Strength training at its core is relatively simple. There are five fundamental movement patterns that, when done two-to-three times a week, are more than enough for most people. These movement patterns are: Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat (including lunges), and Carries.
The Patterns:
Push
Think of a bodyweight exercise. It’s the pushup, right? Now think of a barbell exercise. I’d say bet you thought of a bench press. Both are pushing movements, and both work similar muscle groups, albeit in different ways.
In pushing movements you push an object away from your body or push your body away from an object. You could push horizontally, as in a bench press or a pushup, or vertically, as with an overhead press or bodyweight dips. Pushing movements involve the muscles of the shoulder, triceps, and chest, to varying degrees.
Pull
Pulling movements can also be horizontal or vertical, and both involve the same muscle groups with different emphases. Pulling movements include all variations of pullups and rows, including inverted rows and single arm rows and work the muscles of your mid-back, upper back, and biceps to varying degrees.
Hinge
Hinging movements include deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and good mornings, to name a few, and are the foundation for the old adage: lift with your legs, not with your back. Hinge patterns target the muscles of the posterior chain and involve primarily the glutes and hamstrings, as well as the muscles of the spine and those surrounding the low back. Although it is not a competition, I would say that working on the hinge pattern comes with the most benefit for most of my clients out of any other pattern on this list, since it can help with eliminating low back pain when applied properly.
Squat
Squatting patterns include any loaded or unloaded movement related to squats (duh) and lunges. Some of the more well-known exercises include barbell squats, goblet squats, static lunges (aka split squats), walking lunges, and step-ups. These patterns all work the muscles of the thigh (aka the “quadriceps” or simply “quads”), the muscles of the inner thigh, also known as the adductors, and the glutes. These patterns are important as they strengthen the muscles involved in walking, as well as the muscles involved in getting up and down off the ground or from a chair.
Carries
Loaded carries are arguably the most “functional” family of movements due to their carryover (pun intended) into everyday life. From carrying heavy bags of groceries, to moving furniture across the room, at some point we all will have to carry a heavy object. This family of movements includes the farmer’s walk, the suitcase carry, the overhead carry, the chest carry and the shoulder carry, to name a few.
And that’s it - the 5 major movement patterns for building a killer strength training program.
But How Do I Implement These Movements?
I’m glad you asked. For the average, non-specialized athlete, a program that incorporates the 5 patterns in each workout, two-to-three days per week, is more than enough. A basic beginner program for someone with access to a single kettlebell could include:
Kettlebell Deadlift
Knee Pushup
Goblet Squat
Single Arm Row
Suitcase Carry
You could perform this routine two to three times a week, and progress the exercises as you master the movements and the load becomes easier. A progression for the kettlebell deadlift could be a single leg deadlift, for example. The emphasis here is on the word could; it all depends on the person and their individual needs.
It’s Simple, Really
When we hear that something is simple, we often mis-hear that it is easy. This is not the case. Strength training is simple, but it’s not easy. It requires effort, adherence, and progression over time. But the building blocks are simple, and don’t require very much time per week to see results. After working with clients using this basic formula for about two months (at two sessions per week), most will tell me how much stronger and capable they feel in their everyday life. And that’s just two hours per week. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
I should note that I owe the idea of the 5 movement patterns to one of my biggest coaching influences - Dan John. As of yet, this formula has never steered me wrong. Check out his YouTube channel and take in his no-nonsense approach to strength training and to life in general!
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