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5 exercises we hate, and why you should do them anyway

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Some exercise movements are simple, others are tough but manageable. But there are always a few that we really despise. Some are so vilified for doing so their own merchandise with phrases like “Burpees Hate You Too.” If you’re not the “no pain, no gain” type, is it okay to just skip the burpee or one of your other least favorite moves?

“There are some moves that some people will never want to do, and that’s okay. But most people underestimate themselves when it comes to fitness,” says Ashantis Jones, a mental health counselor and personal trainer in Chicago.

Trying something difficult and realizing you can actually do it, Ms. Jones adds, is a confidence boost with benefits that extend beyond the gym. In a 2022 studyscientists found that adults they classified as unhappy reported higher life satisfaction after trying (often physical) activities outside their comfort zone.

“Nobody likes to do things they’re not good at,” says Crystal Fasano, a Brooklyn-based personal trainer and Pilates instructor. But “change happens when we feel a little uncomfortable,” she said. The secret: every exercise is adaptable and every version of an exercise counts.

Here are some of the most valuable, least liked exercises, according to a sampling of experts, and how to make them a little more appealing.

“All my customers hate shelves,” Ms. Jones said. That could be because they haven’t learned to do them correctly or because they’re trying too advanced a version. Unfortunately, planks are one of the most effective ways to build core strength, which supports posture, balance and overall stability. If you skip them, you’re really missing out.

In the classic plank, you hold your body horizontally, in a straight line, with your hands or forearms and toes on the floor. But that’s not the only way to do it.

“You can do forearms and knees, or hands and knees,” Ms. Jones said. You can also rest your hands on a sturdy chair or table or even a wall: lifting your upper body takes some of the weight off the plank, making it more doable, she added.

Whether it’s jumping jacks or squat jumps, Ms. Fasano said, many people hate jumping exercises. “So many people land very hard after jumping and don’t understand how to soften the impact on their joints when they jump,” she said.

That’s a missed opportunity, says Maillard Howell, a personal trainer in Brooklyn and co-owner of Dean CrossFit. “Jumping improves balance and coordination. It helps train the quick response we need when we slip,” he said.

There are a few circumstances – injuries, recent surgeries, joint instability – which may make jumping a bad idea. And if you have certain types of pelvic floor dysfunction, especially stress incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, it’s best to consult a physical therapist first and start slowly.

But it’s hard to find a more versatile move: In addition to balance and coordination, jumping increases your heart rate and even builds pelvic floor strength. And learning to land softly can help a lot.

Keep your knees slightly bent when landing and try to land your toes and the balls of your feet first, rather than landing on a flat foot, Ms. Fasano said. Also start slowly and break the movement. You can start with a box steps before moving on to jumps onto a small box and then onto a larger box. Or, for jumping jacks, start with step jacks and then progress to jumping with your feet just a few inches apart, before doing a wider jump.

Mr. Howell enjoys observing how the people around him move, whether in a fitness environment or on the subway. At some gyms (not his) “no one is squatting, he said. Then he notices in the subway that fellow passengers have to grab a pole to get out of their seats. These two things, he said, are related.

Squats are a basic movement pattern that anyone who wants to sit and stand independently (from a subway seat or a toilet) should do, Mr. Howell said. That doesn’t mean you have to like them, but there are ways to make them more bearable.

Start simple. ‘Sit on a bench and then stand up. Do that a few times,” Mr. Howell said. When you’re ready, try sitting on the bench and standing with your weight mostly on one leg for a few reps, then on the other. Work your way up to a squat without a chair, and if that feels good, add weight, he added.

Our ankles need to flex deeply for our knees and hips to bend, says Jill Koshak-Johnson, a personal trainer in New Jersey. If you have limited ankle mobility, certain exercises and standing with your heels on one wedge (available at most gyms) can help.

Deadlift anxiety is more about fear than hate. Ms Koshak-Johnson said: “People believe deadlifts are bad for their back or can worsen existing back injuries.”

And yes, if you try a deadlift, which involves leaning forward to pick up a weight, with a heavily loaded barbell on your first visit to a gym, your back may rebel. But deadlifts done correctly are one of the best ways to strengthen your hamstrings and glutes, which “can really help take the strain off the back,” Ms. Koshak-Johnson said.

Deadlifts can feel much more supported if you can address limitations in hip mobility and tension or tightness in the pelvic floor, Ms. Koshak-Johnson said. Prepare for your deadlift session with some exercises to activate the deadlift hip internal rotators And adductors. If necessary, work your way up through one hip hinge on your knees, she said, and then a standing one. Then slowly add weight, using a pair of light dumbbells to get the hang of it and ask a trainer or expert friend to look at your form.

No list of hated exercises would be complete without the burpee. Invented as a fitness test in the 1930s by a physiologist named Royal H. Burpee, it was later adopted by the army and navy and is still popular in CrossFit gyms and other exercise spaces. Many of Ms. Jones’ clients assume they can’t do one because they don’t have a CrossFit physique. But many people can make a version, they said.

“How your body looks or is shaped, someone who lives in a larger body versus a smaller body, that doesn’t matter to the farmer. The farmer doesn’t care, they said.

At its core, the burpee involves going from standing to a horizontal position on the ground and then standing back up. An advanced burpee may involve quickly squatting, jumping into a plank, performing a push-up, jumping forward into a squat, and then jumping back into a standing position.

But you can adjust any parts that feel too uncomfortable, Ms. Jones said. You can step backward into a plank, skip the push-up, step forward one foot at a time, or stand without jumping.

“It doesn’t have to be fast either, it can be slow,” she added. None of these difficult elements “are necessary for a burpee to be a burpee.”

Anna Maltby is a freelance health writer and personal trainer based in Brooklyn.

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