Top 5 exercises of all time, Let the debate begin!
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One of my students asked me today what the top 5 exercises of all time were. I was surprised at the fact I felt so confident in the top 5 I gave them but I have had a chance to think about it today and I am going to change it just a bit.
So to make this fair I am going to list some of the qualifications necessary for it to make this list. We can do many others in the future since you could do top 5 dumbbell moves, or top 5 Abdominal exercises, etc.
For the First top 5 Exercises here are the rules:
1. It can not involve any type of equipment. No dumbbells or balls or machines of any kind
2. You have to be able to do the move yourself so no crazy weird anti gravity triple flip moves.
Other than that lets see what you can come up with.
Here is a list of my top 5 (at least at this moment in time). Also these are not in order from the best down. It was hard enough to come up with only 5 so you can rank my top 5 in order.
1. Cats and Dogs – There are so many great things about this move it is hard to list them all. First there is the obvious of spine flexibility. The flexion and extension of the muscles in the back promotes great flexibility of the spine. This move can help out with so many common back issues like lordosis and kyphosis. Also the movement of the scapulas (shoulder blades) is tremendous for maintain healthy shoulder, elbows and wrists. Like I said th list goes on and on but this is without a doubt one of the best moves of all time
2. Bear Crawl – This in my opinion is the movement component to cats and dogs. From the same position (hand and knees) you slowly crawl forward keeping your back flat and knees close to the ground. The benefits of this move go well beyond just the physical benefits. This move can provide great strength and power throughout the body. there is also documented studies of all the cognitive benefits of this move. One of the major ones is comprehension. Most studies are centered around baby crawling but this is the more advanced version of the same move)
3. Walking Lunges – Lengthening of the hip flexors, balance, ability to achieve independent flexion and extension of the pelvis and coordination are all great benefits achieved form this move. It will help establish a better gait pattern for both running and walking. Also the balance component will help out with strength in all of the joints of the lower body.
4. Wall Sit – Strength in the legs is just one of the many benefits of a wall sit. On a side note has there ever been a basketball coach who did not make his or her team do these forever! Being able to accept your body weight into your hips is a key component to good posture. Wall Sits force the weight of the body into your hips. Also it puts a tremendous amount of stimulus into the muscles of legs that are responsible for the initiation of a proper gait pattern.
5. Spinal Twist – I am going to cheat and lump all spinal twist moves into this category. Just as important as the flexion and extension of the spine is the rotation. Not only that but the muscular benefit of maintaing the ability to rotate through your torso are vital to so many routine tasks in your day. Back health is such an issue for so many people that I had to put this in my top 5 for now. It was hard to bounce out a few of the honorable mentions but its staying!
Honorable mention – Pushup, sit-up or crunch, Handstand, Squat.
So Let me here your top 5!
10 Comments on this post
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Coach S said:
I would have to throw the rollercoaster somewhere in the top 5 exercises of all time. From the hands and feet, straighten out the legs and pull the chest towards the knees, raising the hips, like the classic yoga move downward facing dog. Now bend the arms and drop the face towards the floor first, then roll through with the shoulders, chest, and finally the hips, in a fluid “u” motion. Now return to the original position by straightening out the arms and lifting the hips, pulling the chest towards the knees. When done correctly, this is a great exercise because it gets a tremendous amount of spine flexion and extension as well as flexion and extension of the hips. It also uses more of the upper body than doing a traditional pushup, and it can also be done with the feet much wider than the hips, creating adduction and abduction in the hips.
February 9th, 2009 at 9:43 pm -
Ben said:
I like the top 5 you gave alot, but I would have to make room for pelvic tilts. I’m not sure why I’m so in love with those but they just feel so good on the lower back.
My top 5 that I personally like (so no they’re probably not the most efficient or most beneficial) are:
1. Spread Foot Glides
2. Pelvic Tilts
3. Gravity Drop
4. Kneeling Groin
5. LungesFebruary 9th, 2009 at 11:00 pm -
Joe the Trainer said:
I agree with Coach S, the rollercoaster provides variety and hits a lot of different angles that it deserves a spot in the top 5. You could go kneeling, from your feet, feet out wide, hands out wide, hands elevated, feet elevated, reverse, etc.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:06 am -
Scott said:
Well I tend to agree on the roller coaster. I left it out of the top 5 for one reason. It is too challenging for some people to do. Depending on how tight you are in the upper back it may be difficult to accomplish the necessary flexion and extension to get the same value as you can from the cats and dogs. Still it could easily be in the top 5. Ben I also had a had time leaving out spread foot glides. Its a classic that seems to find its way onto every warm-up I build
February 10th, 2009 at 6:37 am -
Scott said:
So if you had to say what your all time favorite exercise was, waht would it be?
February 10th, 2009 at 6:38 am -
Coach S said:
handstands
February 10th, 2009 at 9:50 am -
Mr. E Fish Ent said:
Here is my top 5 (in no particular order): You may want to sit down for this.
I was not sure what “Top” Exercises meant as far as best for you or most effective but here is what I came up with.
1) Cats and Dogs – Scott has proven through many posts why this is such a vital exercise to overall health
2) Roller Coasters- The variety and benefits to the chest and upper back as well as the hips put in in my top 5.
3) Spread Foot Glides- after sitting in my hip cast for a few hours (aka lecture hall seats) there is nothing I enjoy more than a few SFG’s to loosen up the hips.
4) Skipping- We do it as children when we are most functional and don’t even know it. I really like the driving of the knees, I feel this improves so much more than running. If implemented into you training program you can see tremendous gains in your stride efficiency and gate pattern.
This next one can be debated but I think it is considered one exercise
5) Monkey Hop/Squat Hop/Somersault/Handstand Combo- Why not? what else do you need in a exercise. I understand that some people are not able to pull off this move but if done with the right precautions this move make you feel very athletic.(Start on your hands and feet, jump your feet towards the outside of your hands then explode up into a squat hop, when you come down from your hop roll into a somersault then when you roll back up try and get your hands underneath you so you can pop up into a handstand) Repeat as desired. *** Make sure you are in decent shape before attempting this.
Okay you can stand up now. Go try these and let me know what you think.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:37 pm -
B Boy Bahr said:
I’ll post the exercises that have benefited me most of all. However, some of these moves, which were discussed earlier, would probably not be manageable by the “average” person.
1) Roller Coasters: These include kneeling, straight, and spread foot. I like to do these in the described order as well. In this order, they have a nice natural alignment progression for me at the end of a workout to get everything “squared” in.
2) Bear Crawl: Forwards, backwards, lateral…doesn’t matter. The fact that about every single muscle in the body is in someway used, has a desired beneficial quality for me. It feels great before workout, during, and after.
3) Frogs: Frog sit-ups, kneeling frog…any sort of stretch where the bottoms of the feet are touching and legs bent feels AWESOME! Of course, when I first started doing this it hurt. Now, I’m addicted.
4) Wall sits: Having Osgood-Schlatters disease ever since I was in seventh grade has debilitated my exertion during exercise. After five months of doing wall-sits off and on, my knee pain has been greatly reduced. I especially like coupling this with clappers.
5) One legged squat: Perhaps the most athletic move concerning any sport, the one legged squat improves balance, dynamic strength, and flexibility.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:17 pm -
Scott said:
Wow you guys are great. I am very impressed. I also like that you defended our answers. I am going to keep this going for a few more posts. I would love to see what you guys come up with for a few other top 5 lists.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:56 pm -
Josh Platt said:
I have been training with scott for the past three years and have been exposed to more exercises than i can think to name at times but, i have found these five to be very beneficial:
1) Cats and Dogs- obviously one of the best exercises you could do
2) Rollercoaster (kneeling, spreadfoot, etc.)- definately one of the best overall neutralizers
3) Extended lateral- covers the spine rotation component of a warm-up, is relatively easy to perform, and has become one of my favorites
4) Spread Foot Glides- i almost always use these, they make for a great component to nearly any warm-up and/or cool-down
5) Rotational stork lunge- might not be the easiest move but is very beneficial, i like moves that combine various components into one action (Others: full squat rollbacks, Monkey hop, Squat hop, handstand combos, etc.)February 17th, 2009 at 9:13 pm