If we want to build a body that’s athletic, strong, and looks incredible, then we need to get as strong as we possibly can.
That’s pretty much all our training needs to do.
Understanding this, people trying to get in better shape often come up with a long list of all the different great exercises they know of and try to include them all in their routine.
“If I get stronger on ALL of these different movements, I’ll definitely get results, right? No stone left unturned.”
The Issue With Training Lots of Exercises
The issue with this approach is that when we have lots of different movements to train each week, our focus immediately becomes splintered.
Even worse, by trying to train more than a handful exercises, we actually stretch our physical work capacity and recovery ability over far more work than we might otherwise need to.
The result?
A bunch of “filler” training that’s unfocused, lacks intensity, and has nowhere near enough clarity to allow you to push progress significantly in any one direction.
This is the sort of workout routine that often requires weekly feats of motivation even just to show up for.
NOT what we want our training to look like if we’re interested in serious long term results.
In Strength Training, Less Is More
If we were smart, what we’d do instead is put ALL our focus, energy, and weekly recovery into just the minimum possible number of movements, so that we maximise our chances of progressing on those movements every single week.
That way, we only have a small couple of goals we’re focused on, and as long as we put some effort into each of them each week, we’re good. The less of those we have, the easier.
Then all we’d have to do is stack enough weeks together to allow those small weekly improvements to compound into some serious strength development. By the time we achieve that strength, we know we’ll have all the accompanying muscle mass, athletic ability and good looks to show for it.
Well, we can. And it’s exactly how I’ve been training for several years now and achieving the best results in my life.
Not to mention the people who have adopted this method starting from scratch and completely built their bodies from the ground up at an astonishing pace.
There are two simple parts to this equation:
1. The movement patterns we choose to build strength in
If we choose these right, we cover our entire body’s ability to move our limbs through space, and guarantee a body that has the carry-over strength to perform whatever tasks we ask of it, along with the proportioned, highly athletic physique that comes with that (provided we simply get lean at some point, which all comes down to diet).
2. The level of strength we aim to build these movements to
It’s essential to have a clear goal of specifically what level of strength we’re building towards, so that we stay the path over the years it’s going to take to build, avoid getting distracted, and actually achieve the insane results we want long term. They won’t come without us fighting for them. So the simpler and clearer these are, the more chance we have of achieving them.
How I’ve Applied This To Transform with Just 5 Movements
The movement patterns are easy. We just want one movement for each major plane of motion:
- horizontal pushing
- horizontal pulling
- vertical pushing
- vertical pulling
- squatting
We then just need to choose strength goal for each of these that are all roughly equivalent and heavy enough that they guarantee an amazing physique by the time we get there.
Here are mine:
- straddle planche
- front lever
- handstand pushup
- one-arm chin-up
- single leg squat loaded with an additional 75% bodyweight
For a visual demonstration of these movements, check out the video below:
The only possible movement not covered here is antagonist for the triple extension trained in the squat: hip, knee and ankle flexion.
In my ideal world, we’d find a movement that is the direct reverse of a squat and trains those three joints in the opposing direction in one heavy movement. If you figure something out for this, let me know.
For now I’ve added nordic curls into the program, which at least covers the knee flexion component of things beautifully.
(For some good resources on training the other two—hip and ankle flexion—check out Ben Patrick’s work (Kneesovertoesguy).)
But I digress; we’re talking about optimising total-body performance here. These muscles are small and while definitely useful to train for injury rehab and athletic performance, are by no means essential for the average person to get stupid strong and look amazing.
I’m just being thorough. You can absolutely get away with and make incredible lower body transformation with just the loaded single leg squat. I certainly have, as have plenty of other people. Again, simpler is better.
Action Steps
1. Decide on your strength goals.
These goals are what’s going to allow you to unlock the body of your dreams in terms of pain-free function, athletic ability, and importantly, looks. No other type of training will give you these things.
Even if you just want to be completely shredded and don’t care about function, the only way you’ll get there is by having enough muscle to fill out a lean frame, and that will only come from building strength. This is the simplest way to do that.
2. Create a plan to train these movements at the exclusion of all other exercises.
Once you have this sort of focus in your weekly training routine, it is that much easier to force progress towards your strength goals. You’re only showing up for 5 movements, so if they’re not improving, you’ll figure out how to make sure they do! (Hint: It all comes from bringing intent to your training—you’ve got one purpose, and that’s to build to these strength goals.)
Feeling restless and need more activity now that you’ve cut out 80% of your workout routine? Good. Go for a walk and hit 10,000 steps a day. That will solve that problem beautifully without impeding your recovery and training intensity.
3. Start training!
Once you’ve got your goals clear, all that’s left is to start training towards them!
Do this right and you should be getting it done in about 20 minutes a week. If it’s taking you longer than 40 minutes, you might want to revise the way you’re training.
Once you’re locked in, all that’s left to do is make sure you’re adequately fuelling your recovery, and let the weeks pass!
Happy strength gain.
Jack