Exercise Library

Active Hang

A hang with the shoulders pulled down and engaged, rather than relaxed. Builds the position every pull-up starts from.

Archer Push-up

A push-up that shifts almost all the load onto one arm by straightening the other out to the side. The usual step on the way to a one-arm push-up.

Assisted Pistol Squat

A pistol squat holding a rack or strap for balance. Lets you train the full single-leg range long before you can balance it unaided.

Bear Crawl

Crawling on hands and toes with the knees hovering. Full-body conditioning that hammers the shoulders and the anti-rotation muscles at once.

Bear Plank

A plank on hands and toes with the knees hovering an inch off the floor. Shorter lever than a full plank, far more demanding than it looks.

Bird Dog

From all fours, extending one arm and the opposite leg while the torso stays still. A staple of lower-back rehab and a genuinely useful warm-up.

Burpee

Drop to the floor, push up, jump the feet in, jump up. The whole body and the entire cardiovascular system in one unloved rep.

Butterfly Stretch

Seated with the soles of the feet together and knees dropping out to the sides. A basic groin and inner-thigh stretch that pairs well with squatting.

Calf Raise

Rising onto the toes and lowering again. No equipment, no setup, and it can be done for high reps anywhere.

Cat-Cow Stretch

Arching and rounding the spine on all fours. Moves every segment of the back through its range and is the standard opener for a warm-up.

Chair Dip

A dip with your hands behind you on a chair and your feet on the floor. The triceps exercise available in any room with furniture.

Clamshell

Lying on your side with knees bent, opening the top knee while the feet stay together. Small, unglamorous, and one of the best glute medius exercises there is.

Commando Pull-up

A pull-up done side-on to the bar with one hand in front of the other, coming up alongside it. Loads each side unevenly and asks a lot of the core.

Copenhagen Plank

A side plank with the top leg resting on a bench and the bottom leg held in the air. Brutal adductor work, and well known for keeping groins healthy.

Cossack Squat

A deep squat over one leg with the other extended straight out to the side. Equal parts strength and hip mobility, and a fine test of both.

Crab Walk

Walking on hands and feet with your chest facing the ceiling. A conditioning drill that leaves the triceps and glutes burning.

Cross-Body Shoulder Stretch

Pulling one straight arm across the chest with the other. Thirty seconds of rear delt and upper back relief after a pressing day.

Curtsy Lunge

A lunge stepped diagonally behind the standing leg. The crossed position reaches the upper and outer glute in a way a straight lunge does not.

Dead Hang

Hanging from a bar for time. Builds the grip that limits everyone's heavy pulling, and decompresses the shoulders while it does it.

Decline Sit-Up

A sit-up on a decline bench with the feet anchored above the head. The angle keeps the abs loaded through the part of the range a floor sit-up gives away.

Donkey Kick

From all fours, driving one bent knee up toward the ceiling. Straightforward glute max work that needs no equipment at all.

Dragon Flag

Lowering the whole body from a shoulder stand while gripping a bench behind your head, keeping everything rigid. Famously hard, and worth working toward.

Fast Feet

Tiny, very fast steps on the spot in an athletic stance. A short, sharp conditioning burst that spikes the heart rate in seconds.

Feet-Elevated Pike Push-up

A pike push-up with the feet up on a box, which tips the press closer to vertical. The last step before a handstand push-up.

Fire Hydrant

From all fours, lifting one bent knee out to the side. Named for the obvious reason, and an effective way to reach the upper glute.

Forward Lunge

Stepping forward into a lunge and pushing back to standing. More demanding on balance and on the front knee than the reverse version.

Frog Pump

A glute bridge with the soles of the feet together and knees splayed out. The position takes the hamstrings out and leaves the glutes doing nearly everything.

Glute Bridge March

Holding a glute bridge while lifting one knee at a time. Forces each glute to hold your hips level on its own.

Half Burpee

A burpee without the push-up and the jump: squat, kick back to a plank, jump the feet in, stand. Keeps the conditioning and drops the impact.

Hanging Knee Raise

Knees drawn to the chest while hanging from a bar. The scaled version of the hanging leg raise, and the one most people should be doing.

Heel Tap

Lying with knees bent, crunching side to side to tap each heel. Simple side-bending work for the obliques.

High Knees

Running on the spot driving the knees to hip height. A warm-up staple and a decent conditioning interval in its own right.

Hindu Push-up

A sweeping push-up that dives from a downward-dog position through to an upward arch. Pressing strength and shoulder mobility in one movement.

Hip Airplane

Balanced on one leg in a hinge, rotating the free hip open and closed. Trains hip rotation control, which almost nothing else in the gym does.

Hollow Body Hold

A held banana shape on your back with the lower back pressed flat. The gymnastics staple, and the position every other core exercise borrows from.

Hollow Rock

The hollow body hold, rocking back and forth. Adds a dynamic demand without letting the position break.

Jumping Jack

Jumping the feet out while the arms come overhead. The oldest warm-up in the book and still one of the best.

Knee Push-up

The push-up scaled to roughly half your bodyweight by dropping the knees, so you can build the pattern with full range instead of half-repping the full version.

L-Sit Hold

Supporting yourself on your hands with the legs held straight out in front, body making an L. Enormous demand on the abs, hip flexors and triceps together.

L-Sit Pull-up

A pull-up with the legs held straight out in front in an L. The core has to hold that shape while the back does the pulling.

Lateral Lunge

A lunge stepped out to the side. One of the few movements that loads the adductors and trains the legs in a sideways direction.

Lateral Shuffle

Shuffling sideways in an athletic stance. Conditioning in a direction almost nothing else in the gym trains.

Leg Swings

Swinging one leg front to back, and side to side, holding something for balance. Dynamic hip mobility to be done before training, not after.

Lying Hamstring Walkout

From a glute bridge, walking the heels out and back while holding the hips up. Loads the hamstrings without any equipment at all.

Negative Pull-up

Only the lowering half of a pull-up, jumped or stepped into at the top. The most effective way to build a first full pull-up.

Neutral-Grip Pull-up

A pull-up with the palms facing each other on parallel handles. The friendliest grip for most shoulders and elbows, and usually the strongest.

Nordic Hamstring Curl

Kneeling with the ankles pinned and lowering the torso to the floor under hamstring control. The best-evidenced exercise there is for preventing hamstring strains.

Pike Push-up

A push-up done with the hips high, which tips the pressing angle toward vertical and makes it a shoulder exercise. The bodyweight route to a handstand push-up.