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“You can do forearms and knees, or hands and knees,” Jones says. You can also put your hands on a sturdy chair or table or even a wall: elevating your upper body removes some of the weight from the plank to make it more doable, they add.
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Jumping
Whether it’s jumping jacks or squat jumps, Fasano says, many people detest jumping exercises. “So many people land really hard after jumping and don’t understand how to soften the impact on their joints when they jump,” she says.
That’s a missed opportunity, says Maillard Howell, a personal trainer in Brooklyn and co-owner of Dean CrossFit. “Jumping improves balance, coordination. It helps train the quick reaction we need if we slip,” he says.
How to adjust
There are some circumstances – injuries, recent surgeries, joint instability – that might make jumping a bad idea. And if you have certain kinds of pelvic floor dysfunction, particularly stress incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, it’s best to consult a physical therapist first and start slow.
But it’s hard to find a more versatile movement: beyond balance and coordination, jumping raises your heart rate and even builds pelvic floor strength. And learning to land softly can help a lot.
Keep your knees slightly bent when landing, and aim to let your toes and the balls of your feet touch down first, rather than landing on a flat foot, Fasano says. Also, start slow and break down the movement. You can start with box step-ups before progressing to jumps onto a small box, then a larger box. Or, for jumping jacks, start with stepping jacks, then progress to hopping your feet just a few inches apart, before going for a wider jump.
Squats
Howell likes to observe how the people around him move, whether in a fitness setting or on the subway. At some gyms (not his own), “no one is squatting,” he says. Then, on the subway, he notices when fellow passengers need to grab a pole to get out of a seat. These two things, he says, are connected.
Squats are a foundational movement pattern that anyone who wants to sit and stand independently (whether from a train seat or a toilet) should do, Howell says. It doesn’t mean you have to like them, but there are ways to make them more bearable.
How to adjust
Start simple. “Sit on a bench and then get up. Do that a bunch of times,” Howell says. When you’re ready, try sitting on the bench and standing with your weight mostly on one leg for a few reps, then the other. Work your way up to a squat without a seat, and when that’s feeling good, add weight, he adds.
Our ankles need to be able flex deeply to allow our knees and hips to bend, says Jill Koshak-Johnson, a physical therapist in New Jersey. If you have limited ankle mobility, certain exercises and standing with your heels on a wedge (available at most gyms) can help.
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Dead lifts
Dead lift dread is more about fear than hatred, Koshak-Johnson says: “People believe dead lifts are bad for their back or may aggravate existing back injuries.”
And yes, if you try a dead lift, which involves leaning over from the hips to pick up a weight, with a heavily loaded barbell on your first trip to a gym, your back might revolt. But dead lifts done properly are one of the best ways to strengthen your hamstrings and glutes, which “can actually help take a load off the back,” Koshak-Johnson says.
How to adjust
Dead lifts can feel much more supported if you can address limitations in hip mobility as well as tension or tightness in the pelvic floor, Koshak-Johnson says. Prepare for your dead lift session with some exercises to activate the hip internal rotators and adductors. If needed, work your way up by trying a hip hinge on your knees, she says, then a standing one. Then add weight slowly, using a pair of light dumbbells to get the hang of it and asking a trainer or knowledgeable friend to watch your form.
Burpees
No list of hated exercises would be complete without the burpee. Invented as a fitness test in the 1930s by a physiologist named Royal H Burpee, it was later adopted by the Army and Navy and is still popular in CrossFit gyms and other athletic spaces. Many of Jones’ clients assume they can’t do one because they don’t have a CrossFit physique. But many people can do some version, they says.
“The way your body looks or is shaped, someone who lives in a larger body versus a smaller body, that does not matter to the burpee. The burpee does not care,” they say.
How to adjust
At its core, the burpee entails moving from standing to a horizontal position on the floor, and then getting back up again. An advanced burpee can involve quickly squatting down, jumping into a plank, performing a push-up, jumping forward into a squat, then jumping back into a standing position.
But you can adjust any of the parts that feel too uncomfortable, Jones says. You can step back into a plank, skip the push-up, step forward one foot at a time or stand without jumping.
“It also doesn’t have to be quick, it can be slow,” they add. None of those difficult elements “are necessary for a burpee to be a burpee”.
The New York Times
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