What are you waiting for?
From the rarely performed to the rarely performed correctly, some of the most amazing exercises don’t get the credit (and attention) they deserve. Here, six leading fitness experts share the gym’s most underrated exercises — the ones you need to master for optimum results.
The Suitcase Carry
“People don’t think a lot is happening because you are just holding a dumbbell and walking,” says certified strength and conditioning specialist Tony Gentilcore, co-founder of Cressey Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts, and trainer to top-level athletes. “But there is so much happening during this exercise. To stay upright with each step, you have to fire muscles through your core, upper back, hips and legs. There’s no muscle that this exercise misses.”
How to do it
Grab a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand and hold it to your side like a suitcase, keeping your shoulders square, locked and upright. Do not lean. Walk a given distance, set the dumbbell down, switch hands and repeat in the opposite direction.
The Hamstring Curl
“There is a common belief that compound free-weight exercises like deadlifts fully train the hamstrings. But studies show that these exercises, which are initiated at the hip joint, work different parts of the hamstring compared to movements that are initiated at the knee joint,” says Nick Tumminello, owner of Performance University in Fort Lauderdale and author of “Strength Training for Fat Loss.” Put simply, you need both forms of hamstring activation. And the hamstring curl machine, whether seated or lying, should be your go-to knee-initiated movement.
How to do it
Adjust the machine to fit your height (your knee should be in line with the machine’s axis), brace your body firmly against the pads and without moving your upper legs or torso, curl your heels toward your butt. Once you’ve fully bent your knees, pause and slowly allow your legs to uncurl back to start.
The Hip Thrust
“Research shows that this rarely performed move activates the glutes to a greater degree than most lower body exercises,” says Brad Schoenfeld, assistant professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York and author of “Strong and Sculpted.” “It develops the body in a way that other exercises don’t, as it’s loaded from the horizontal plane rather than the vertical plane. It’s a great synergist to other glute exercises like the squat and deadlift.”
How to do it
Sit on the floor. With your upper back pressed firmly against a bench, your feet planted on the floor in front of you and your shins vertical, push through your heels and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips into the air. Once your torso becomes parallel to the floor, pause, then slowly lower your hips back to start. After mastering the basics, you can increase the intensity by performing the exercise on one leg or with a barbell or dumbbells across the front of your hips.
The Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
“This requires you to get off the ground from a lying position using hip, core and upper body strength,” says exercise scientist and San Diego-based fitness educator Pete McCall. “It uses a large amount of muscle, so it burns a lot of calories. And because it incorporates a number of discrete movements, it can really help improve mobility and flexibility.”
How to do it
Lie on your back with a kettlebell in your right hand and pressed over your shoulder. Your left arm should be extended to your side, resting on the floor, for balance. Bend your right knee so that your foot is flat on the floor, and extend your left leg straight out in front of you on the floor. From here, roll up onto your left forearm and then hand. Then, squeeze your glutes to lift your hips into the air. Sweep your left leg under your body so you’re down on one knee in a lunge, the bell still extended over your shoulder. Stand up, pause and then reverse the movement to return to start. Repeat on the opposite side. For more complete instructions, go to acefitness.org.
The Bicep Curl
A properly performed curl is about more than building biceps. It also trains the muscles of the shoulder joint to increase strength and stability and helps prevent all-too-common shoulder injuries, says kinesiologist and medical exercise specialist Dean Somerset, an Alberta-based certified strength and conditioning specialist. The key is to lock your shoulders and keep them completely stationary during every rep. “By training in that position, the bicep curl has great carryover into every other exercise in your routine,” he says.
How to do it
Stand tall with your feet about shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand. Hold dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing forward, elbows extended (but not locked out) and shoulders retracted and fixed in place. Engage your core and then slowly lift the weight to the front of your shoulder while keeping your elbow and shoulder stationary. Slowly lower back to start and then repeat on the opposite side.
The Pull-Up
Most people’s upper-body workouts involve one isolation exercise after another. But adding in upper-body compound movements is vital to building functional strength. “I’m a huge fan of pull-ups, as they require you to move your body in space in a way that is very applicable to other tasks,” says Dan Trink, co-owner of Fortitude Strength Club in New York City. “They are also a great indicator of upper body strength when done with good technique and can be easily adapted to any fitness level.”
How to do it
Step up to a pull-up bar or assisted pull-up machine (great for people working up to unassisted pull-ups) and grab the bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Brace your core, and pull your elbows down along your sides to raise your body up to the bar. When the bar reaches your collarbones, briefly pause and then slowly reverse the movement to return to start.
Rear Delt Fly
“This is a really important exercise that is very rarely performed,” Schoenfeld says. “The posterior delt is one of the most neglected muscles of the body. The muscles of the shoulder have a yin-and-yang relationship, so if one is underdeveloped, you create instability in the joint and increase the risk of injury. Plus, a developed posterior delt just looks good.”
How to do it
Grab a dumbbell in each hand, and stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Bend forward at the waist and slightly flex your knees so your arms hang below your knees. With your palms facing each other, maintain a slight bend in your elbows. Focus your eyes down and slightly in front of your body. From here, squeeze your shoulder blades together to raise the dumbbells until they are in line with your shoulders. Briefly pause, then slowly lower the dumbbells back to start. You can also perform this move lying flat on a bench, with a cable machine or using a pec deck machine.
One-Arm Kettlebell Shoulder Press
This underused exercise is more than just a regular ‘ol shoulder press. “A one-arm press involves the hips, obliques and lats as well as the deltoids, traps and rotator cuff muscles,” McCall says. “And because all of the force is in one limb, it requires a lot of stabilization from core muscles, helping improve strength in muscles responsible for strengthening the spine.”
How to do it
Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a kettlebell in one hand at your shoulder, palm facing your body. Squeezing your lats, glutes and core for stability, and making sure not to shift your weight or lean, press the bell to raise it overhead with a locked-out elbow. At the top, pause, and then slowly, under control, lower the bell back to your shoulder.
The Pushup
“Yes, the pushup is vastly underrated,” Gentilcore says. “People do them, but they don’t understand the power of doing them correctly. It’s incredibly rare to see someone, even professional athletes, do a pushup well.” Meanwhile, many people, guys especially, commonly skip bodyweight pushups for loaded bench presses — thinking they are more advanced. A correctly performed pushup, however, not just works the chest, arms and upper back, it develops the all-important core muscles for superior stability. “When I see people advance at properly performed pushups, I see pretty profound improvements in all of their other exercises,” he says.
How to do it
Get into a plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Squeeze all of your body’s muscles, including those of your core, to create tension and allow your body to move as one solid unit. Keeping that tension, and making sure your lower back doesn’t dip, bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor. When your chest just barely touches the floor, push through your hands and chest to return to start.
The Rowing Ergometer (aka Rowing Machine)
“In addition to training the muscles of the upper back and arms, the action of the rowing machine provides a great cardio workout without the stress on the knees and spine involved in many cardio exercises,” McCall says. “It’s often under-utilized. When other machines are busy, this one is usually empty.”
How to do it
Sit on the saddle, secure your feet on the pads and grab the handle using an overhand grip. Push through your feet and, while extending your knees (don’t completely lock them out), squeeze your shoulder blades and pull the handle to your torso, just below your chest. Keep your elbows in next to your sides, and lean backward just slightly as you complete the movement. Slowly reverse the movement to return to start, and immediately repeat.
More from U.S. News
7 Exercises You Can Do Now to Save Your Knees Later
9 Sports Injuries That Sideline Kids
How to Be the New Kid in Fitness Class
The 10 Most Underrated Exercises, According to Top Trainers originally appeared on usnews.com
