The Big 5 Strength Exercises

Ever wondered what the most important exercises are for general strength and wellbeing? Ones that keep our bodies balanced and functioning well? Look no further! Here are my Big 5 strength exercises from over a decade of training.

1. Bent over rows (horizontal pulling) - These strengthen the muscles along the spine (better posture), train the shoulders to pull back (less shoulder problems) and build strength for the hips and legs (protecting the lower back from injury). They are the safest exercise to perform because the body is made for pulling!

   
   

2. Deadlifts (hip hinging) – This functional pattern shows up in many places in life. Like bent over rows, deadlifts strengthen postural muscles of the spine but have more of a focus on using the hip joint to move (hinging), rather than flexing the spine (folding forward). If you’re a person in a bigger body, it’s likely you already have super strong hamstrings, glutes, and calves. So, either load this one light and use it as a mobility exercise (stiff leg deadlifts are great for building mobility) or switch it to more of a squat pattern to strengthen up your quads (trap bar deadlifts are perfect).

   
   

3. Bench press (horizontal pushing) – I often use bench press to build mobility in the shoulders and stability in the muscles of the spine. By thinking of the bench press as a reverse row and using a strong contraction in the back muscles, we can assist the chest and front core muscles to open out. By loading your bench press about 10% lighter than your row, we can ensure that your shoulders are happy and healthy (no impingement).

   
   

4. Overhead press (vertical push) – Clients have come to me with tight shoulders and backs, and training and overhead pattern helps us stretch everything upwards. Like all the above exercises, you guessed it, it strengthens the postural muscles of the spine, while opening the shoulders. If you’re a desk sitter and find yourself wanting to stretch your arms overhead with a big yawn, this is your body telling you it wants to open out.

   
   

   

   
   

5. Lat pulldown (vertical pulling) – This exercise is great for getting the shoulders strong and further improving postural strength. It’s at #5 because it’s the last direction I typically train people in. The shoulders must be happy and healthy and moving well before we do vertical pulling motions – in muscle terms, that means the rhomboids, lower traps, rotator cuffs (called the scapula stabilisers) all have to be job-sharing and sequencing well.

Latissimus dorsi is a major muscle group used in vertical pulling. It attaches to the front of the shoulder and if it’ gets too strong you get a caveman effect – rounding of the shoulders – followed by a whole host of impingement problems.

While lat pulldowns are worth training, don’t rush into them without doing solid work on your mid and upper back.

Next week, I will go into more detail in an article called “Five basic strength exercises”, which will give you 5 exercise variations for each of the Big 5 exercises. If there are any topics you would like me to go into, shoot me an email at sally.bromley@live.com.au