Exercises You NEED To Do

Hey there. I hope you are having a great week. This week is my first week on my new program. I took last week as a recovery week to prevent overtraining and to allow my muscles the rest they needed. My Workout Creator Members can check out my recovery week routine here.

Whenever I am designing a new program for myself or for any of my clients, there are certain exercises that I have to make sure I do or my clients will do. It is my goal for every program that I write to make sure there is at least one exercise that the person performing the routine HATES to do. Most people say that exercise should be fun or you won't stick with it. While this may be true there is one major flaw.

If I write a workout for someone and only give them exercises that they enjoy and that they are good at they are really selling themselves short. There is a reason you do certain exercises more often or first in your routine. You like it because you are really good at it. We don't like doing things we suck at. This is a huge mistake that most people make when creating an exercise program. For a truly successful program you need at least one exercise that you really hate doing. I know it is hard, but there is a reason you hate doing it. You are not good at it. And there is only one way that you will get better at it. That's right, you need to do it more often.

As much as I like to workout there are still many exercises I hate doing. Currently my two least favorite exercises to do that I try to incorporate into almost all of my workouts are KB Turkish Get Ups and Overhead Squats. I have a very tough time with both of these exercises. If I don't force myself to do these exercises I will not be training my weakest area, which really is the most important aspect of my program. Eventually you will get better at these exercises. Then they are no longer your least favorite exercise anymore. When this happens it is time to pick new exercises you hate. Sometimes these exercises will turn into your favorite. This happened for me with pull ups. Most people hate pull ups, including myself, because they are so difficult to do. I started doing pull ups every workout and now they are one of my favorites. I can't guarantee this will happen all the time but it is nice when it does.

Take the challenge when you write your next workout program. For the next 6-8 weeks focus on one exercise that you truly hate to do. You should know at least one. Some common exercises that people hate are push ups, lunges, plank holds, and bulgarian squats. Pick one that is good for you and stick with it. Also, perform it at the beginning of your workout so you have the most energy and concentration to get through it. And it is nice to get it over with first.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Personal Training
My Workout Creator