Why You Should Do Exercise Moves You Hate

Wait, say whatttt?

I know, it’s different from what you usually hear from me.

I preach that you should find the workouts that you enjoy so that you can make it a lifestyle.  It won’t be sustainable AT ALL if you’re constantly going to spin class when you hate spin class.  Or running when you hate running.  Or barre class when you hate it.  YOU GET IT.  But let me be more specific…I do fully agree with those aforementioned statements.  What I mean in today’s post is about specific exercise moves, not entire workouts, and I’m going to share why you should do exercise moves that you hate.

So let’s take my Fitter Program for example.  I created the program of course and so I had free reign to put in whatever moves I wanted.  I’ll tell you the move I hate the most, the absolute MOST of any other and that is up/down planks.  And yet I have them in there at least every other week.  WHY would I do that to myself?! And to you?!  Am I crazy? (maybe…)

I’ll tell you why.

Because up/down planks challenge you.  Up/down planks change you.  Up/down planks work.

But gahhh do they suck when you’re doing them.  I hate every last rep, but when I’m done, I feel SO GOOD that I did them.  I mean my shoulders are usually burning off but I feel good, ha.  Part of working out is that you have to do those moves that hurt, that burn, that you hate.  Because if you don’t do those, really, you’re cheating yourself out of the results you can be getting and you’re sort of wasting your time by only doing moves that don’t physically challenge you.

That is the same reason why I encourage people to change up the weights that they use.  If you’ve been using 5lb weights for a couple of years now, I feel pretty confident saying that you can go ahead and move up to 8lbs or 10lbs.  It doesn’t have to be a dramatic difference, and for the record it probably won’t take you a couple of years to get there.  8 Weeks through Fitter, for example, would for sure get you stronger and I’m sure on some of the moves, maybe not all, but some of them, you could go up in weight.  That is going to be different for every person.  Everyone improves and gets stronger at their own pace. *Remember when you do go up in weight that you want to have good form.  That’s a tell tale sign that you need to go down in weight is when you are unable to perform the move correctly because the weight is too heavy.  SO be mindful of that.  But can you challenge yourself and push yourself a little more?  If you’re able, you absolutely should.  That is what exercise is all about!

Also, I’m not saying every single workout should push you to the brink…that isn’t sustainable either.  But you should be testing your body and your strength in at least 2-3 workouts a week.  If you’re doing that, I bet you’re seeing those muscles pop and seeing improvements in your cardiovascular endurance.

So obviously the “hate move” as I’ll call it will be different for everyone.  My hate move is up/down planks.  I’m sure there are some sickos people out there that like up/down planks 😉  I, for one, seriously LOVE burpees.  I love me a burpee.  If I could only do one move for the rest of my life to stay in shape it would be a burpee.  Cardiovascular, torches calories, uses every muscle in your body, gets you those ripped muscles, done.

But really, even beyond the physical aspect of doing a move that you don’t like for the physical challenge, it’s important to also recognize the mental challenge.  Yes my shoulders, back, core, triceps, & biceps all get stronger when I am doing an up/down plank, but beyond that I am telling myself that I CAN DO ANYTHING and BEAT ANYTHING that comes my way.  And it should tell you the same thing.  It might be tough but SO ARE YOU.  And you won’t let it win.

So next time you’re debating skipping that one move you hate…don’t.  And I won’t either.

What move do you hate/love to hate/hate to love? 🙂

I challenge you to do 10 reps of your hate move after every one of your workouts for the next week.  Just 10 🙂  You got it!

xo,

Bess