Exercise Library

Deficit Reverse Lunge

A reverse lunge stepping back off a raised platform, so the back knee travels below the front foot. More range, more glute.

Donkey Kick

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

Doorway Chest Stretch

Forearms on a door frame, stepping through to open the chest. The easiest way to undo a day at a desk before a pressing session.

Doorway Row

A bodyweight row gripping a door frame and leaning back. No equipment, and the only back exercise some people have access to.

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.

Dumbbell Curtsy Lunge

A curtsy lunge with dumbbells. The crossed step loads the upper and outer glute in a way a straight lunge does not.

Dumbbell Glute Bridge

A floor glute bridge with a dumbbell across the hips. The simplest way to load a bridge without a barbell.

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

A bench-supported hip thrust loaded with a dumbbell. Full hip thrust range without needing a barbell and pad.

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

A lateral lunge holding dumbbells. Loading it turns a mobility drill into genuine adductor and glute work.

Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension

One dumbbell lowered behind the head with both hands. The overhead position stretches the long head of the triceps, which pushdowns barely touch.

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift with dumbbells instead of a bar. The weights pass either side of your legs, so the stretch runs deeper than a barbell allows.

Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift

A wide-stance deadlift with a dumbbell held between the legs. More glute and adductor than a conventional pull, and easy to set up anywhere.

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.

Front-Foot Elevated Split Squat

A split squat with the front foot on a plate or step. The extra height gives a deeper hip stretch and biases the glute over the quad.

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.

Glute-Focused Back Extension

A back extension performed with a rounded upper back and tucked pelvis so the glutes, not the spinal erectors, do the extending.

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.

Half-Kneeling Pallof Press

A Pallof press from one knee. Taking the stance away means the core cannot borrow stability from your legs.

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.

Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat

A goblet squat with the heels on a small ramp or plates. Raising the heels lets you stay upright and squat deeper, which pushes the work onto the quads.

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.

Hiking

Walking on hills or trails, usually with a pack. Long, low-intensity work that builds an aerobic base without wrecking your legs.

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 Abduction Machine

The seated machine that pushes the knees apart against a stack. Direct work for the glute medius, which stabilises every step and squat you take.

Hip Adduction Machine

The seated machine that squeezes the knees together against a stack. Trains the adductors, which take a beating in every wide-stance squat and rarely get direct work.

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.

Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift

A Romanian deadlift holding one or two kettlebells. The lower hanging point makes the bottom of the hinge easier to feel than a barbell does.

Kettlebell Swing

A hip hinge driven hard enough to float a kettlebell up in front of you. Trains explosive hip extension and doubles as conditioning.

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.

Landmine Press

A press along the arc of a landmine bar, somewhere between an overhead press and an incline press. Kind to shoulders that do not like pressing straight overhead.

Landmine Romanian Deadlift

A hinge holding the end of a landmine bar. The arc keeps the weight tracking close to you, so it is forgiving on the lower back.

Landmine Squat

A front-loaded squat holding the end of a landmine bar at your chest. The bar's arc acts as a counterweight, so most people squat deeper and more upright than they can with a barbell.

Lat Pulldown

The vertical pull everyone starts with. A bar pulled to the chest against a stack, with the load dialled to whatever you can actually do for reps.

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 Curl

The hamstring curl machine. The only common exercise that trains the hamstrings by bending the knee rather than hinging the hip, which is why it belongs alongside your deadlifts.

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.