The Top 5 Exercises You're Probably Not Doing (Because They're Hard)

They say (and by 'they' I assuredly mean internet memes) that 80% of your success, results from 20% of your efforts, I'm sure there's a very complex, mathematical theorem behind that, but for now I'm just going to frown and move on. Fact is, in the gym a lot of people fill their time with 'fluff'. Precious little accessory exercises that do little more than to further the pump you were getting from the big lift that you know you should be doing more of. These lifts are your 20%ers, the money makers, but unfortunately they're usually also the ball breakers.
Your bench press, your squat, your deadlift. We're all well aware that this is where the party's at, but concentration curls are just so much easier, right? And you can really 'feel' those single armed cable pressdowns, right? RIGHT?

Man vs Machine- Chris Parkes

Well as someone who very rarely has the luxury of equipment or time (or even a roof under which to train, more often than not.) Let me tell you, that doing more of those 20% movements is the way forward. Hard work pays off, time and time again. You know that, right?

So, I say to all my fellow Fitness Gypsy's, regular gym go-ers and weekend warriors alike, start including these ball busting 20%er's into your program with immediate effect and prepare yourself for immediate effects. HARD WORK OVER EVERTHING.

Chest-to-bar weighted pull-ups

It's no secret that I'm a huge proponent of the pull-up, a lot of you are probably already including them in your programming, but how many of you are doing them right? I'm not talking about kipping your way half way to the bar and violently thrusting your chin skyward like a hungry dolphin at sea world to barely make the rest of the distance, I mean starting from a full dead hang and pulling yourself up, under control until the bar makes contact with your chest at, or slightly above your nipples. Don't worry too much about the grip, just switch it up regularly. Once you can nail more than ten under complete control, start adding weight. If you've been a Crossfit Carl or Lat Pulldown Lenny for too long (unintentional Simpsons reference) then making these the mainstay of your back workout and working on weighted progressions will make a big impact on your physique.

Weighted Dips

Another one that should come as no surprise. Look, anyone can keep adding weight to the bench press or whatever machine press your gym has and steadily decrease the range of motion, until eventually you're bringing the bar down so little that no amount of breast augmentation would see your 'reps' counted. Now strap a few plates to your body, start a dip at the bottom of the range of motion (ie feet on the floor, forearms touching biceps) and see how strong you are. Although humbling at first, learning to master moving your body through space (with or without added resistance) will always prove more effective in the grand scheme of things, make these your priority for horizontal pressing and see for yourself.

Hanging Leg Raises

Getting a leg up. Or both.

A whole ton of studies and EMG tests have shown that traditional prone ab exercises like crunches don't provide anywhere near the same level of core activation as hanging knee or leg raises, couple this with the fact you'll be giving your grip strength a hefty once over and that with a few tweaks you can add in some bicep and back stimulation, it's easy to see why you should be ditching the sit-ups. Add in twisting variations to smash your obliques and intercoastals and progress on to weighted raises and front levers to keep this effective. I'll be uploading a video soon with my favourite versions of these six-pack wonder moves.

Clean and Press

If you don't already know how to power clean, get over here http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/PowerClean.html and learn, failing that find a (good) coach or trainer and get some pointers, once you've nailed it start adding in the press. This is probably one of the single greatest movements of all time, working your whole body from floor to overhead but it's so important you get it right. Make this your chief shoulder exercise, going as heavy as you can but keeping the reps around the 5-8 mark (to ensure your form doesn't break down under fatigue). Your lungs will burn, your heart rate will get jacked up, your inner sissy will be screaming at you that front raises and laterals are a better option, but tough it out cowboy; hard work builds hard bodies.

Car Pushing/ Pulling

This one is a little out of the left field, for sure, but well... Do it anyway.

Pushing, pulling or dragging your car around, either after your traditional gym workout or as a nomad conditioning session is a very attainable way of exposing your entire body to an entirely new stimulus, that you'd be hard pushed to replicate in the gym. Get behind it, nice and low and get it moving to smash your quads, hams and glutes into the ground whilst simultaneously making your lungs work over time. Attach a tow rope and work in some arm over arm, strongman style work to absolutely annihilate your grip, arms and upper back. The best news is, as these movements don't contain an eccentric portion they won't put too much stress on your recovery abilities, so you can throw in some automotive madness between sessions to get the blood flowing and add to that calorie burn. Try 5-10 rounds of pushing 50 yards, followed immediately by pulling it back to where you started. Rest 2 minutes between sets and get ready to never struggle bump starting your girlfriends car again. Ever.

To wrap up, throw these five big, bad boys in throughout the week for the next few months, striving to make progress on them all and I can guarantee you'll see some serious carryover improvements in the rest of your training, not to mention the fact they'll probably crown you the most hardcore mother in the gym (and car park).

Let me know how you get on!

Peace

AT