How You Move

There are 7 fundamental human movements.

These are:

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

A comprehensive training program will address each of these movements.

Following the order above, a weight-training athlete might have these exercises in her program:

1) Barbell Front Squat
2) Hex Bar Rack Pull with Chains
3) Dumbbell Bulgarian Squat
4) Incline Cable Press
5) Body Row
6) Reverse Woodchopper
7) Forward Sled Pulling

Now, it’s important to remember that there is much more to developing an exercise program than exercise selection. There are sets, reps, progressions, loading, and all sorts of other things to keep in mind.

When it comes to upper body pushing and pulling, we’ve got vertical and horizontal movements, and the arms.

So, if we’re focusing on improving upper body strength, we might have an overhead barbell press (vertical push) and a flat bench dumbbell press (horizontal push). This takes care of pushing in both the frontal and sagittal planes.

In a program that is aimed at maintaining upper body strength, we might have only the incline press, which combines the horizontal and vertical pushing. This way we can address both the frontal and sagittal plane pushing movements without excessive volume or time away from our main focus.

An example of horizontal pulling is the bodyweight row. Vertical pulling is displayed in the classic pull-up exercise.

A hybrid vertical and horizontal pull would be the bent forward rope row.

The next few posts will be an example of each of the seven fundamental human movements, so make sure to check back for the next seven days!

Want more, do more, BE more,

~Lucas Wold