My Least favorite exercises: I never recommend clients do them

• Burpees

• Push ups when someone has shoulder pain

• Sit ups for core strength

I make a point that if I can’t do an exercise or I don’t like an exercise I never make my clients do them. If they like them and want to do them and it’s not going to cause them more problems I won’t stop them, but I won’t ever incorporate these 3 exercises into anyone’s programs.

Burpees

I hate burpees. I never liked them. I never really understood why people do them. It causes problems at shoulders, backs and legs in general from the jumping portion. At one point I was interested in seeing who came up with the burpee and fun fact the guy’s first name is Royal (last name Burpee, hence the name Burpee)… anyway for those of you who know me, my husband’s first name is Royal and we so rarely see that first name so when I do see it, it sticks with me. Besides his bio-dad we’ve only met 1 other person with this first name. He was in San Francisco when we travelled there years ago. It’s a fun story and if you want to hear the story let me know and I”ll share that. And then another person (character) that I never met is on the TV show One Tree Hill there is a character named Royal. ANyway, I hate Burpees besides the fact that the guy’s first name is Royal.

I hate burpees because they just seem unnecessary and will aggravate shoulder, back, hip, knee and ankle problems. You get so tired with them and with the jumping you’re just more prone to having an injury so I don’t really see the point in doing them.

Push ups

I should put a caveat on this one, I hate push ups for people who have shoulder problems. If I have a client who has shoulder problems I don’t recommend they do push ups. Push ups put a lot of stress and pressure on your shoulder and the muscles in your shoulders, plus the angle your shoulder has to go through and you’re essentially putting most of your body weight through your shoulders when you do this motion. All in all I don’t like them. There are so many other ways to strengthen the shoulders and chest without doing push ups.

Sit ups

I hate sit ups. Blanket statement. I don’t think anyone should be doing them. They are done so wrong so often that I think they should just be left off of exercise programming completely. When done wrong sit ups add pressure and contribute to pain in the low back, and the pulling on the neck can aggravate and contribute to neck pain, too. There are many other things to do instead.

Most people tell me they do sit ups for core strength and so they aren’t even doing them for the correct result. Sit ups strengthen the rectus abdominus muscle. This is what I call a “show muscle”. This muscle is not a core stabilizing muscle. In order for a muscle to be included in core stabilizing muscles they need to attach to the spine at some location and this muscle attaches to parts of the pelvis and ribcage. The rectus abdominus bends your trunk forward and does the sit up motion, but it’s not a core stabilizer.

What to do instead

What to do instead of Burpees

It depends on what you’re looking to do but let’s break down the process. 

1. A push up motion: do a chest press

2. Core exercise: plank

3. The leg kick out position: mountain climbers

4. Jump: Squats

5. Jump: Front step ups onto a step

This is essentially how the whole burpee breaks down and the alternative exercises to do instead.

What to do instead of Push ups

1. Shoulder stability: Plank

2. Chest muscle strength: Chest press

What to do instead of Sit ups

1. Quadruped Arm

2. Quadruped Leg

3. Quadruped Birddog

4. Supine toe touches

5. Plank

6. Russian twist

7. Trunk rotations

8. Lateral trunk bends

9. Belly bracing with any other exercise no matter what you’re doing

Let’s recap: My 3 least favorite exercises ever are the burpee, the push up for people with shoulder problems and sit ups in general. I hate burpees because they put you in a vulnerable position to get hurt in so many ways. Push ups put a lot of pressure and stress on your shoulders and the small shoulder muscles like the rotator cuff and can contribute to tendinitis. Sit ups are so often done incorrectly that it puts stress on the back and the neck, and most people do sit ups for core strength and sit ups aren’t even a core exercise.

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