This article originally appeared on People.com. 

For years, America Ferrera used to focus on the limitations of what her body could do, and how it looked. But becoming a triathlete helped Ferrera rethink her strength.

“This relationship of being disappointed in our bodies is a relationship that I started at a very young age, whether that’s because of the culture around me or the points of views that I was exposed to,” Ferrera, 33, tells Triathlete magazine for their July cover. “I didn’t see a lot of examples — or nobody taught me to appreciate and love my body for what it’s capable of. It was always about what it wasn’t and couldn’t do, and what it could be.”

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So the Superstore star set out to challenge herself, and signed up for the Olympic-distance Nautica Malibu Triathlon with Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in honor of a friend who had just lost her mom.

“I think recently in the past few years of my life I’ve started noticing a pattern of when something scares me, that’s an indication that I should do it,” Ferrera says. “There were absolutely times where I doubted whether I could do it. When we started, I was not a swimmer at all and I remember one night at swim practice where I was just literally weeping in the pool. I just started crying because I had to swim 600 meters in a row, and for someone who started like, ‘I don’t even know if I can do a 50! How am I gonna do this?’ ”

But she persevered; finishing the race with her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, the day before the 2016 Emmys, and even wore her number to a pre-Emmys party. The accomplishment completely changed her mindset.

“Why I think triathlons have changed my relationship to myself is because the whole sport is about going further than you think you can go, living at the threshold and pushing yourself to the place where you feel like, ‘I never thought I could be here and I certainly thought I couldn’t go further,’ ” Ferrera says. “It’s at that threshold that you have the opportunity to choose something new which could just be to be nice to yourself in that moment, to acknowledge yourself in that moment.”

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Ferrera — who finished her second triathlon in April — says the sport and its challenges gave her a greater appreciation for her body.

“Our little bodies — the small little space that we inhabit for the entirety of our lives — everything we feel, everything we experience, everything we do is contained inside of our bodies. And to be challenged physically is to have to meet all of your experiences,” she says. “That’s why, personally, working out has always been an emotional experience for me.”

It also showed her that everyone — including the 79-year-old and the man with cane that she spotted during the Lavaman Triathlon — can take on the challenge.

“What I love so much about triathlon is that anybody can do it.”

Ever had a less-than-poised moment on a weight machine, or in a boot camp class? Hey, you’re certainly not the only one. In a recent Reddit thread titled “Stupidest thing you’ve ever done in the gym?” in the XXFitness subreddit, users revealed their most cringeworthy (and often painful) workout moments—from tripping on the treadmill to gym flirting gone wrong. Here are some of the comments that had us giggling. (We recommend you stop reading now if you’re currently on a cardio machine!)

Uneven bar

User Sambeano made the mistake of unloading a heavy barbell on one side, but not the other: “It was resting on the safety bars at the time, at about knee height, with about 30 kgs loaded on the other side. The bar flipped in the air and crashed into a glass door frame … The crash was so loud everyone turned around to look.” Whoops.

Bike dominos

“I thought this bench near some cardio equipment was fixed to the ground for some reason and grabbed onto it to stretch my shoulders out. I flew backwards into a row of eight stationary bikes, knocking them all over like dominoes,” wrote Mpaellen.

Bottom out

Themortalvalkyrie got off a rowing machine with a bruised bum: “My butt fell off the rower. I was [trying to] do sprints and got a little too excited, and at one point I think my butt must have come up a little and the seat flew back and i came down on the bar. But it was funny.” (Another Redditer jumped in, “I wish that thing had a seatbelt!”)

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Nothing to sneeze at

From jazzehcakes: “Once I was running on the treadmill and closed my eyes to sneeze, which caused me to trip, land face first, and fly off the treadmill.”

When exercise balls attack

“I threw an exercise ball on the mini trampoline and it flung back hit my fingers, which then hit my face,” shared another Redditer. “I managed to grab the ball before it caused further chaos. Everyone around me either didn’t notice or pretended not to. I probably looked like an idiot laughing to myself.”

Is this thing on?

Reddutchess15 was new to the exercise scene when she tried out her university’s fancy gym. Feeling a bit intimidated, she decided to “start off easy on the elliptical,” she wrote. “Well, I get to the elliptical, try to push the start button, and nothing. I keep pushing the start button and nothing happens. So, I thought it was broken. Worse, I worried that I would be blamed. So I just left without doing any workout at all. It wasn’t until my friend starting making fun of this other girl for the same reason days later that I realized i was supposed to get on it first.” (Trust us, we’ve been there!)

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Itsy bitsy spider

“Tried to kill a spider while running on the treadmill,” user little—dolly posted. “I lost my balance, fell down, got my shirt caught up and ended up with two scraped knees and treadmill road rash down one side of my face. Oh, and I didn’t get the spider.”

Pee problem

“I peed myself while squatting in a busy gym,” wrote Souponastick. “That wasn’t the worst part. For whatever reason my brain decided I needed to announce it, so as I was coming up from the bottom of the squat I screamed, ‘I’M F****** PISSING MYSELF!’ Everyone looked and watched me clean up my puddle.”

RELATED: 22 Exercises for Toned Arms and Shoulders

Right in the eye

“Saw a cute guy in the gym,” posted Tokyo1964. “I went to take a swig of water just as our eyes met, but accidentally squeezed the bottle slightly and sprayed it into my eye instead.”

Ripped pants

From Blaserea: “Ripped the crotch out of my shorts squatting, even heard it through the headphones.”

Fast and furious

Ever cranked up your speed on a cardio machine to clock a specific number of miles before your time runs out? Phoenixinda attempted this strategy, without success: “Last year I decided to go extra fast on the cross trainer for the last two minutes so that I could get a full 3-mile distance at the end of the 30 minutes. Foot slipped, fell between the pedals, and my foot fractured in three places. I was out for three months … I have been back at the gym, but I just can’t bring myself to even touch the cross trainer.”

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Mistaken identity

Vkm5028 learned the hard way to make sure you actually know the person you’re waving at before you say hi. “Thought I saw a friend of a friend out of the corner of my eye. I was in a goofy mood, and decided to make a goofy face and wave at him. Turns out, it wasn’t the guy who I thought it was, he was on the phone whenever I made the face at him, and I found out he’s a player for the local minor league baseball team and probably thought I was fan-girling at the sight of him.”

Sweat stain

“Worn pale blue leggings,” one user commented. “It looked like I’d [peed] myself half way through my gym session.”

Stuck on you

Wearing athleisure fresh out of the laundry? Make sure there’s no other laundry stuck to it before you leave the house. “I once had a thong static-cling itself to my leggings,” MyShoulderHatesMe posted. “I was at least 20 minutes into my workout before I noticed.”

Photo: Pond5

This article originally appeared on DailyBurn.com.

Sure, it would be nice if you bounded out of bed in the morning and into your running shoes. Or rushed home from work and went straight to the gym multiple times a week—no bribes or pep talks required. But let’s be honest, that doesn’t always (uh, rarely?) happen. However, some people have found that one no-excuses method to moving more. They get their butts in gear, even when it’s tempting to stay on the couch. So we asked Daily Burn 365 trainers and fitness pros what their clients say is the best workout motivation. Next time you’re thinking of skipping out on fitness, steal one of their secrets.

RELATED: 275 Exercises to Shake Up Your Workout Routine

1. “I’m doing it for them.” You often hear that exercise should be a time you invest in yourself. It’s all about you. But sometimes, it’s even better to look at the big picture. Figure out who else your health benefits—whether it’s just for bragging rights or something more. “One client told me, ‘I’m exercising to prove to my wife that I can do this,” says Daily Burn 365 trainer Prince Brathwaite, who’s also the CEO and founder of Trooper Fitness. Another said, ‘I want my kids to have something positive to look up to.’”

2. “There’s comfort in routine.” No matter how busy life gets, think of your workout as something that keeps your life in line. Amid the chaos, a sweat sesh can feel pretty darn good. “One of my clients who takes barre just finished her nursing residency. After 12-hour shifts, she’d come to class simply because she wanted to maintain a normal life and have something for herself,” says Krystal Dwyer, instructor at Flybarre and CityRow in New York City and DB365 trainer. “That’s motivation. She inspires me.”

RELATED: 7 Reasons to Never Miss a Monday Workout

3. “Because Jon Snow is waiting.” Rewarding yourself for a workout well done is the way to go. (Err, as long as your prize isn’t always a double scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough.) Bentley Garton, elite trainer at LA Rox and Daily Burn Fitness/Nutrition Coach, had a client with a unique prize in mind. “She would only let herself watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones if she had done four workouts that week,” she says. You might prefer a new sports bra or an hour of Instagram surfing and that’s good too. Whatever gets you to the finish line!

4. “It makes sense financially.” If you pay for a gym membership or monthly subscription, you better use it, right? Sometimes thoughts of throwing cash away can help you get up and at ‘em. “One client sat down with her husband and made a chart with the total cost per month of a gym membership and what that would make each visit cost—for instance, one trip would cost the full monthly amount,” explains Cheri Paige Fogleman, a New York City-based fitness instructor and Daily Burn 365 trainer. “So she turned it into a game and challenged herself to get the average cost of each visit as discounted as possible.”

RELATED: 7 DIY Pinterest Projects to Get You Motivated

5. “It’s on my schedule—in pen.” You know you should put your workout on the calendar and treat it like any other really important, non-negotiable appointment in your life. Well, Becca Pace, owner of In Your Pace Fitness and Daily Burn 365 trainer, has many clients who take that to heart. “They’ll tell their bosses and co-workers that they have a ‘meeting’ every week. Then they can run to class during their lunch hour,” she says. Everyone deserves a break.

6. “I’m helping the world.” With apps like Charity Miles, you can log your activity to raise money for more than 30 non-profit organizations. Knowing that your sweat turns into real equity may help you get to the gym more often. At least that’s what it does for a bunch of Erika Shannon’s trainees. “A few of my clients are currently participating in a fundraiser where every time they check in on social media at a gym or fitness studio, they raise money to help build schools,” says the DB365 trainer. “I love it!”

7. “I sure look the part.” Gone are the days of baggy throwaway tees and shorts you found at the bottom of the hamper. “I hear from women all the time that if they look good, they feel good. So they’ll wear cute workout outfits to feel better heading into a class,” says Lauren Danzinger, creator of Sweat Sessions in New York City, a program that offers complimentary fitness classes for New Yorkers. Permission to buy those sweet sneakers you’ve been eyeing (as long as that means you’re inspired to wear them).

8. “Well, I’m already in my leggings.” If you pop out of bed, brush your teeth and head out for a workout class, you won’t know what happened until you’ve got weights in hand. “One client told me she sleeps in her workout attire so there is no excuse not to make my 6:30 a.m. class,” says Dara Theodore, trainer for DB365 and the Fhitting Room in New York City. “It might not be the best pajama choice, but it works!”

RELATED: 8 Running Apps for Marathoners, Skeptics and Everyone in Between

9. “I don’t have a backup wardrobe.” If you have to force yourself to break a sweat in order to fit into certain clothes, then do what works. That’s what one client of Daily Burn Fitness/Nutrition Coach Sarah Snyder thinks. “When she purchased a dress a couple sizes smaller for an upcoming occasion with no other options, she had to make it fit,” she says. The horror of the outfit being too snug in all the wrong places encourages her to torch those calories.

We may know Amy Schumer as the funny girl who can crack a joke on command, but there is one thing that the star of the new movie Snatched takes seriously: her workouts.

The proof in this video, which shows Schumer sweating it out under the watchful eye of her trainer Harley Pasternak. Pasternak recently posted this clip of the comedienne performing a two-minute cardio burst on a Helix. (More on that later.)

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“First of all, Amy’s naturally an athlete,” notes Pasternak who says Schumer has an effortless humor that lights up the room  and makes everyone around her smile. “She played sports at a high-level through high school and college, and was an aerobics instructor. So she’s very coordinated, and easy to push in the gym.”

So how exactly does Pasternak help keep Schumer looking her best? The simple seven, he says—that is, a circuit of seven strength moves that target the entire body. “The exercises sometimes vary, but I usually pick one exercise for each of the seven major body parts,” explains Pasternak who offered up the skater lunge, dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift, dumbbell curl press, single arm dumbbell row, lying dumbbell triceps extension with hip thrust, spider plank and Superman. “Sometimes I have her just pick one of these exercises and do anywhere from three to five sets with 15 to 30 reps. Other times I’ll have her do all seven exercises, doing one to three sets of 15 to 20 reps.”

RELATED: 18 Exercises to Tone Your Legs and Butt

Pasternak also has Schumer hit the Helix, a gym machine that works the body on a lateral plane. “Most of what we do is forward and back, so to find something that works us more side to side I think is really helpful for those under-worked muscles like the abductors and obliques, while still hitting the glutes and quads,” he says. “I mainly use the Helix as a cardio burst when doing a circuit, but it can easily be used for more prolonged bouts of cardio.” Don’t have access to a Helix? No worries. Pasternak, says you can put two towels underneath your feet and slide side to side on a hardwood floor to mimic the movement of the machine.

For overall wellness, though, Pasternak reminds us that walking is essential. “This is by far the most important thing that I can ever tell someone to do,” he says. “Get a Fitbit, set a daily step goal of at least 10,000, and keep moving.”

Now that you’re armed with Pasternak’s A-list tips, give Schumer’s simple seven a try:

1. Skater Lunge

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Hinge forward at waist as you raise left foot. Push off right foot and explode toward the left, landing on left foot with knees slightly bent; touch right toes to the ground behind left foot. Push off left foot and explode back toward the right, landing on right foot with left toes touching behind it. Continue, alternating back and forth. (Click here to see a photo.)

2. Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift

Stand with feet hip-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand, palms face thighs. Brace core, and keeping weight in heels, hinge at hips and lower torso as you slide dumbbells down the front of thighs. Weights should only go down as far as hamstrings will allow without your back rounding. Slowly rise to standing, and then repeat.

3. Dumbbell Curl Press

Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing out, with  hands shoulder-width apart and arms hanging in front of you. Curl the weight toward shoulders and then press weights up directly over shoulders until arms are straight. Lower back to start and then repeat.

4. Single Arm Dumbbell Row

Start from a lunge position with left leg forward and left elbow resting on knee. (Or, place left knee and left palm on a bench.) Grab a dumbbell with your right hand. Row the dumbbell up along your ribs, squeezing the right shoulder blade. Lower back to start and then repeat. When you switch sides, switch legs so that the right is forward.

5. Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extension With Hip Thrust

Lie faceup with knees bent, feet flat and a dumbbell in each hand. Extend arms straight up; palms face each other. Hinge arms at elbows, and lower dumbbells back toward ears. Contract triceps and extend arms back up as you simultaneously engage glutes and push hips up as high as possible. As you lower hips, lower dumbbells back towards ears again; repeat.

6. Superman

Lie facedown with arms and legs fully extended and shoulder-width apart. Simultaneously lift legs and arms at least 6 inches off the floor; hold for 5 seconds, lower and then repeat.

7. Spider Plank

Get into the “up” part of a pushup. Lift right foot, bending right knee and brining it toward the outside of right elbow. Return to start, switch legs and repeat on the left side. (Click here to see a photo.)