Exercise Library

Pistol Squat

A full single-leg squat with the other leg held straight out in front. Demands strength, balance and ankle mobility all at once.

Plank Jack

A plank with the feet jumping in and out like a jumping jack. Adds a conditioning demand to a hold that is otherwise static.

Plank Shoulder Tap

A high plank where you tap alternate shoulders. Taking a hand away forces the core to stop your hips rotating, which is what it is really for.

Prone T Raise

The same face-down raise with the arms straight out to the sides. Targets the mid traps and rear delts and pairs naturally with the Y raise.

Prone Y Raise

Lying face-down and lifting the arms overhead into a Y. Hits the lower traps, which almost nothing else in a normal programme touches.

Push-up Shoulder Tap

A push-up followed by a shoulder tap on each side. Pressing strength and anti-rotation work in the same rep.

Reverse Snow Angel

A face-down snow angel, sweeping the arms from the hips to overhead and back while keeping them off the floor. Works the whole upper back through a long arc.

Scapular Push-up

A push-up position where only the shoulder blades move, sliding together and apart with the elbows locked. Trains the serratus, and a good warm-up before pressing.

Seal Jack

A jumping jack with the arms clapping in front at chest height instead of overhead. Opens the chest and shoulders, and warms them before pressing.

Seated Forward Fold

Sitting with the legs straight and folding forward over them. A long, patient hamstring stretch for the end of a session.

Seated Knee Tuck

Balanced on your backside, extending and tucking the legs. Works the lower abs and asks you to hold a leaned-back torso the whole time.

Shrimp Squat

A single-leg squat holding your back foot behind you, lowering until the back knee touches. Harder than a skater squat and a step short of a pistol.

Side Plank Hip Dip

A side plank with the hip lowered toward the floor and lifted back up. Turns the hold into reps and loads the obliques through a range.

Side-Lying Hip Abduction

Lying on your side and lifting the top leg straight up. The simplest direct glute medius exercise, and a common prescription for cranky hips and knees.

Side-Lying Leg Raise

A side-lying raise taken through a slower, longer arc, often with a pause at the top. Popular as high-rep burnout work at the end of a leg session.

Single-Leg Calf Raise

A calf raise on one leg, ideally off a step for the full stretch. Doubles the load without touching a weight and shows up side-to-side differences.

Skater Hop

Bounding sideways from one foot to the other, landing on a single leg each time. Builds lateral power and the ability to absorb a landing.

Skater Squat

A single-leg squat where the back knee tracks down toward the floor behind you. A more forgiving route to single-leg strength than the pistol squat.

Sprawl

A burpee with the hips driven to the floor and the legs kicked wide, borrowed from wrestling. Faster and lower than a burpee, and just as unpleasant.

Squat Thrust

Hands down, feet kicked back to a plank and jumped in again, without standing up between reps. The engine of the burpee, trained on its own.

Superman Hold

The superman held for time rather than repped. Builds endurance in the spinal erectors, which is what they actually do all day.

Toe Touch

Legs held vertical, crunching up to reach for your toes. A short-range crunch that keeps the hip flexors out of it.

Torso Twists

Rotating the upper body side to side with the hips still. Loosens the mid back before pressing, rowing or anything overhead.

Typewriter Push-up

A wide push-up where you lower to one side, slide across to the other while staying low, and press up. Long time under tension and a serious stretch.

V-Up

Lying flat, then folding at the hips to bring straight arms and straight legs together above you. A sit-up and a leg raise in one rep.

Wall Handstand Push-up

A handstand push-up with your heels resting on a wall. The wall handles the balance so all that is left is the pressing.

Wall Push-up

The gentlest push-up there is - hands on a wall, body near upright. A starting point for beginners and a shoulder warm-up for everyone else.

Wall Sit

Sitting against a wall with nothing under you, held for time. No equipment, no skill, and the quads are on fire within a minute.

Wall Walk

Walking your feet up a wall from a plank into a near-handstand and back down. Builds overhead strength and the confidence to be upside down.

Weighted Chin-up

A chin-up with added weight. The underhand grip lets most people load this heavier than a pull-up, which makes it a genuine biceps builder.

Weighted Dip

A parallel bar dip with weight hanging from a belt. One of the heaviest pressing movements available without a bench.

Weighted Pull-up

A pull-up with extra weight on a dip belt. Where you go once bodyweight sets run past ten reps and stop building strength.

Weighted Push-up

A push-up with a plate or a weight vest on your back. Keeps push-ups a strength exercise once bodyweight sets get long.

Full body

Wall Push-Ups