The six most important exercises that you should be performing!

 

In this blog post you will learn which exercise movements should be part of your routine, whether you are new to exercise or are an advanced athlete. For each movement I provide a list of three everyday examples where the movement could occur and then I provide a list of three sample exercises.

In addition, there are photos of me performing a variation of each exercise movement and if that is not enough I also filmed a brief video covering these essential movements which you can watch below.

Essential exercise movements:

  • Push

  • Pull

  • Squat (movement occurs at the hips and knees)

  • Hinge (movement occurs primarily at the hips)

  • Lunge (movement occurs at the hips and knees with one leg forward)

  • Loaded carries (carrying something while walking)


Why are these movements so important? Because they are movements that you naturally perform everyday and will have to perform everyday for the rest of your life. You simply could not function effectively without being able to perform these movements!

Before going any further, just a quick note about the push and the pull. In the exercise world the focus is generally on a horizontal push and pull and a vertical push and pull. Being that that is the case I will categorize each daily movement and exercise relating to pushing and pulling as either horizontal or vertical.

The nice thing about performing these movements is that they work all of the major muscles in the body so you are essentially covering all of your bases (direct core training is highly recommended, but that is another topic)!

Let’s dive into these movements a little bit deeper.

PUSH

Push life applications:

  • Pushing open a door (horizontal)

  • Pushing yourself up off the floor after getting knocked down (horizontal)

  • Lifting up a child overhead (vertical)


Push exercise examples:

  • Push-ups (horizontal, see photos below for a demo)

  • Flat barbell bench press (horizontal)

  • Half-kneeling, single-arm kettlebell press (vertical, see photos below for a demo)

20201031_093637.jpg

Push-up start & end position.

(horizontal push)

20201031_093558.jpg

Push-up middle position.

(horizontal push)

20201031_093947.jpg

Half-kneeling, single-arm kettlebell press start & end position.

(vertical push)

20201031_094006.jpg

Half-kneeling, single-arm kettlebell press middle position.

(vertical push)

PULL

Pull life applications:

  • Pulling a door open (horizontal)

  • Starting a lawnmower (horizontal)

  • Climbing a fence (vertical)

Pull exercise examples:

  • Bodyweight pull-up (vertical, see photos below for a demo)

  • Single arm dumbbell row (horizontal)

  • TRX inverted row (horizontal, see photos below for a demo)

20201031_093803.jpg

TRX inverted row start & end position.

(horizontal pull)

20201031_093828.jpg

TRX inverted row middle position.

(horizontal pull)

20201031_094043.jpg

Bodyweight pull-up start & end position.

(vertical pull)

20201031_094147.jpg

Bodyweight pull-up middle position.

(vertical pull)

SQUAT

Squat life applications:

  • Sitting down and standing up from a chair

  • Getting off a toilet

  • Squatting down to pick something up and then standing up


Squat exercise examples:

  • Goblet squat

  • Bodyweight squat (see photo below for a demonstration)

  • Barbell front squat

20201031_094258.jpg

Bodyweight squat middle position.

HINGE

Hinge life applications

  • Bending over to pick up a child out of a crib

  • Standing on one leg while picking up a golf ball out of the hole

  • Lifting something off the floor


Hinge exercise examples:

  • Kettlebell deadlift/hinge (see photo below for a demonstration)

  • Single leg deadlift

  • Hip thrust

20201031_094408.jpg

Kettlebell deadlift/hinge middle position.

LUNGE

Lunge life applications:

  • Going down on one knee to look in the refrigerator

  • Walking up and down stairs

  • Getting down on the floor and then getting back up


Lunge exercise examples:

  • Split squat (see photo below for a demonstration)

  • Forward lunge

  • Reverse Lunge

20201031_094604.jpg

Split squat middle position.

LOADED CARRIES

Loaded carry life applications:

  • Carrying a child

  • Carrying a bag of groceries in both hands

  • Carrying a suitcase in one hand


Loaded carry exercise examples:

  • Suitcase carry (see photo below for a demonstration)

  • Farmer walk

  • Bearhug carry

20201031_094437.jpg

Suitcase carry.

Conclusion

As you can see, these movements are used on a daily basis and we literally could not get through the day without them!

Now that you know how important these movements are what is your next step? The answer is simple, simply integrate these movements into your exercise routine. What if you are a beginner and don’t know how to build an exercise routine based on these movements? Great question! Stay tuned as that will be the topic of my next blog post.

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ExerciseJohn Fawcusexercise, exercise movements, exercises, The five most important (exercise) movements that you should be performing!, movement patternsComment