When it comes to working out, many people feel that the flashier the exercises and the greater variety of them used, the better the results. However, this is usually not the case! While it may be tempting to try that fancy new-fangled ‘thread the needle’ exercise that you’ve seen someone doing at your local gym, often these type of exercise are all style and no substance.
So how do you know whether an exercise is worthwhile or worthless? The trick is to look at everything on a spectrum of cool vs. effective. On the one end are exercises that are super flashy but don’t really do much for you other than make you feel like a gymnast. On the other end are exercises that may not be anything new but have been proven time and time again to get you results.
If in doubt, ALWAYS tend towards effective instead of cool. After all, your goal in the gym is to look good and get healthy, toned and strong, not to do the coolest looking exercises of anyone who works out at your facility.
Here’s a list of time-tested effective exercises for you to use:
Squats
Deadlifts
Lunges
Step Ups
Planks
Pallof Press
Rows (vertical and horizontal)
Presses (vertical and horizontal)
The truth is that if you used nothing but these exercises for the rest of your life, you’d be just fine. Sure, you can mix in some other stuff to keep it interesting and keep you enjoying your workouts but don’t forget that it all comes back to what has proven to work time and time again!
Written by Yudi Kerbel, Head Personal Trainer at Motivation Fitness, West Conshohocken
