Best Ways to Get Motivated to Do Exercises That You Hate

Woman using battle ropes
Photo by Ryan Gagnon on Unsplash

Whether it’s planks, squats, or lunges, we all have that one exercise that we hate from the bottom of our hearts. Excluding them from your fitness routine isn’t a solution because you won’t reap the benefits they bring, so try using these tips and tricks to power through them—and start hating them a little less.

Shorter Sets

Shorter sets can help you find exercises that you don’t enjoy less dreadful. Instead of eliminating them from your workout routine, do fewer reps in a single set and you’ll be over with the exercise you hate before you even notice it.

Before and After

The best way to stop dreading exercises that you don’t enjoy is to sandwich them between the exercises that you actually like. If you hate doing lunges, try rearranging your fitness routine so you do exercises you truly enjoy before and after them so you have something to look forward to once the set is over.

Alternative Exercises

If you can find equally effective alternatives for exercises that you hate, there’s no need to perform them at all. The main point of doing these exercises is to work on muscle groups that you couldn’t target any other way, but it’s highly likely there are alternative exercises you could do instead.