Fitness can get really complicated sometimes. Trust me, I know, I have an exercise science degree and I once had to take an exercise trigonometry class (you read that correctly -exercise trigonometry). But the truth is fitness can be boiled down to some pretty simple concepts and exercises. With that in mind here are the five exercises I would choose if I was only allowed to do five exercises for the rest of my life (I’m not sure why someone is limiting me to doing only five exercises ever again, but just go with it).
These five exercises are both basic and advanced. If you want to lose weight, do these five. If you want to gain weight, do these five. If you want to get fit, do these five. If you want to stay fit, do these five.
Here (in my opinion) are the best five exercises of all time:
Squats
Squats work the entire lower body as well as the muscles of the core and lower-back. Many people would count them as the greatest exercise of all (I personally prefer deadlifts but I wouldn’t argue too much). Squats work both sides of the leg (quads and hamstrings) as well as being one the best glute exercises of all.
Squats can be done using bodyweight or with a bar added for additional resistance. Variations include split squats and machine squats, but nothing tops the standard barbell squat. The king of exercises.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts are my personal favorite resistance training exercise. If I had to choose only one exercise to do for the rest of my life it would be this one. Deadlifts work the entire body, top to bottom. Because of that they are also one of the hardest exercises to do both physically and mentally.
Deadlifts are mentally harder than the other big two (squat and bench press) because deadlifts require you to start from your weakest point (with the bar on the ground) and initiate the harder (concentric) part of the motion from a complete stop. With the squat and bench press you get to do the easier (eccentric; where your body is stronger) part of the movement first and then go into the harder part. With the squat and bench you essentially have a few seconds to get from zero to sixty. But with the deadlift you have to mentally already be at sixty before you start trying to move the bar.
All in all, deadlifts are my personal choice for the top exercise ever.
Bench Press
There are lots of reasons not to like the traditional bench press; chief among them are the stress they put on your shoulder joint and the fact that every guy who has ever worked out has been asked, “dude, how much can you bench?” as if the bench press is some type of caveman test of manhood.
But those things aside there are reasons the bench press is one of the big three power-lifting movements. The bench press is actually a great test of upper-body strength. And if the bench press is done correctly it’s great for building the muscle groups of the upper-body (including chest, shoulders, and arms).
Dips
Dips are like squats for the upper-body. They are great because they can be done as a bodyweight exercise or with added weight to make them more advanced.
Dips work all of your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) and can be used to focus on the muscles of your chest (when done with the torso leaning forward) or triceps (when done with the torso straight up) and they work shoulders in either position. The dip is my favorite upper-body exercise.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are one of the hardest bodyweight exercises for people to do. As a general rule they are especially hard for females because females generally have proportionally weaker upper-bodies (but don’t worry ladies, guys have proportionately weaker lower-bodies and cry like babies while doing squats and lunges.)
But with that being said, pull-ups are one of the best exercises for your posterior chain (pull muscles: primarily back and biceps). They can be done with bands or with a spotter to assist until enough strength is built up to do them with your full bodyweight. The pulldown is also a solid variation to help work up to bodyweight pull-ups.
These days anyone can hashtag #Trainer or #FitnessModel and be a fitness expert so lest you think I’m just one of those people, here’s my fitness background: I’ve been doing this workout thing for a while (since high school), I have a decent training background (a degree, 3 certifications, and 15 years experience), and I’ve been lucky enough to do some modeling for some fitness magazines (Click to read: How I Became a Fitness Model Without Using Steroids). I’ve even done some fitness commercials for exercise machines (no I won’t say which ones) and been the face for supplement companies (which only makes me an expert at getting my picture taken).
Even though these are my favorite exercises, you should obviously still get the advice of a professional to find out what works specifically for your body and what your body is healthy enough to handle. Every body is different.
I’m also always willing to learn, so if you have an opinion of an exercise that should have made the five best list I’d love to hear it!
