I enjoy most exercises and happily include a wide variety of movements in my training program. It's very difficult for me to pick only 5 out of so many exercises that I enjoy so much however the exercises I have listed below occupy a consistent spot in my training program all year round and I never become bored of training sessions that include them. Just like everyone, I'm guilty of training my favourite movements more often then those I don't enjoy. This is fairly normal for almost every one's training so it's particularly important that we develop a list of favourite movements that develop a wide variety of functional fitness benefits. These 5 certainly do!
It's important that I mention that this list and the attached photos are not intended to provide technique coaching. At this stage I would just like to identify some of my favourite exercises and summarise why they are great options to include in a training program.
1. Barbell Dead Lift
The dead lift is considered to be one of the best exercises for building all over body strength. In a lot of people's opinion it is the 'king of all lifts' and it serves a very obvious functional skill transfer element to daily tasks and sporting movements (how often do you bend down to pick something up?). The dead lift movement recruits the muscles of the back (upper and lower), abs, legs (front and back), glutes, arms and shoulders while developing core strength and stability and grip strength. The demand of working multiple large muscle groups through a full range of motion is exhausting which makes it a great exercise for weight control due to the energy demand and metabolic benefit. Unfortunately the dead lift has developed a bit of a bad name for itself amongst uneducated 'gym go-ers' due to injuries caused by poor technique. This is no reason to avoid it all together or to be afraid of learning it, if the dead lift is executed correctly the injury risk is as low as for any other exercise.2. Kettlebell Swing
The kettlebell swing technique is reasonably easy to master and a great way to get the whole body working. The main working muscles are the legs, glutes, back, abs and shoulders. As well as developing strength and power in the working muscles, core strength, flexibility and shoulder stability are developed and due to multiple large muscle groups working the energy demands of the kettlebell swing are high. The conditioning and metabolic benefits of the kettlebell swing make it a great addition to both strength and weight loss training programs.
3. Chin Up
Often people are deterred from including chin ups in their exercise program due to not being able to lift their own body weight, or thinking they can't. This is something that can be easily worked around using power bands or a 'spot' from a training partner or personal trainer to assist the movement - just enough to make the chin up possible. With time and practice, the assistance provided can be reduced until a full unassisted chin up is possible. Chin ups develop strength and power in the back, shoulders and arms, improve core strength, coordination and flexibility and can even develop hip power when performed with a kip (swing at the hips). The functional benefit of the chin up to sporting applications and daily tasks is undeniable - you just never know when being able to pull yourself up might come in handy! All these fitness benefits from one exercise is unequalled by any back muscle machine found in a gym - not to mention that being able to lift yourself up is an incredible strength to body weight achievement and something to be proud of.
4. Barbell Clean & Press
The name of this exercise alone may be enough to make you think- why would I want to include an Olympic style lift in my training program? The answer is very simple, it works EVERY major muscle group of the body through a full range of motion! You might also be wondering - isn't it too complicated for me to learn and perform correctly? Yes, without proper technique coaching you might find it difficult, but with some clear instruction and some practice it is not that hard! The clean and press movement can be performed with different equipment including barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and even medicine balls. The barbell is my preference however regardless of the equipment used the muscle groups worked and the fitness benefits are the same. The clean and press works the muscles of legs (front and back), glutes, back (upper and lower), abs, shoulders and arms leaving no muscle untouched. It promotes power development, coordination, flexibility, foot speed, shoulder and hip stability and core strength. With this many benefits on offer it is very difficult to find a good reason to leave this great movement out of your training program. Once again, the functional applications to sport activities and daily tasks are clear, for example, picking something up from the ground and placing it above the head, or the reverse, is an action we encounter regularly. The sporting applications are too numerous to mention in this short paragraph!
5. Hand Stand Push Up (HSPU)
All 5 of these exercises have three very important things in common that make them my favourites: (1) they are compound movements working multiple large muscle groups, (2) they are free weight movements allowing muscles to work unrestricted and (3) the movements allow the muscles to work through a full range of motion. If an exercise meets these three criteria it has the potential to not only build strength and expend a lot of energy but to develop core strength, stability, flexibility, power, coordination and more. When considering this wide variety of fitness benefits it makes sense to me to favour the more functional movements when planning my own training program.
Any exercise that meets the three criteria mentioned above are up there amongst my favourites. Have you considered recently what exercises are your favourites / most commonly trained and whether or not they are providing you with enough benefit to make them worth revisiting time and time again?
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