If you are into fitness and exercise, you’ve likely opened up Instagram or YouTube and come across a plethora of exercises you’ve never seen before.
I receive messages daily with questions like, “Is this legit?” or “Can we try this in my next program!?“
Some look cool and are well thought out and innovative. Others are a disaster waiting to happen or leave us scratching our head wondering what the hell that accomplished?
No matter where a trainer or coach sits in the fitness industry, cross your fingers that there is a valid reason why they’re sharing a unique exercise or a variation of another exercise that you’ve not seen before.
These creative exercises are either done for clicks and likes, are an opportunity to brainstorm a thought process and share with peers or followers, or are a specific idea that is for a specific person that they’re testing out and working on and they’re sharing to see if it’ll work for you.
We’re going to assume it’s for the greater good of the trainer, client or industry.
Most likely, you don’t need it.
Our suggestion is to keep it simple because simple works.
There is what you want and what you need based on your goals and each exercise should fit within that context.
In a personal training session or in a small group personal training session, more innovative and complex exercise ideas might have merit and applications. In most small group training session, simple exercise selection works best for cohesion and flow.
Most people want and need to be able to hinge, squat, lunge, push, pull, carry and get off the ground.
For the hinge, Glute Bridge variations, Kettlebell, Trap Bar, and Barbell Deadlifts will do the trick. Romanian Deadlifts are another excellent exercise. Add Kettlebell Swing variations based on skill and goals. Develop your single leg strength with Kickstand Deadlifts and Single Leg Deadlifts.
For squatting, Goblet Squats, Barbell Zercher Squats, Front Squats and Back Squats are excellent total body strength builders.
For lunging and split stance exercises, Split Squats, Reverse, Forward and Lateral Lunges along with Step Ups work. Very few people are fans of these because of the unique challenge they demand on the body but they are extremely effective. If you’re a runner and not incorporating these in your program, you’re not tapping into your full performance.
For pushing, Push Ups remain under appreciated and never get old and you can perform them daily with the right program. Kettlebell Floor or Bench Press variations with one arm working, both arms working together are effective. The Military Press is a beast of a total body strength developer as long as your shoulder mobility allows for proper execution.
Pulling is the same, two arm horizontal pulls Inverted Rows or Barbell Bent Over Rows are stables for building mass and strength. One arm rows including 2-Point and 3-Point will always yield results and promote healthy movement around the shoulder. Again, if your overhead mobility is decent and you’ve established a foundation of strength, Chin Ups and Pull Ups are awesome for strength.
Pick up heavy weight and hold it in place, march in place or carry for time and/or distance. From here you can add in uneven carries, mixed carries (overhead and suitcase together).
We love Turkish Get Ups at ELEVATE and the skill of getting off the ground safely and efficiently with weight overhead or on the shoulder is a skill that lasts a life time.
Sprinkle in some core work and you’ve got everything you need.
In total, we briefly listed enough exercises that can last you a lifetime.
Start playing around with clusters and tempo training and you just multiplied your exercise library to another degree.
So when you see something in your social media thread, question why it was being done and what the application may be. Recognize that simple works when done exceptionally well. What’s listed in this newsletter has enough variety to last you a lifetime of results in strength and resilience.