Every fitness routine includes those exercises that make you want to skip the gym entirely. Whether it's the burn of push-ups, the challenge of squats, or the awkwardness of bridges, certain movements can feel more like punishment than progress.
The problem isn't that these exercises don't work, they're actually some of the most effective moves for building strength and preventing injury. The issue is that they're often too difficult or performed incorrectly, creating negative associations that make you want to avoid them completely.
With the right approach and realistic expectations, those dreaded movements can become satisfying parts of your workout routine. Here's how you can love the exercises everyone dreads.
1. Start with bridges to build confidence
The bridge works your glutes, back, and core muscles all at once, which are some of your body's most powerful muscle groups.
You use these muscles every time you roll over in bed, get up from the floor, or lift heavy objects around the house. To do a basic bridge, lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
Place your arms at your sides with palms down, tighten your glutes, then lift your hips as high as feels comfortable and hold for five seconds.
When you stop forcing yourself into perfect bridges and instead focus on what your body can do right now, you'll start feeling accomplished rather than frustrated. This success builds positive associations that make you look forward to bridges instead of avoiding them.
2. Make push-ups feel achievable
Push-ups engage your entire body from arms to legs, making them one of the most efficient exercises you can do. Many people avoid them because they feel like a test of strength or remind them of punishment from gym class.
Start by doing push-ups against a wall or kitchen counter instead of on the floor. Position yourself closer to increase difficulty or farther away to make it easier. This angled approach lets you focus on proper form and muscle engagement without struggling with your full body weight.
By removing the intimidation factor and allowing yourself to succeed immediately, push-ups go from a dreaded strength test into a satisfying movement you can actually complete.
This shift from failure to success is what turns exercise hatred into genuine enjoyment that gets easier over time.
3. Turn squats into something you already do
Squats activate all your major leg muscles at once, including your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, which helps build a stronger lower body for safer daily movement.
Most people struggle with squats because of tight hip flexors and hamstrings, plus the risk of back pain if done incorrectly. The solution is surprisingly simple: use a chair. Sit with feet hip-width apart, hands on your thighs, then slowly stand and sit back down in a controlled movement, taking three to five seconds each way.
This familiar movement eliminates the fear and awkwardness that makes squats so unpleasant. When you realize you're already doing a version of squats every day, the exercise stops feeling unfamiliar and starts feeling natural and achievable.
4. Break burpees into bite-sized pieces
Burpees combine a squat, plank, push-up, and jump into one brutal movement that tests your entire body and cardiovascular system. They're incredibly effective for building strength and endurance, but most people hate them because they're exhausting and feel like pure punishment.
The secret to loving burpees is breaking them apart. Start by doing each component separately: practice squats, then planks, then push-ups, then small jumps. Once you're comfortable with each piece, slowly combine two movements, then three, and eventually all four.
By deconstructing this intimidating exercise into familiar parts, you remove the overwhelming nature that makes burpees so dreaded. When you can succeed at each component, the full movement becomes an achievement rather than an ordeal.
5. Focus on form over quantity
Stop worrying about how many repetitions you can do and concentrate on performing each movement correctly. Five perfect push-ups beat ten sloppy ones every time because proper form ensures you're actually working the intended muscles and avoiding injury.
When you can feel your muscles fully engaged during each repetition, you'll start to appreciate what the exercise is doing for your body. This mental shift from quantity to quality helps create positive associations with movements you once dreaded.
By celebrating proper form instead of chasing numbers, you remove the performance pressure that makes exercises feel like punishment. This approach turns every workout into a win, which is exactly how exercise hatred transforms into genuine love for movement.
Now you've learned how enjoy your most hates exercises, why not take a look at some of our other useful guides?
Check out How to build fitness that actually lasts — the best exercises to do at any age and 5 power moves to boost your fitness. And if you're a little apprehensive about using the squat rack, here's how to use it safely and effectively.
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