Building blocks of exercise: The 5 Basic Movements

When it comes to physical fitness, it’s important to understand that all human daily movements fall into one of five categories of movements. By learning these five basic movements, individuals can perform almost all exercises correctly in the gym or outside of it. In this article, we’ll introduce these five categories and provide real-world examples for each movement to help you create a balanced exercise routine.

Pull Movement:

The pull movement involves pulling an object towards your body, such as a row or a pull-up. This movement primarily targets the back, biceps, and shoulders. Pulling movements are essential for building a strong back, improving posture, and preventing shoulder injuries.

There are plenty of ways we use the pulling movement in our everyday lives, for example, pulling a heavy suitcase or box off of a high shelf. Whenever we lift heavy objects off the ground, we’re essentially using the pull movement. To improve your pulling movement, one effective exercise to incorporate into your routine is the cable row. Cable rows can help strengthen the back and biceps, while also improving posture and reducing the risk of injury

Push Movement:

The push movement involves pushing an object away from your body, such as a bench press or a push-up. This movement primarily targets the chest, triceps, and shoulders. Pushing movements are essential for building upper body strength, improving posture, and preventing shoulder injuries. We use the push movement in our everyday lives, such as pushing a car that needs to be moved out of the way, or pushing open a heavy door that is difficult to open.

To improve your pushing movement, one effective exercise to incorporate into your routine is the push-up. Push-ups target the same muscle groups as pushing movements, while also engaging the core and promoting overall body stability. By regularly performing push-ups, you can enhance your physical health, improve your push movement, and make daily activities easier to perform.

Bend and lift Movement:

The bend and lift movement involves bending your knees and lowering your hips, such as a bodyweight squat or a barbell squat. This movement primarily targets the legs, glutes, and core. Real-world examples of the bend and lift movements include sitting down and standing up from a chair or toilet, lifting a heavy object from the ground, or bending down to pick something up off of the floor.

To improve your bend and lift movement, one effective exercise to incorporate into your routine is the squat. Squats can help strengthen the legs and glutes, while also engaging the core muscles.

Single Leg Movement:

The single-leg movement involves standing on one leg and performing a movement, such as a lunge or a step-up. This movement primarily targets the legs, glutes, and core. Single-leg movements are essential for building lower body strength, improving balance, and preventing knee and hip injuries. Real-world examples of single-leg movements include climbing stairs or hiking up a hill, standing on one leg to put on shoes or pants, or stepping onto a high platform or curb. As you can see, the single-leg movement is important because we use our legs every day.

To improve your single-leg movement, one effective exercise to incorporate into your routine is lunges. Lunges can help strengthen the legs and glutes, while also improving balance and stability. By regularly performing lunges, you can enhance your lower body strength, reduce the risk of injury, and perform daily activities with greater ease.

Rotation Movement:

The rotation movement involves twisting your torso, such as a Russian twist or a cable wood chop. This movement primarily targets the obliques and the core. Rotation movements are essential for building core strength, improving mobility, and preventing lower back injuries. You may not realize it, but you use your rotating movements almost every day without realizing it. For example, during sports when you swing a golf club or tennis racket, or twisting to reach something behind you in a car or on a shelf.

To improve your rotation movement, one effective exercise to incorporate into your routine is the wood chop. Wood chops involve rotating the torso and lifting a weight diagonally across the body, which can help strengthen the core muscles and improve spinal mobility.

Incorporating these 5 basic movements into your fitness program can help you build a well-rounded foundation of strength, mobility, and stability. By targeting different muscle groups and movement patterns, you can improve your overall fitness and prevent injury. An easier way to ensure your workout routine includes all these exercises is working with a personal trainer at LifenFitness — our trainers will help you make your fitness journey efficient and enjoyable