Fundamental Movements

January marks the advent of a new season – one of resolutions.  For many looking to be more health-minded in the upcoming year, the motivation to go to the gym is strong at first, but tapers as the first weeks of January slip by, before dropping entirely by the end of the month.  If your goal is to hit the gym, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start; after all, everyone knows at least some exercises.  Planning an effective gym routine does not have to be complicated.  Rather, all exercises can be broken down into six categories called fundamental movements.

When people start out, they often look for the most complicated exercise plan they can come up with or have provided to them. Many online coaches and influencers are more than happy to fulfil that need for them.  For the vast majority of people exercising, however, the simplest route is best.  Structuring workouts using the six fundamental movements will (far more often than not) provide the desired results.  A mix of the six principles ensures that all muscle groups in the body are targeted while remaining simple enough for even the most absolute beginner to confidently follow.  These decidedly unsexy, yet effective, exercises come down to efficiency: minimal complexity allows you to achieve maximum results.

All exercises fall into two overarching focuses: upper body exercises and lower body exercises.  Upper body exercise focuses on the direction in which the shoulder blades move during an exercise.  These include: horizontal push, horizontal pull, vertical push, and vertical pull.  Lower body exercises (quad-dominant vs. hamstring-dominant exercises) centre on hip movement. 

Well-executed exercises follow a loose set of “laws”, known as the fundamental laws of movement.  As a quick summary, the fundamental laws of movement include:

• riding the midline (not overextending in any direction and avoiding extremes in exercise)
• joint stacking (hips over knees over ankles; weight, wrist, and elbows in line for upper body exercises)
• stabilizing the lower body complex by rooting through the foot (activating the muscles in the arch by “grabbing” with the foot and engaging glutes by “twisting” laterally outward.
• Bracing the pelvis, lumbar, and thoracic spine, by using a combination of breathing and tightening the abdominal muscles while pushing outward to create a protective sheath around the midsection.

Upper Body

Upper body exercises can be simplified by focusing your attention on how the shoulder blade moves.  When the shoulder blades are in the right position, the rest of the body will naturally fall in line.  When it comes to exercising, efficiency is where to focus the least amount of effort for maximum results.  If, for example, you focus the bulk of your attention on hand placement or biceps instead of your shoulders, there is the risk that the shoulder blades will not move in the direction you need them to.  As a result, you end up expending more energy for less or no result, or potentially risk injury.  These principles can be best explained through breaking down some key movements. 

Horizontal Push

Horizontal push exercises predominantly work the chest and triceps by either pushing something away from us or pushing ourselves away from the ground in a horizontal plane.  Examples of horizontal push exercises are push ups, bench presses, chest presses, and single-arm presses with kettlebells or dumbbells.

Case Study: Push-up

• Focus on shoulder blade movement: shoulders moving backward (toward each other) on the way down, moving forward (apart) on the way up.  Movement is lateral.
• Step 1: Elbows are approximately* at a 45° angle to the body (*being off by a few degrees is okay as it still ensures that you are adhering to the first law)
  • Starting from the bottom of a push-up makes it easier to figure out where 45° is relative to the torso.  It also has the added benefit of keeping hands and wrists stacked directly below elbows
• All parts of the body must move as one in a push-up: squeeze glutes and brace core
  • This eliminates the possibility of the back arching or caving during the push-up
• Next step is thoracic extension – keeping the pelvis stabilized and the lumbar spine braced means that the thoracic spine is the only part that can move.
• Step 2: Bring chest out to meet the floor – cue is “chest proud” or “collarbone out”
• Step 3: Push the floor away from you

Horizontal Pull

Horizontal pull exercises are the exact opposite of horizontal push exercises.  Understanding which exercises work opposite sides of the body will come into play when structuring future workouts.  As the name suggests, horizontal pulls involve pulling something toward us in a horizontal plane, working all of the musculature of the upper back, as well as the biceps.  Examples of horizontal pull exercises are rows (cable rows, barbell rows, one-arm supported rows, etc.).  The key point of the exercise is to bend over (so as to make the torso parallel to the floor) and pull something toward the body.

Case Study: Barbell Row

• Step 1: Bar starts over the middle of the foot.  Shoulders move back (toward each other) as object is being pulled back toward body
• Step 2: Hands should be roughly shoulder width apart (a little closer or further apart is not a make or break, as it rides the midline)
• Step 3: Root with the feet (grab and twist), stabilize the pelvis, brace the midsection, and perform a thoracic extension
• Step 4: Slightly bend the knees and shoot the hips back to get into a hinge position.  Shoulders should remain over toes
• Step 5: Bar starts at kneecap. Drive elbows and shoulders backwards (think of elbows back and around as a cue).  Bar path should be toward belly button (a little above or below is fine as it rides the midline)
• Be careful not to drive the elbows too far back as that wings the shoulder blade (pushes the front upper arm bone too far forward)

Vertical Push

Where the horizontal push centers on pushing a weight or the ground away from the body in a horizontal plane, the vertical push focuses on pushing up in a vertical plane, predominantly working the shoulders and triceps.  Examples of vertical push exercises are the overhead press, push press, military press, shoulder press, and the landmine press.  Each of these exercises involve pushing weight upwards away from the body.

Case Study: Overhead Press

• Shoulders and triceps are muscles predominantly used during this exercise
• Focus on shoulder blades moving up and down
• Grip bar just outside of the shoulders (to keep it consistent, grip one thumb-length away from the centred, smooth portion of the bar)
• Bar does not come any lower than the collarbone (this keeps the chest high and prevents the shoulders from rolling forward)
• Elbows slightly in front of the bar to keep the bar close to the collarbone
• Eyes up at 45°, keeps head/chin out of the bar path
• Root through the feet, brace core, squeeze glutes (prevents overextension of lower back)
• Press up and overhead
• Bar is locked out directly overhead
  • If bar is too far forward or back, will feel pulling in either direction
• Coming down:
  • Fold elbows in front to keep elbows in front of the bar
  • Head tilts back 45°
• Bar must be as close to the head as possible and the lower body must be as tight as possible to properly execute movement without risk of injury

Vertical Pull

     Wrapping up the series of upper body movements is the vertical pull. The vertical pull is the opposite of a vertical push, meaning that you are pulling a weight down toward the body in a controlled descent.  Where the vertical push works the shoulders and triceps, the vertical pull works lats and biceps.  Examples of the vertical push are pull-ups, lat pull-downs, and kneeling pull-downs.

Case Study: Pull Up

• Pulling ourselves up in the vertical plane or pulling something down toward you in the vertical plane
• Fundamental Law 3 (rooting) does not factor in when pulling self up through vertical plane; however, if pulling down toward you, must root through the foot, ankle, knee, and hip
• Shoulder blade movement will be up and down
  • Predominant muscle used is lats, with some bicep involvement
• Grip is an integral part of the exercise
• Step 1: Position hands just outside shoulder-width
• Step 2: Grip the bar
• Do not over-grip bar
  • This messes with joint stacking and does not put shoulders in an optimal position to pull
  • Hands must not be positioned over the bar (see Zeke’s demonstration with marker at 35:01)
  • If hands are positioned this way, wrists will twist under body weight
  • Minor problem – callus buildup from how skin is rubbed against the bar
  • Bar should be positioned along base of fingertips where calluses naturally form, this allows the wrist to be straight and for the hand to be in its strongest position
• Step 3: Hang
  • Brace abs and squeeze glutes, creating tension throughout the trunk and lower body
  • Prevents over-arching in lower back when pulling up
  • Also stops body from swinging during the exercise
  • Head tilted back at 45°, which helps the lats to naturally engage and ensures that the bar does not hit your face lol
• Step 4: Pull up
  • Do not think about pulling up – instead, think about driving elbows down into your body toward the ground
  • This engages the lats the best
  • Keep thoracic extension in mind, chest should come up as though to meet the bar.  This similarly helps to keep the shoulders down so as to put the lats in a prime position to work
  • Stop once the bar gets between your eyes and chin
    • Any lower and the shoulders will round and the lats will disengage
• Step 5: Pull down
  • Do not drop with gravity. This will lead to injury.
  • Slowly lower your body with intention, keeping your glutes squeezed and the trunk braced

This brings us to the lower body exercise categories.  There are two categories of lower body exercises that can be distinguished by the directionality of the movement of the hips: quad dominant exercises and hamstring dominant exercises.  In these exercise patterns, the hips will either move up and down or back and forth.  All four laws of movement come into play with both types of lower body exercises.

Quad Dominant

Quad dominant exercises, like squats and lunges, predominantly use quads and glutes.  In this pattern, the hips travel vertically up and down.  Weight is evenly distributed between both feet and pressure is centred on the midfoot.  When ascending in a quad dominant exercise, fight the temptation to drive through the heels, which engages the hamstrings.  Pressure should be applied through the middle of the foot in order to properly engage quads and glutes.

Case Study: Goblet Squat

• Step 1: Position feet shoulder-width apart (ignore for single leg exercises)
• Step 2: Root with the feet (grab and twist with the feet to tighten the bottom of the foot and create tension in the sides of the glutes) and brace with abs. TIP: the most comfortable way to hold the kettlebell is upside down with the handle in the middle.  This allows you to cup the bell in your hands on either side without placing too much pressure on the wrists. Sit the bell on your chest to further take the weight off your hands and wrists.  Proper positioning of the kettlebell will allow you to squat more weight when arm strength is a limiting factor.
  • Tension in the glute will determine how low you can safely squat
• Step 3: Squat. As you descend into the squat, think about keeping your groin open and hips back, which keeps the knees open the optimal amount without overextension.  Keeping your hips back prevents weight from shifting to the toes, maintaining it on the midfoot.  Go down as low as you can without losing glute tension (this will be different for everyone). When you feel “stuck”, you have reached your end range of motion.  If you are having trouble finding the end range of motion, you can actually work backwards. Start from the lowest, relaxed position, then root through your feet – this will create tension that makes the body pop up into the lowest position you can sit in a squat.
• Step 4: Push through the middle of the foot to come back up. Squeeze glutes at the top. Do not tilt the pelvis forward during glute squeeze. This will round lumbar spine – the reason why brace and root are integral to the exercise

A note on torso lean: some people can keep the same angle on the descent and ascent of the exercise, not everyone can. Some torso lean is acceptable and safe.  As long as steps 1-4 are followed properly, the torso will go where it needs to.

Hamstring Dominant

Hamstring dominant exercises are hip dominant movements.  The hips move horizontally back and forth.  Just as with quad dominant examples, the four laws of movements are going to be key.

Case Study: Hip Hinge

• Step 1: Position feet hip-width apart, placing 60% of weight in the heel and 40% on the toe. Toes should not lift off the ground
• Step 2: Root through feet and brace trunk
• Step 3: Descend, keeping groin open and shooting hips back behind you (think of closing a car door with your butt).  How far you descend will vary from person to person. Focus on achieving an 8/10 stretch on the lower thigh towards the back of the knee. An 8/10 stretch is a good indicator of your end range of motion.
• Step 4: Drive feet into ground and squeeze glutes to bring hips forward
  • Maintain root and brace to prevent tucking of pelvis
• Bar should be as close to the legs as possible. Think about shaving your legs with the bar

The fundamental laws of movement are a guideline for how to approach exercise confidently and safely.  Keeping the laws in mind will help to mitigate the risk of injury and set the stage for more powerful and stable lifts and ensure that you will reap the most benefits from your exercise programming.  With a proper foundational knowledge, even the most absolute beginner has the tools they need for success in their fitness journey.

For more info, please check our Fundamental Movements video on our YouTube channel:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/S76o1NFQCZs

Part 2: https://youtu.be/8l_57TDbyRE