It can be frightful to try certain exercises,
especially if they look difficult
or you've never done them before.
So today we're catching up with an expert
to talk about taking away the fear of those scary exercises.
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I am here at Phenomenal Fitness with Sean Armstead
to talk about these intimidating exercises.
Now, Sean, we all have an exercise
that we don't really love to do.
- Yes.
- Why do you think we're so scared of these exercises?
- We build up this intimidation based off focusing
on what we can't do instead of breaking the problem
into small, simple steps.
And then a strategy to succeed instead
of focusing on failure.
- So, what is your advice on overcoming that fear factor?
- Get help, get at it, and don't be afraid
to make adjustments.
Oftentimes the treasure we seek is in doing the work
that we're avoiding,
but we need to do things that make us grow and develop.
I think the gym work has tremendous metaphors for life.
Hard work does pay off.
- All right, so today you've got three exercises
that we may think are a little intimidating,
and granted not everyone thinks the same exercises
are as scary, but you've got three good ones
to show us today.
- Oh yeah.
I have three good ones and I'm excited and honored
to be able to present.
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- Okay, Sean, exercise number one are burpees.
- Oh yeah.
- Why do people dislike burpees so much?
- It's a lot of movement, you go from tall
to really low and you gotta go out,
you gotta come in, you got to come up.
An easy burpee, the way I like to introduce it
to people that really have that fear factor anxiety
is steps in terms of the height.
So this is step one, relatively easy.
Step two, greater range of motion,
more challenge, more work.
Step three.
And then step four would be the full version.
- Okay, ready.
- That's it.
- Okay.
- Nice full range of motion there.
Easy.
- It's about trying it, understanding it,
and being successful.
Let's move on to exercise number two.
And this is one that I'm a little intimidated by.
- The pull-up.
- Why do people dislike pull-ups?
- Because it's hard and they don't understand how
to not make it so hard.
- How do we make it less scary?
- So you have to get assistance and learn the variations
to make it a do.
So you pull from the shoulder blade.
Then you pull from the elbows.
Shoulder blades, elbows.
- Now it's my turn to try the modification.
(Jane grunts)
Okay, let's move on to exercise number three.
- Let's do it.
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- Okay, Sean, exercise number three, my favorite, pushups.
- Oh, everybody's.
- So why are they so scary?
- I think because they're challenging
and people expect you to do a lot of them.
But you have to earn it and you have to have a strategy
to doing them just like anything else.
I can show you how to be,
how everyone can be successful with the pushups.
- I am ready to love pushups.
- You have to lower the resistance
to keep the robust range of motion.
Any height that allows full range of motion.
You have to be able to get your chest to the floor almost
and push away with even fatigue.
- [Jane] Sean says another great way to modify the exercise
is to start with pushups on your knees.
- [Sean] Full range of motion, no quarter pushup.
- So I think the bottom line is,
is that we should all try to conquer our fears
of the exercises we don't like
because those benefits are going
to help us physically and mentally.
- Understand the challenge
and then devise your practice habits.
- Sean, thank you so much.
- My pleasure, Jane.
- Now it's your turn.
Have you conquered your fear
of your least favorite exercises?
We want to hear about it, just tag us on Facebook.
Just search for Living Healthy Chicago.
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