What is the overall purpose of every training program? Answer - To exceed your current level of ability and improve overall performance. But before any of this can happen the very first thing you must do is exceed the demands of life! What do I mean by this? This means that life will place various demands on our bodies that we must be able to sustain for if we are unable to meet these demands injury is very likely. Our training must prepare our bodies for all the activities we require in our lifestyle by exposing the muscles and joints to load, speed, and complex positions. We have covered in great detail many times in most of our articles the 7 key movement patterns we all need as a bare minimum but what I am going to share with you today is the four key exercises that takes these foundation exercises to a new level. I have found that anyone who can complete these four exercises effectively, regardless of their age has the capacity for great athletic movement that is free of pain and limitation. And anything that life throws at them is a piece of cake.

You Must Exceed Life's Demands

Before I share with you the four key exercises I will explain further the concept of meeting the demands of life. Here is two examples of where people may be devoting time to exercise but their approach is not addressing their needs and the end result in each case is injury.

If a person has an occupation that needs them to lift heavy objects that can be up to 30-40kg in weight. An example is a furniture removal worker where they are often required to life heavy tables, cabinets and various furniture for several hours. This person MUST have the ability to deadlift with perfect form repeatedly and easily tolerate a load of at least 60kg. Their training ability must be higher than what they need so that work is always operating at a level that is easy for the body to handle. If there is any deficit in the deadlift form or ability injury is highly likely. This is an example of where life exceeds the training capacity.
(See bulging disc treatment all starts with how you move for more on this).

Another example is a person who struggles to do lunges due to sore knees or hips. Over the long term the simple movement of getting up and down off the floor is going to be a big problem for this person. Sure they can avoid lying on the floor but all this does is reduce their lifestyle choices. Soon walking up and down stairs will become a problem and now another lifestyle modification will have to be applied. And eventually walking itself will be a problem! (See best exercises for severe knee pain if you are this person)

You can begin to see how people may devote considerable time to exercise but their choice of exercise may not be in line with what life demands of them. They may be fit from all their running or cycling, they may have great flexibility from their Yoga classes, but unfortunately these fitness benefits are not going to save their spine from buckling when they have to pick up a box at work or pull a weed out of the garden. Why? For neither of these approaches strengthens the body for the bending movement.

Even strength training can miss the mark. If you spend all your time doing machine training or just doing the exercises you like you most likely are training at a level below what you need. You may be neglecting the movements you are weakest at that need your attention. Machine training is by far the worst type of strength training to use for all movements people suffer injury with or have difficulty completing are performed standing up.

It is the responsibility of each person to identify the skills and level of ability required for their lifestyle and use exercise programs to enhance these abilities accordingly. Failure to do so pushes your ability under the injury threshold and you will soon pay a price. It is just a matter of time

Obviously this can vary a lot from person to person depending on their lifestyle, occupation, or sporting hobbies they participate in. Age is not a barrier here and as a bare minimum we all must be able to perform the base level which is the 7 key patterns of movement.

1. Squat
2. Lunge
3. Bend
4. Push
5. Pull
6. Twist
7. Gait (walking)

If you struggle to execute any of these patterns your first goal is to improve them to as close to perfect as possible.

If you are able to execute these effectively then you have a great starting point and can begin the process of improving your training capacity. However you are no-where near finished for remember your life may demand more of certain patterns in terms of strength, flexibility, balance, speed and power. I would rate this as having achieved level one standard, but it is at level two that you really want to be.

You can download the FREE report below with detailed instructions and pictures of how to effectively learn each of these movements. Click here to get your report.

Finally we have reached level two and the four key exercises. Here they are in order of importance.

1: The Deadlift

There is a good reason why the deadlift is rated as the "king" of strength training exercises because it provides a big bang for your buck in total strength to your entire body. This one movement is pivotal in developing the hip mobility and glute strength required for picking up objects safely as we saw earlier with the back pain example. But it is also critical in providing propulsion with activities of walking and running.

Grip strength is another big factor here that this exercise addresses that is so important for the motor sequence and integration of the arm, shoulder, rib cage, and of course the legs. As the load increases the need for using your breathing and creating intra abdominal pressure to prevent the spine from flexing is increased. If you are not using this exercise in your program right now, or you have poor form with the bending action and avoid it altogether you are at risk of developing a back injury from life's activities. This should be number one on every person's list of exercises to master for we see so many injuries result from poor bending mechanics. And don't be fooled in thinking you don't need this for you never pick up heavy objects. I have seen several cases of bulging discs blown out in front of me when a person bent over to pick up a pencil or to tie their shoes!

We use this action in so many daily activities as pictured below so having a great understanding of good form is critical. If you find picking up a golf ball off the floor hard to do this is a sign you have fallen under the disability threshold. Bulging discs and hip problems are guaranteed if you find this hard. 

In the book "The Naked Warrior" by Pavel Tsatsouline he claims there is only two exercises you need to develop incredible strength, deadlifts and push-ups. Pavel is more about relative strength: getting stronger without putting on much muscle mass and in a way he is right. And just like us he advises older adults to do this exercise and there is a video on You Tube of his 75 year old father lifting a 407 pound deadlift! Click here to see the video and read the article it is very impressive.

What is the perfect form for the deadlift?

Read our article The Best Deadlift Tips for detailed explanations and ways to enhance your form. Also there are many versions of the deadlift and I like all of them. But it is always wise to start with the easiest versions that have more of a focus on timing and posture than brute strength and as you improve add load and complexity to rise above the level of life.

Watch the videos below of a trap bar deadlift that has a focus on strength and the single leg deadlift with a focus on stability and hip control.

However, while being good at the deadlift is great and provides so many incredible benefits it may not address other specific needs of movement specific to your lifestyle. This brings us to number two in our top four exercises.

2: Turkish Get Up

If there was one exercise I find that can truly predict overall strength it would be the Turkish Get Up. A Turkish get up does not allow a weakness to exist anywhere within your body. You need full co-operation with your upper body, trunk, and legs to execute perfect form.

It should be noted that this is not really even an exercise but a life movement of getting off the ground. In our rehabilitation program we have worked with countless people struggling with hip mobility unable to get themselves onto the floor or off it without assistance or dragging their body up on a chair! If these people had practiced the Turkish Get Up regularly throughout their life, it is fair to say they would never have lost this skill!

The amazing changes that happen when you perform this exercise are varied for the simple reason it does so many things. I like to think of it as the "Swiss army knife" of exercise. It is also for this reason that it can be hard to learn, but the effort is well worth it for here is a list of the benefits to your body from the Turkish Get Up.

1. Greatly improves shoulder stability and thoracic mobility at the same time!
2. Improves overall body stability and integration between upper and lower body
3. Promotes reflexive stability of the torso
4. Encourages great mobility of the hips and thoracic spine, the two areas most people are lacking mobility
5. Improves the body's ability to coordinate and enhance balance from lying to standing
6. Develops upper body strength, trunks strength, and glute strength

As you can see this is so much more than just a simple strength exercise.

Two of the best things this exercise can do better than most exercises is improve the missing stability at key joints that regularly suffer with pain from instability. These are the shoulder joint and the lumbar spine. The hips are also a big problem with people but the problem at this joint is lack of mobility, which again this exercise demands of you in order to complete without falling over!

This exercise makes up a big part of our shoulder and neck rehabilitation program for the unique demands it places upon the thoracic region and shoulder. I would go as far to say that this is the key exercise needed for optimal shoulder function and if someone can complete this effectively with load they have a combination of great stability and mobility of the shoulder.

Make sure you read our article Why The Turkish Get Up Is The Ultimate Core Exercise for full explanation, technique tips, and various progressions.

Watch the 2 minute video below where we explain the technique for you.

3: Single Leg Squat

We have covered a great deal of things already with our first two exercises, the deadlift and the Turkish get up, and it is fair to say that if you are able to complete both exercises with reasonable load you definitely move well.
However, you are not yet done.

If there was one movement that I find 98% of people fail on the first assessment it is the single leg squat.

This has unique skill-sets that differ considerably from what you need in the deadlift and Turkish get up, but more importantly this movement relates more specifically to the needs of walking and running. Anyone who plays sports this one exercise is essential to master for this is where many of the lower limb injuries like ACL tears are created. This movement needs the muscles around the hips and pelvis to perform multiple roles all within a split second when you walk as you constantly move from stance leg to moving and swing through phase.

First your body has to stabilize the hip, act as a hip rotator, and lock the head of the femur into the socket, to create a very tight and stable hip joint during gait. This prevents the ball and socket joint from rattling around during walking and running. Then it has to instantly create the hip extension needed for propulsion phase.

Can you see now how the isolated glute exercises used extensively in rehab settings, Pilates programs, and even machines to isolate and strengthen muscles ignore these key principles and do not adequately strengthen and prepare the body for how it actually moves. This is a perfect example of where you may be training at a level below the demands of life.

This movement is awesome as an assessment tool to identify weaknesses within the body. Things that are easily hidden with bilateral squats and even deadlifts and lunges are completely revealed once you are forced to find stability in single leg stance. This exercise is the key to our knee pain rehabilitation program. This is the one exercise we must help people to master if they suffer with a lower limb injury.

Make sure you read our articles with more detail on this below.

• How To Use The Single Leg Squat To Pinpoint Your Weakness
• Why The Single Leg Squat Is The Best Leg Exercise

Below is a great video of how to use this exercise as an assessment tool to identify weaknesses in your body.

4: Single Cable Push With Weight Shift

Now you must be thinking - "surely we have covered everything with the last 3 exercises?" Almost. The one thing we have not yet covered is speed and power. The last three exercises although demanding considerable stability and strength, they do not demand the ability to move fast. If you read our last few newsletters (see Why It Is Important To Train For Power) you will remember that the ability to move fast is the first thing we lose and when this happens it sets off a chain reaction of dysfunction.

We need power and speed to complete simple tasks like getting out of a chair, walking up stairs, or crossing a road quickly. From the age 65 to age 89, our ability to produce power with our legs declines 3.5% per year. This is much faster than our rate of decline with strength, which is 1-2% per year. That is 2-3 times faster!

This means that we need at least one exercise that includes this ability. Jumping comes to mind as one, but the variability on technique execution is a concern. The exercise I prefer to use is one that is dependent on speed of movement and this the single cable push with weight shift.

This exercise is great for people of all ages and abilities. We use this with people in their 80's and kids as young as 9! Yet it is also a key part of our professional athletes programs too.

The reason is that this utilizes the anterior oblique system, which is the system that integrates the upper body and lower body via the obliques to  help provide stability and mobility in the action of walking or running. This is important in providing that initial stability during the stance phase of gait and then contribute to pulling the leg through during the swing phase. In this movement the obliques and the contra-lateral adductors work in perfect sync to create movement.

Training this system is essential for the sporting player who use multi-directional movements as it enhances stability as speed increases in activities such as sprinting, and also when needing to brake or change direction. Any throwing sports like baseball, tennis, golf and also the sport of boxing this movement pattern is essential. Deficits in the sling is often where you commonly see upper body injury occur in most ball sports.

BONUS EXERCISE -  Push-Ups

If there was one movement I feel could also be included it is the push up. The reason I have left this out is that there is many people who can perform this quite well but I would hardly rate them as athletic or strong for they have severe deficits with their legs and coordination.

Having said that I do believe there is merit in seeing an older adult perform push ups on their toes, females of any age this is always a great indicator of upper body strength and also anyone playing sports. Remember Pavel Tsatsouline rated it number two!

To read more about push ups go to our article - Push Ups Are A Great Upper Body Exercise

Summary

That sums up our top four exercises that we could put into the category of level 2 movements. Anyone who can complete these four exercises well and with great load and intensity will have no trouble completing almost any exercise you throw at them. Anything that they encounter in life will not be a problem either for they are unlikely to have come across anything as challenging as these four exercises. Just remember you cannot go straight to working out hard. Technique and quality is of more importance than trying to crush it with high intensity and volume. Only once you have mastered the movement can you take things to the next level.

If you enjoyed this article and live in Melbourne and would like to know more about any of our personal training programs please click the image below to request a free consultation.