If you could only do three exercises…

An off the cuff, quickie, unedited (and unapologetic) piece I just wrote. My answer may change slightly in the morning…

My good friend and Brazilian Jui Jitsu/Kali/Gladiator extraordinaire Christian ‘c-Lefty Dog’ Ekerct asked a question on Facebook recently.

“To all Yoga-, Strength-, Fitness- and/or Martial Arts Trainers/Coaches:

If you could choose only three exercises/drills/postures of your art, what would it be?

(If the name is not to common, please explain it a bit)”

Three exercises/drill/postures, with no other knowledge of what the goal is, or the physical history of the individual/group! Christian has a tendency to not ask easy questions!

So, what did I answer? Did I go barbell all the way and use?

  1. Deadlift
  2. Overhead Squat
  3. Press

Did I keep it bodyweight?

  1. Pull Up
  2. Push Up
  3. Burpee

No. To start with I thought what are the patterns that we need to work:

  • Push
  • Pull
  • Squat
  • Hinge
  • Carries
  • Twists

Then, what are the qualities we need to maintain/develop:

  • Mobility
  • Stability
  • Strength
  • Power
  • Endurance
  • Speed
  • Flexibility

From these lists, it’s apparent that we need exercises/drills/postures that involve different patterns and can be performed with different intents. I decided not to cheat and answer one of the three with:

“A barbell complex comprising of clean & jerks, presses, bent rows, squats and deadlifts”

I felt that would be cheating a bit.

So three individual exercises or postures…

So I started with the idea of what are most people lacking and my first exercise became…

Number 1 – The Pump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8FzZVYx6Ec

Popularised by Kettlebell Tsar Pavel Tsatsouline, the Pump stretch can be used in the warm up as a mobiliser or in the cool down as a ‘proper stretch’. In addition to how it’s performed in the above video I found on YouTube, a ‘pry’ can be added at the bottom of the movement to increase hip flexor stretch/mobilisation. The Pump stretches the posterior chain, the anterior chain and places a demand on the stability/mobility of the shoulder complex.

So, with a mobility/stretch yoga-esque movement on the list, it was time to look at some brute strength. Again, what are most people lacking brought me to…

Number 2 – The Turkish Get Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Q9mxjhMy8

Core/trunk stability. Looking for a number two exercise, I was torn. I thought a clean and press with the barbell (you get a hinge, a squat and a press all in one exercise), but most people can’t perform that (hell, most coaches can’t even teach it!). But the TGU gives us an exercise that can be performed unloaded in a yogic manner (that ‘Y’ word keeps turning up) that gives us a body training tool. It can also be performed with a horrendous load giving us a brutal strength exercise. Done correctly the TGU gives us a push/press, a hinge, a lunge and shoulder stability.  It can be done for repetitions, for load or slowly for unbearable agony.

The TGU is a huge ‘bang for your buck’ movement.

[And for all the ladies who think that lifting heavy things will make you look like the She Hulk, I think Coach Neghar Fonooni, the lady in the video, disproves that.]

So, from the lists so far I’ve got:

Movements

  • Push – Check
  • Pull
  • Squat
  • Hinge – Check
  • Carries – Check
  • Twists – Check

Qualities

  • Mobility – Check
  • Stability – Check
  • Strength – Check
  • Power
  • Endurance – Check
  • Speed
  • Flexibility – Check

So I still need Pull, Squat, Power and Speed. For number three I was tempted to go with a barbell front squat or a Kettlebell snatch. The squat would give me the squat movement I need and an exercise which I can use in a pure strength, power or speed modality. There is also the opportunity for metabolic conditioning, that said, few people would take the punishment of a true Tabata with a front squat.  The Kettlebell snatch, would have given us a better tool for developing power and arguably a more humane method of metabolic conditioning.

All that said, for exercise number three I went with…

Number 3 – The Hardstyle Kettlebell swing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_w-_XjjJBw

Not some crappy ‘squat swing’ (no such thing!), not a sport swing (nothing against them, but they miss one element I need from my lists), but a proper hardstyle swing.  The swing definitely ticks the speed and power boxes. It can definitely be used as a strength, endurance and metabolic conditioning tool. If done correctly the hardstyle swing will also tick the pull box, if the latissimus dorsi is fired correctly. And, arguably, we get to tick the squat box…

This isn’t because the swing is a squat (it isn’t) but from personal experience of being unable to squat due to a meniscus tear, but still able to swing, I was amazed at how much of my squat strength I’d retained.  This was most likely due to the fact that on the hardstyle swing we are maximally contracting the quads (and glutes, and abs, and lats) at the top of the swing.

So, in the process of figuring this all out (which took about 3 minutes, shorter than the time it took me to find one decent video on YouTube!) I seem to have inadvertently recreated Dan John’s abridged version of Pavel Tsatsouline’s famous ‘Program Minimum’ (Dan calls his the ‘Program Minimum Minimum’).

Feel free to send me your comments, compliments or arguments!

“Be Fit, Be Strong, Be Happy!”

 

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