Bicep curls, lunges, bench press, chin ups… There are thousands of exercises out there, so how do you decide what exercises to work on when just starting out? Largely, the exercises you choose will depend on your goals. However, if your goal is to get stronger, I have 5 exercises for you to consider adding to your routine. These 5 exercises form a solid foundation for strength training, and in fact are useful for other fitness goals as well. I’d go so far as to say that everybody, regardless of age or fitness level would benefit from performing these exercises regularly. So, what are these exercises, and why are they the best?
Deadlift
The first strength exercise I’m going to share with you is the deadlift. The deadlift is arguably the most important strength building lift that can be trained. No other exercise taxes the entire body like the deadlift, and no other exercise taxes the neurological system the way it can. Some of the muscles involved in the deadlift are the quadriceps, the hamstrings, the gluteus maximus, the adductor magnus, the upper and middle trapezius, the rhomboids, the erector spinae, many of the muscles in the forearm, and so much more.
Strength acquired by training the deadlift translates into things we all do in real life. Therefore, the deadlift is functional and useful. All of us regularly lift things off of the floor in our work or day to day life. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a mom picking up a child, a landscaper lifting a heavy rock, or a secretary lifting a box of copier paper. We can ALL benefit from the development of strength and safe lifting technique that the deadlift provides.
the deadlift is second to none in creating a strong back that is capable of maintaining excellent posture. This helps us go through our day with less fatigue and chance of injury no matter what we do for work or play.
Push-Ups
Push-ups are an exercise that nearly everyone is familiar with. Push-ups are a great way to build strength in the upper body. Muscles involved with the push-up include the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoid (front shoulder), and the triceps. As a side benefit, the push-up requires control and stablization of the so called “core”, the abdominals, pelvis, and back. Doing a push-up with proper form trains the various muscles of the core to do the job they are designed for, and that is to maintain the natural curve of the back, stabilize our pelvis, and facilitate transmission of force throughout the body.
Varying the hand position can tax different muscles more than others, and changing the height of the feet relative to the hands allows for a progression of resistance without the need for any equipment at all. When you are ready to progress beyond what your own body weight can provide in terms of resistance, feel free to have a friend or child get on top of you and do push-ups on push-ups for an extra challenge. Please note that children should be strong enough and responsible enough to safely provide resistance to you. It does your back, and your child no good if you both hit the floor because the child couldn’t stay still. That said, it can be fun time if you have kids. It can also help them to see the importance of exercise, while you are modeling that behavior for them.
Squats
Squats are another essential exercise. Like the deadlift, we perform squats every day whether we like it or not, so it pays to be good at it. Once we stop being able to squat, it’s game over. Every time we get up out of a chair, bed, or off of the floor, we are probably squatting. Being unable to squat means being unable to move yourself throughout your environment. Bad news!
Squats use a tremendous amount of muscles, and performed properly can train the entire leg as well as the glutes, the abs (yes, even the abs) and the back. Squats can be performed with just your body weight, or can be done with any variety of types of resistance. Try doing squats with everything from medicine balls, to dumbbells, to barbells. Target different muscles more specifically by holding a barbell in front of you in the front rack position, or on various spots on your back.
Pull-up / Chin-up
To balance out the pushing strength of the push up and create a balanced body, we need to do pulling exercises. The deadlift helps accomplish this, but we also need to train to pull from different angles as well. Training pull-ups and chin-ups helps us develop strong upper backs, as well as strong biceps, brachioradialis, brachialis, and the forearm muscles which will contribute to grip strength.
Like the push-up, pull-ups and chin-ups can be modified by using leverage created by different body positions. Once strict pull-ups and chin-ups are fairly easy, then weight can be added by using a dipping belt, or by holding a dumbbell between the legs or hanging a kettlebell off of your feet.
For some ideas on how to train your pull-ups, or to progress to being able to do a pull-up if you can’t yet do one, check out this article on pull-ups.
Press
Also commonly referred to as the “shoulder press”, the press is the only exercise that works all 3 deltoids simultaneously. The press is another pushing movement that translates well into things we do at work and in our daily life. People are always pressing things overhead. Regardless if you are a professional mover getting a heavy couch up a flight of stairs, or you are putting canned goods away in your pantry. The press is essential to train.
Aside from just shoulder and tricep strength, the press has many other benefits. Like the push-up, the core must be stabilized in order to safely lift the weight, so you are also training abs, spinal erectors, and other stabilizing muscles. Pressing overhead also loads almost the entire skeleton, which is a very good thing for building strong bones, and fighting or preventing osteoporosis.
There you have it, 5 essential exercises that should be a part of any program, especially those geared towards building strength. These 5 exercises all have many things in common that make them useful. They are all functional movments, that is, their movement patterns translate directly into some activity we do each day of our lives. All of these exercises are closed chain movments, the benefits of which will be elaborated upon in a future article. All of these exercises require core stabilization and they all stress the bones, which in turn makes the skeleton stronger, and more resistant to injury.
Some of these exercises place a lot of stress on the back, and as such should be approached cautiously if you have ever had any back injuries. If you have had any back or joint injuries, it may be appropriate to consult a doctor first. Always lift with proper technique. Working with an experienced trainer can help you avoid problems associated with improper lifting. If you are in Tucson, feel free to contact Dangerously Fit for a free consultation and workout. We also heartily recommend the book Starting Strength 
Train hard, and become Dangeroulsy Strong!
