients) to do things we ENJOY or (may) enjoy once we try them. In this way as well, we can CREATE motivation by doing.

Fatigue & Tiredness 🫣

We're tired and low energy for SO MANY reasons today. "Analysis paralysis", information overload, sedentary habits and lifestyle, poor sleep habits (quality and quantity), poor nutrition habits, unmanaged stress, too many social commitments (saying 'yes' to everything and anything) etc... We can also throw in our EGO as well.

If we're talking about barriers to physical activity, we have to remember that physical activity GIVES us energy in many ways. Our body WANTS to move. Our body NEEDS to move. I think a key issue is that WHEN we decide to be active, we're choosing things that aren't really what we want to do (which drain us mentally and emotionally) and/or we're choosing to do things with too much intensity and/or volume when it's not necessary or when we're not ready for it.

Our EGO is what puts us into those situations. If we set it aside and ALLOWED ourselves a DAILY 10-15 minute walk in nature for example, as a REGULAR practice we would feel a positive shift in our energy levels. That's just ONE example of many things we can do to shift away from "tired" or "low energy" being a barrier. Eventually we have to first come to learn the fact that chronic fatigue is NOT normal when we're putting our health and wellbeing first.

Time 🕒

There are plenty of posts here on the Zen Blog that discuss this perceived barrier. Again, we can argue it's HOW we're approaching our health that is the ACTUAL barrier. Yes, time may be a REAL issue if you're trying to find a way to fit in a 1-hour "workout" that you think you "have to do" to be healthy, 5-days per week. But there is SO MUCH scientific and real life proof showing that CONSISTENCY is key, and that there is a postive ACCUMULATIVE effect in what we do for our wellbeing. In other words, instead of trying to find an hour of time to do exercise in a way that you think it's "supposed to look like", you can do 3-5, 10minute bouts of activity within your work day as an example. You can scatter sets of resistance exercises throughout your day, so that at the end of the day your body has completed 'x' sets and 'x' reps in volume.

Time is also an issue of CHOICE more than reality. The REALITY is, we CHOOSE how to use our time most of the time. Set your phone for example to track your usage stats including time on your phone in general, number of times you've picked up your phone etc... Leave the tracking on for a week and forget about it. At the end of the week, go over all the data that you have collected. People of all ages are "finding" 3, 4, 5+ hours PER DAY to stare at a screen in their hand. "Time" is NOT the issue. The ACTUAL barrier to your physical activity is your mind and choices.

Cost 💰

Even though this is still a top barrier, I do feel this HAS changed. In 2001, there were WAY less options for access to information (helpful or not helpful), professional guidance, gyms/training studios locally etc. We didn't even have smartphones then people! There were no free apps let me tell ya!

Today the options are ABUNDANT (good and bad problem), but cost can vary.

Let's just say it certainly doesn't "have to" be costly to be healthy. MOST of us can step out the door and go for a walk. MOST of us can learn 3-5 simple body weight exercises and do them regularly as part of our days. MOST of us can make basic lifestyle changes without needing to dive in too deep to create a positive change. ALL for NO MONEY. There are plenty in between that and a professional who costs hundreds of dollars an hour and who trains celebrities, that IS affordable even for a 3-6 month investment in yourself to LEARN how to better create a lifestyle that works for your wellbeing!

Where cost can be a barrier in some ways, it ultimately is NOT a full blown barrier anymore in my opinion.

Weather ☁

Okay, we live in Canada. We have ALL KINDS of weather conditions. We just are now coming out of an "old fashioned Canadian winter" for the first time in decades. HOWEVER, "weather" is NOT our true barrier. It's a PERCEIVED barrier.

Today in 2026, we have BETTER clothing for all types of weather. We have BETTER access to weather information than ever before. That said, we can "control the weather" like we could in the past ... Not at all! We can ONLY control our choices and our efforts.

Our REAL barrier is the fact that we are NOT willing to subject ourselves to even the slightest discomfort today. We're SO comfortable in all facets of life, that if it's even slightly less than our personal "ideal" we put our health aside because of "the weather". This creates inconsistency. This creates a practice of finding a reason NOT to get outdoors for the sake of our deep health.

In addition, my argument is it's LACK OF PLANNING and FLEXIBILITY in what we DO for our health practices. If we ARE regular in our routines and there's a day where it's icey and unsafe for example, we often just throw our arms up and say "well I guess I can't get outside today" and then we do nothing. INSTEAD, if we have a "Plan B" and a "Plan C" in place, our health NEVER takes a back seat to the weather. For example, someone's plans may look like this:

Plan A (ideal): 30min walk on my favourite path in the woods

Plan B (if weather prevents this): 20-30min walk on the sidewalks in town or on a local road loop near my home

Plan C (if plan B fails and it's UNSAFE to be outdoors): 10-15min bodyweight routine in my house before I leave for work/errands etc...

If we PLAN and have FLEXIBLITY in what we do, this is a quick and easy sample of how the "weather" NEVER is a barrier for us.

If you're still here reading, let me show you something else that may or may not shock you somewhat. When I stepped into the health and wellness industry a quarter century ago 😳, these were the top 5-barriers to people's health and physical activity in 2001:

1. Time

2. Environmental & Safety Concerns (sidewalks, bike paths, street lights etc)

3. Cost

4. Lack of Energy & Motivation

5. Sedentary Lifestyle Shifts (increased desk jobs, video games, internet & technology...)

Almost the same #$%@, different decade!! 🫣

If that doesn't show we're APPROACHING IT WRONG I don't know what does! I'm not saying I think people are lying when they say that one or all of these things is a barrier for them. It's a LEGITIMATE truth that they feel that way. HOWEVER, it's also what's keeping us close minded and unable to progress our health in the way we want. Our MINDS and WILLINGNESS to have these kinds of conversations surrounding our MENTAL approach and resilience in our health and wellness efforts NEED TO BE OPEN if we EVER want to create sustainable change across the board.

With MORE trainers, coaches, professionals and CHOICES of HOW you can create change for your health today, it is CERTAINLY not for lack of options to help you with motivation. I believe this shows that our "old ways" HAVE FAILED US and we MUST BE OPEN to NEW approaches, conversations and mindsets.