Recently one of my exercise class instructors gave the class this suggestion: Do exercises that you hate. If there's some exercise out there that you always like to avoid, or that you stop doing early because you "run out of time," just force yourself to do it, because you'll feel better in the long run. As someone who is not an exercise class instructor or a personal trainer, I wasn't sure if I agreed with this bit of advice. Or rather, I agreed with it in theory, but when faced with the actual prospect of push-ups, planks, or running, for that matter, I decided that I no longer agreed with this bit of advice. Then I decided that I was being wimpy, and could at least give it a go.
Over a year ago, I tried easing my way into running and made some good progress before realizing that it wasn't for me as my main form of exercise. Instead I tried incorporating it into my workouts whenever I did cross-training. I would warm-up and run for about 3 or 4 minutes, and do various intervals of running and sprinting throughout my exercise. I have recently started including push-ups too, since I've always avoided them. It's working so far.
As for planks, I don't like them and never will. If you've given an exercise a fair try and you still dread it, you will probably not do it regularly. The next best thing is to try to figure out reasonable substitutes. For example, since planks are exercises that help strengthen the back and the abdominals, I searched for other exercises that would serve the same purpose. If you know the purpose of the exercises you hate, you are more likely to consciously focus on those parts of your body.
Recently one of my exercise class instructors gave the class this suggestion: Do exercises that you hate. If there's some exercise out there that you always like to avoid, or that you stop doing early because you "run out of time," just force yourself to do it, because you'll feel better in the long run. As someone who is not an exercise class instructor or a personal trainer, I wasn't sure if I agreed with this bit of advice. Or rather, I agreed with it in theory, but when faced with the actual prospect of push-ups, planks, or running, for that matter, I decided that I no longer agreed with this bit of advice. Then I decided that I was being wimpy, and could at least give it a go.
Over a year ago, I tried easing my way into running and made some good progress before realizing that it wasn't for me as my main form of exercise. Instead I tried incorporating it into my workouts whenever I did cross-training. I would warm-up and run for about 3 or 4 minutes, and do various intervals of running and sprinting throughout my exercise. I have recently started including push-ups too, since I've always avoided them. It's working so far.
As for planks, I don't like them and never will. If you've given an exercise a fair try and you still dread it, you will probably not do it regularly. The next best thing is to try to figure out reasonable substitutes. For example, since planks are exercises that help strengthen the back and the abdominals, I searched for other exercises that would serve the same purpose. If you know the purpose of the exercises you hate, you are more likely to consciously focus on those parts of your body.