There are so many exercise choices available to use for improving your health and fitness but which ones are the best to use? It is impossible to give an absolute answer to that question for it depends on so many factors such as age, goal, injury, sport, time and skill to name just a few. Having said that there is certain exercises that personal trainers, strength coaches, and various experts in the health and fitness industry know are the “game changers” and the movements they want their clients to spend the most time doing. To help you understand this we will take a look at 20 of the most common exercises used in most gyms today along with many of our most popular movements and provide each exercise with a rating to help define its position in the hierarchy of importance.

Of all the exercises used in the gym the single cable push is right up the top in our rankings of movements to master. Many people think of this as an exercise to increase strength in the chest and shoulders as it shares the timing of the push-up and bench press exercises. However it is very unique in that it has so many moving parts with multiple joints and muscles all demanding perfect positioning and timing in order to execute the movement effectively. Many of these joints and muscles are also the common weak areas in many people, making it a perfect choice for improving stability, strength, and importantly their movement. This particular exercise is used extensively in our programs for rehabilitation with shoulder and back pain, along with foundation training for older adults wanting to improve quality of movement and strength. But it also is a key component of our training with elite sporting athletes for athletic success as this exercise shares the key attributes needed in running and throwing! This article we are going to explain exactly what this exercise does, how to complete it perfectly, various progressions to use, and most importantly why we rate it so highly. Enjoy.

The past few years has seen a great amount of research relating to the use of unstable balance training, and many of these studies have provided conflicting conclusions as to their effectiveness. The contradictory findings have left many people even more confused and uncertain whether to use this type of training. We have covered an overview on balance training before, but this article we wanted to look more specifically at the use of unstable balance training. Previously balance was just standing on one leg and mainly used for older adults and rehab but with the introduction of equipment like the BOSU and balance boards we have seen an evolution of strength training exercises. But is this training equipment just a gimmick and is it even dangerous as some experts suggest? I am a massive fan of Dr Stuart McGill how does not endorse this type of training but I am also a massive fan of Twist Conditioning that does encourage it. Both experts have training models that prove to work and have research backing up their beliefs so who is right? In my 14 years as a trainer I have found that there is no one way or absolute answer to anything with exercise and health. And when it comes to balance training there are times when it is great and other times when it is detrimental. The key is to know when and who you are using it with and there must be an intelligent approach to how it is applied. The benefits can be astounding however, if used poorly there is definitely a point where the risk outweighs the reward. In this article I will dig deep into everything you need to know about unstable balance training and you can make up your own mind if it is useful to your training or not.