8 Exercises That Don’t FEEL Like Exercise

“My favorite exercise is a cross between a lunge and a crunch. I call it lunch.”

Anonymous

Not all of us are natural exercise nuts; some of us would 100% rather spend our time doing something – anything – else. The people that feel that way (those labeled “us”) do one of two things: they either choose no exercise, or, they choose yes exercise, but only because they know that is the right answer and that they should. However, they are miserable for almost every second of it.

I wouldn’t say that I am MISERABLE every second of it, but ummm, I don’t like to sweat. Go ahead – have a little chuckle at my expense (my gym buddy does) – but I can’t help it. I don’t wash my hair every single day (you girls know what I am talking about) so sweating all around my hairline is bothersome. And most of the time I am going somewhere after the gym, so wearing a sweat encrusted sports bra all around town, is not exactly thrilling. I will admit however, that I feel the most productive if my gym session has included some sweat, but I know that I always suffer the burden, after the fact.

These revelations have prompted me to really think about what I do enjoy and what feels a lot less like work than a regular gym session. Surprisingly, I came up with 8 exercises (or in some cases, “machines”) that are rather, perhaps, almost enjoyable.

(I have also made sure to variate my responses to include things that can be done at home, and some that need to be done at the gym. I recognize that not everyone will leave their home to work out – especially right now – nor does everyone have equipment.)

1. The Back Extension “Machine”

This is my FAVORITE thing to do at the gym. I actually just told my workout buddy that I planned to buy one for home and his comment was, Don’t! Then you will never go to the gym. Unfortunately, he may be right.

This machine isn’t so much a machine, as it is a stand. It has a platform where you lay your upper torso (facing down), and pads where you hook the undersides of your calves. Then, you lower your body over the platform, so your head is dangling down, and use your back muscles to pull yourself up so your body ends up in like a 130 degree angle. (Don’t ask me, ask my mathematician husband.)

I usually do 3 sets of 12 reps, and before the gym shut down (dumb COVID-19), I was holding onto 15 pound weights while doing them. I was definitely ready to move up to 20 pounds, but there wasn’t any way to do that (it was either hold too many weights – and potentially drop them – to add up to the 20, OR hold less weights, but do 25 pounds, and that seemed too big of a jump).

The other thing that I do on this machine is side bends to work my obliques. I hold the weights for this too, and I do the same amount of sets and reps. Here, you prop your feet sideways, and lay one of your hips on the chest platform. Hold the weights in the same hand as the hip you have propped, and lower your side as far as you can over the platform. Then, pull your body back to baseline, still leaving your arm with the weights dangling. This exercise always makes me feel stronger. You can also do this movement while standing, but it obviously doesn’t work you as hard as the back extension machine does.

2. Leg Lifts

I mean, you get to lay.down. Lay down! What in the world is better than THAT when you are exercising?!

This is the movement where you lay on your back with your hands under you – towards the top of your bum – and you bring your legs up toward your chest (while keeping your legs straight). You then lower your legs back down until right before you hit the floor with your heels. Then, back up again. Certainly 3 sets of 12 reps would be fine for this, but I often times found myself doing a set of like 25, and then going onto something else, then coming back and doing another set of 20. I don’t know why I always did this exercise that way, it just seemed to work for me.

You can also variate this exercise, and that makes it even nicer. Feel free to throw in some scissors while doing lifts, or bring your legs all the way up into like a candlestick maneuver (gymnastics anyone?) before you begin to lower them back down. Changing it up keeps you entertained and your body always guessing.

OH! And I swear that just the other day I saw an article of someone doing this on their bed!!! If that doesn’t add a whole new level of comfort to the dread of exercise, I don’t know what does!

3. Vibration Platform

Have you ever tried one of these? They are wild. I got one for my birthday last August and I keep promising this, but I really will do a blog post on just this machine itself at some point in time.

What this is, is a platform that vibrates at multiple speeds in order to vibrate your muscles faster than you can contract them in a workout. There are tons of different machines out there so you have multiple choices when looking at them, but my version has 3 different programs and those 3 programs vary the speeds in different ways. I also got the machine that has a top, and side bars (I was afraid I might fall off) but you can find them with just the platform that you stand on, if you would prefer.

There are so many exercises you can do on this machine while it is running and vibrating your body and muscles: you can simply stand on it, which loosens back muscles; you can squat on it; some machines come with hooks for a rubber band with handles, so you can do bicep curls and other arm exercises; and all machines come with their own little workout guide. Much of the options are limitless. The guide will even show you different ways to stand and sit on the machine to work different areas.

At some of the bigger gym chains, they have vibration platforms that you can use, there. I know that many of the Planet Fitness locations (which is where I go) do, however we are still waiting for one at our location. I am sure that it is going to be rather delayed since we were supposed to have a full gym rebuild next month and COVID-19 has derailed the timing of that.

If I am having a down day and feeling rather lazy in my workout (or lack thereof) I go stand on my machine for 20 minutes and then I feel like I at least did SOMETHING.

(You cannot start at 20 minutes – you have to build to that. If you do, you will feel miserable and your body will be in muscle turmoil.)

4. Planks

So I will admit here that planks can be pretty challenging for a lot of people. However, I put it here because there are so many variations, and because I use this as a time to also stretch my calves, and it ends up feeling like a “2-for-1” movement.

A plank is where you are in a pushup position, and you hold that position for some allotted amount of time. When I started, I was holding it for around one minute. You can choose to do this on your knees or in a traditional pushup position – I often times find myself doing both positions because it feels like it works things differently. When I am in a full pushup position, I like to push back, putting my weight into my calves – it not only takes some pressure off my shoulders, but it lets me stretch my leg muscles. I then will rock “forward”, and come back over my shoulders again. I alternate every 5-10 seconds that I am in that position. Doing it that way doesn’t consistently keep the pressure on my shoulders, but it still consistently works my legs and core, while my arms and shoulders are still being used to hold my body up.

I also use this position to do side planks. This is where I turn my feet to the side, with them stacked one on top of the other, and my elbow and forearm is on the ground. I then raise my top arm into the air and keep my hips off the ground. I will openly admit that this always feels harder to me than a normal plank, but I like that it works my obliques.

5. “Girly” Pushups

Don’t make fun of my girly pushups. I like them! So even if you haven’t done a pushup since gym class your junior year of high school, starting with a modified pushup (what I call a girly pushup) should feel like you’ve still got this! – more or less.

This pushup is where you are on your knees with your feet partially in the air, and your upper body in a pushup position. You then lower yourself down from there, and then push back up just like you would a normal pushup. I was surprised when I started working out that I could bust out 20 or so of these pretty easily – it made me feel motivated and accomplished.

You can also move your hands in or out to change your positioning, which will change the intensity level and where you focus the pressure.

6. Bicep Curls with Free Weights

Blech, I hate the bicep machine. It is awful. When I was talking to my husband one night about how HARD that machine is for me, he [surprisingly] said of course it is! His rationale (something that I honestly hadn’t thought of) was that it is so challenging because they over isolate that one muscle. When you naturally lift something using your bicep(s), you aren’t JUST using that muscle. You are using your shoulder, and your tricep, and your back .. so the fact that the machine forces you to lift the weight with only your bicep muscle makes it hard and not ‘true to form’.

Enter the free weights. Bicep curls with hand-held weights makes things so much easier. It feels like a much more normal action, and you don’t feel like such a loser when you can only do a small amount of weight.

The typical sets and reps that I have referenced above will still suffice for this exercise (although if you are a go-getter, you can feel free to do 15 reps if you like). And the best part about it all = no sweating.

7. Squats (my husband’s contribution)

So I will openly admit here, that this is not one that I would have included. I don’t do squats – I should – but I find them annoying. (I don’t know – just go with me here.) However, I won’t completely discredit him, because I am sure there are plenty of people who do them and don’t find them as challenging as I do.

They are also great to incorporate with anything that you are doing. Standing up and doing a few squats while you are watching t.v., or standing at the stove cooking dinner, or even what my husband does which is to do them while he is brushing his teeth and trying to get warm before the shower.

8. Russian Twist

This is where you sit on your sitz bones (did you know that was a thing?), which forces you to lean back a little. Keep your feet together, pull your feet up off from the ground, and twist your torso from side to side. You can do this with or without a medicine ball, depending on the challenge level you are looking for. If you choose to do it without a medicine ball, simply clasp your hands between your knees and your chest. With a medicine ball, you would hold the ball instead of clasping your hands and aim for the hip area, when twisting.

I really like this move as it always cracks my back the first time I go from one side to the other. It feels like it loosens up my spine some, and getting a little stretch out of the exercise too, isn’t half bad.

It is worth mentioning that even though I don’t have any represented on this list, that I love tricep exercises. I find them WAY easier than bicep exercises and they always make me feel strong(er) and accomplished. I simply didn’t include them on this list because it is supposed to be exercises that don’t FEEL like exercises, and I am sure there are plenty of people who really loathe tricep work (I actually used to be one of them).

Well, here is hoping that some (if not all) of these help in some way. Throughout my blog writing, I have tried to cover all types of people and how those people feel about moving their bodies. That methodology began with a post about starting your exercise routine (because you know you should). Then I bounced to a post about growing your exercise routine. So the natural position after that, felt like it should be me giving you some “outs” on how you can perhaps, “trick your mind” into exercising. So, try a few of the 8 items listed above, and let me know which exercises helped YOU to stay motivated (or even which ones helped you just to begin).

Good luck and I know you can do it! 🙂