The best exercises are the ones you hate

A client today mention the wall sit heel raise is his most hated exercise. A few moments later, he added that it’s probably cos the exercise is hitting all the right spots. You know what? I think there’s actually some truth to it.

We tend to gravitate towards exercise we already like. If our choice of physical activity lead us to some form of injury or chronic pain, then it is likely that our exercise routine is not appropriate for us.

With this in mind, it makes sense that exercises we hate benefit us more. Because, it forces us to train areas that are often neglected.

Personality-exercise fit is important

I am not saying that you shouldn’t do the exercises you love. We exercise for a whole myriad of reasons, and not all of them are physical in nature. Sure, we have the usual weight loss and wanna get stronger goals. But there is a lot more than that!

You can exercise for the endorphin rush. There are those who exercise cos of peer pressure. Those who are in team sports are likely to exercise because of the social aspects of the sport.

Personality-exercise fit is also something to consider. If you prefer to exercise in your own space without loud music, pilates may be more appealing to you. If you are high energy and absolutely love throwing weights around, CrossFit or HYROX could be more of your vibe.

What type of exercises would a chiropractor do?

I actually joined a dragon boat team in Perth when I was still at chiropractic school. It was not so much I love the sport but more because I wanted to strength my spine. Very specificial, I know. It turns out I loved it while I was there. The water is clean, the people are great. I even went to them to Hong Kong for a competition!

I think I only did dragon boat once in Singapore since I have been back from Australia? The brown water in Kallang River is a little hard to accept after paddling in pristine Swan River in Perth. It was just a completely different experience. I mean, we often get to see dolphins during training in Perth as well. That’s definitely something we don’t get in Singapore.

Besides dragon boat, I also did CrossFit when I was in Australia. I wanted the accountability as well strength aspect of the sport. But honestly, CrossFit is not at all my vibes. I am physically very laid back and to get me to throw a bunch of weights around with loud music is just not it.

Now that I am back in Singapore, the only exercise I do is weight training and a very occasional run. I do have a reformer that I occasionally hop on, but I am kinda too impatient to get all the pilates movements correct.

Sometimes what we need is outside of our bias

The problem is what is good for us can sometimes fall outside of our biases. We know muscle strengthening exercises are important for us but some may find weight training intimidating. This may lead people to avoid weight training or to opt for gentler exercises like pilates, cos pilates fit better into their biases.

The problem is still a problem though. While pilates does indeed strengthen your muscle to some degree, it is not most effective at building strength or muscle mass.

I am not saying that pilates is not a good exercise or an easy exercise. There are lots of videos on social media showing jacked men struggling with pilates. The demands of pilates is indeed different lifting weights at the gym. Therefore, people who do traditional weight training do struggle with pilates, especially with the more advanced movements. This in itself already highlights the differences between the two exercise methods.

Why is pilates not as effective as weight training for strength

Strength, by textbook definition, is the ability to exert force to overcome a resistance or load. Weight training is arguably best for strength because it is all about overcoming resistance. Because of the close overlap, the strength outcomes are better.

Pilates, on other hand, is more nuanced, which does indeed make pilates challenging as an exercise. In pilates, there is the concept of the powerhouse, breathework, footwork, etc. It is a lot of little details that are all coming together to give you a certain method of movement. The focus, as you can imagine, is more about movement. Perhaps stability also but it’s integrated with movement (i.e., holding poses is not a core tenet of pilates).

Because of these emphases, pilates tend become less about strength. You do get stronger of course. But less effectively, especially if you attend group classes.

How you exercise has a huge influence on the benefits from the exercise

Let’s say the exercise-personality fit is very important to you. Lifting weights is a deal breaker for you and you have decided to go ahead with pilates as your muscle strengthening exercise. Is that fair and reasonable?

Yes.

Just because pilates is less effective for strength training, it doesn’t mean you will not get stronger. You will still get stronger. There is a caveat though – you must do it correctly and with an emphasis on strength (within the conventions of pilates).

Two of my clients have been attending regular group pilates for a while now. Both have fairly limited strength. For example, they tend to find a 3kg dumbbell heavy for exercises like rows and chest fly. Most women who do regular strength training, even without pushing themselves too hard, will not find 3kg weights to be strenuous.

Experts get different results from novice

I am quite sure most seasoned pilates practitioners will not find 3kg weights heavy. Expert pilates practitioners or instructors worked hard on their technique and definitely trained enough to make sure they have sufficient strength. In that sense, it is true that pilates when done correctly can still give you reasonable strength.

For everyday people, especially those who attend group classes like my clients, this strength benefit is not always observable. Why? Because of how the exercises are being performed.

In my opinion, if you are attending private classes, you can get a reasonable strength workout from it. But in group classes, this is unlikely to be the case.

The exercises tend to be too generic in most group classes, it is not individualised to what you need for strength gains. There is also not enough supervision on technique to ensure that you get optimal strength gains on those exercises. This is why pilates regulars can find themselves struggling with strength.

It is not always about whether you exercise or not, or how often you exercise. How you exercise and the quality of the exercises you perform also matter.

P. S., This is also true for weight training. But if you were to pick an exercise that is more skewed towards strength, you have more buffer. In other words, you can afford to be a bit more slack with technique – not to the point where you can get injured of course – and still get meaningful results.

What are your goals and objectives

I guess we will have to circle back to what are your goals and objectives. What are you exercising for? If it is about the enjoyment or the social experience, then by all means you should choose the exercises you love.

If you want something more, like to get stronger or to lose weight or get jacked, then you may need a way more prescribed programme. Such a programme may not fit entirely into your bias. You may end up having to do exercises you hate so you can reach your goal.