#23 - My Favourite Overall Strength Exercises

Today is the last entry in my series on my favourite exercises.

In this entry, we are going to cover my go-to’s for strength training.

These exercises are superb at teaching the body to produce large forces and bring with them benefits to connective tissue strength as well.

There is a mixture of modalities here. Some barbells, kettlebells and bodyweight exercises.

They are great to program with the exercises for physical robustness that I covered in previous entries in this series.

I like to plan these exercises with the physical robustness training in blocks between hypertrophy and athleticism phases.

As Mark Bell says, “Strength is never a weakness and weakness is never a strength.”

Let’s get into the list.

Hinge

Deadlift: What better way to prove you’re strong than by lifting a large amount of weight off the floor? Hits most of the muscles on the back of the body exceptionally well. As good a way of building strength as any.

Romanian Deadlift: A variation of the deadlift where the knees are kept straighter and the bar does not touch the floor. Builds great strength and resilience in the hamstrings. A perfect substitute for the regular deadlift.

Squat

Double KB Front Squat / Zercher Squat: A front squat with kettlebells involves holding two kettlebells up near the shoulders in the rack position. The Zercher position involves holding a barbell in the crooks of the elbows. Both are great leg strength builders and the choice comes down to personal preference.

Pistol Squat: A one-legged squat. Lift one leg out in front and squat all the way down on the other, never letting the outstretched leg touch the floor, and come back up. Superb for balance, building stability and improving mobility in the ankles and hips.

Reverse Nordic: Get into a position where your knees are on the floor and the rest of your body is upright. Keeping the glutes engaged, lower yourself backwards until you feel lots of tension in the quads and come back up. Superb for strengthening the quads and the structures of the knee.

Push

Weighted Dip: The dip is often referred to as the upper body squat - and for good reason. This is one of the instances where adding weight to bodyweight exercises really shines. Great for developing the chest, shoulder and triceps.

Handstand Press Up / KB Military Press: We’ve pressed horizontally, now we’re pressing vertically. Handstand press ups (with your feet against a surface for support) challenge much of the upper body musculature very well. A great alternative is the KB Military Press - a single-arm option that works nicely with the natural mechanics of the shoulder.

One-Arm Press Up: Not just a party trick, but a high-level strength move when done correctly. Few exercises demand whole-body tension like this does. This ability to brace and produce tension will carry over to all other strength lifts. Not one to skip.

Pull

Weighted Neutral-Grip Pull Up: Another weighted calisthenics gem. Among the best ways to develop the back and the biceps. I like the neutral grip as it is kinder to the shoulders and elbows.

Bodyweight Row: A great complement to the pull up. Great for teaching the body to engage the shoulder blades when using the pulling muscles and has the added benefit of requiring a lot of stabilisation from the core. Underrated in my view.

Hinge Row: An underground gem from gymnastics. The downside is that these can only be used on rings. Start in the same position as a bodyweight row but then pull your torso up and forward so you finish in what looks like a front double biceps pose. Gets the mid-back, rhomboids, rear delts and external rotators all in one.

Core

Farmer’s Walk: Farmer strength is definitely a thing. This is the way to tap into some of that. Grab two heavy dumbbells and go for a walk. Superb for the grip and few better exercises to develop the strength that is used in the real world.

Dragon Flag: Also called a candlestick and popularised by Bruce Lee and Sylvester Stallone. Up there with the most challenging core exercises there is. Hold onto the back of a bench and, with only your head and upper back in contact with the bench, lift the rest of your body in a straight line and slowly lower it down before coming back up. Prepare to feel your abs working like never before.

Extended Plank: The regular plank is usually not challenging enough for many. That can be solved by moving the hands further out in front to create more distance between the hands and feet. A great core stability challenge.

That’s the list!

I hope you have found this series on exercise selection useful.

See you next week!

• Adam