#21 - The Best Exercises for Physical Robutness Part 2

Last week we covered exercises for physical robustness that require no equipment.

This week we will look at more advanced exercises for robustness that often require gym equipment.

As a recap, physical robustness is, as I define it:

A state where you have a lower risk of injury. Also, you can do a wide range of physical tasks with some level of competence without the fear of getting hurt.

These things usually come about by being strong through many ranges of motion and strong in many different positions.

Some of the exercises in this list will be the same as last week. These exercises are perfectly good with just bodyweight alone.

Now, doing these exercises does not mean that you will not get injured.

However, you are giving yourself your best chance to avoid such problems. That’s all we can do at the end of the day.

For me, the type of exercises included in this list should be foundational in any training plan.

Then, you can effectively move on to other goals,

• Athleticism

• Hypertrophy

• Running

Now, let’s get into it:

Ankle

Tibialis Raise: Build strength from the ground up. Equipment for loading these is hard to come by, so stick to mastering the bodyweight version.

Calf Raise: Great for preparing the legs for hard loading, like fast running. Look for a seated calf raise machine in the gym to hit the lower calf. Any version of the exercise with straight legs hits the upper calf.

Knee

Nordic Curl / Glute-Ham Raise: Builds both highly resilient hamstrings and serious athleticism. If you have a GHD Machine, use it. Anything that you can safely anchor your feet under will work.

ATG Split Squat: You could make a strong case to see that is the most foundational leg movement for resilience. Grab some dumbbells and elevate your front heel to get extra range.

Hip

Seated Good Morning: With a barbell on your back, sit down on the end of a bench. Hinge over until your chest touches the bench and come back up. Start with the bench higher and lower it over time. Great for the adductors, glutes and lower back.

Incline Pigeon Good Morning: Come at an incline bench from the side. Prop your front leg up at 90 degrees with your back leg on the floor behind you. Perform a hinge. Builds elite hip strength.

Loaded Cossack Squat: Makes an already great exercise better. Adding load means extra range and strength for the adductors on both sides, as well as gaining some ankle mobility.

Hip Abduction: Best done with a bench and a cable setup. That can be a bit complicated so a band will do the job well. Looks after the outer hip and helps keep the knees in alignment.

Spine

Jefferson Curl: Build up to this slowly. You don’t want to put your spine through something it can’t. Once you have the capacity, these are elite for spine and hamstring resilience.

Hanging Leg Raise: A common ab builder in the bodybuilding world. Keep the legs straight here and the hip flexors and overall core compression will be given a serious workout.

Suitcase Carry: Pick up a heavy weight in one hand and walk with it. Simple. It’s deceptively hard. The QLs and obliques are fighting to keep you upright, but it’s superb for spinal stability.

Y Raise: Also called a Trap 3 Raise. Nothing better to strengthen the lower traps. Really focus on a slow eccentric with these.

Neck Flexion / Extension: Reminder - don’t neglect the neck! Use a towel and plates to load these. Don’t go too heavy, moderate reps work best.

Shoulder

Pullover: Arnold liked these. Doing them across a bench is superb for getting range in the lats and building overhead mobility. An upper body staple. Don’t go too heavy too soon.

Deep Press Up: Stack plates or blocks and go deep into a press up position. You can go much further than just the floor! Gets the chest and shoulders moving through great ranges.

External Rotation: The brakes of the upper body. These make sure the rotator cuff gets some love. This is a commonly injured area so giving these some effort is well worth your while.

Powell Raise: Here’s one you don’t see too often. Gets the rear delts and rhomboids working hard. Adds more integrity to the back of the shoulder.

Scapula Pull Up / Passive Hang: Scapula pull ups are awesome for gaining some control over the shoulder blade and are a foundational step towards improving full pull ups. Hanging can be revolutionary for some. As good an exercise for overall shoulder health as there is and also decompresses the spine very well.

That’s it for today.

Next week we will cover my favourite exercises for athleticism.

See you then!

• Adam