I stumbled on a debate about if you could only pick one exercise then what would you pick? Most of the comments centred on squats & deadlifts with people arguing around which is best. To answer this question, you need to define what is the key criteria we are selecting for here.
If the exercise is the only one allowed for life then it would need to challenge your lower body greatly as this is far more important in playing sports & staying functional. I assume this is why most had chosen squats / deadlifts. However, these exercises are very limited in that they are simply two legs next to each other in a standing position. In the real world, life asks us to move around in all directions and body positions. The deadlift also has no variations that can be used to target the upper body pushing motions.
Another factor would be whether the average person could even learn the movement, many people suggested Olympic lifts but these are complicated skills to learn and most don’t have the flexibility to do them anyhow.
My Choice For Exercise
For me this was quite an easy answer, the ideal movement needs to heavily target the legs, it must be multi-directional yet simple enough for people learn quickly. Finally, there should be enough possible variations that you can target the upper body and allow for jumping. Have you guessed the exercise?
I decided to go for the 360′ lunge exercise. It is one of my favourites, I have used it for years with clients from younger to older. For a long time, the basic lunge has been correlated with quality of life and life expectancy so this exercise has that within it and yet more.
The multi-directional lunges (to the side, backwards, diagonally and forwards) trains the body to move in all movements planes. This is what is asked of you if you play tennis, most team sports or even chasing after your high energy toddler.
The 360′ lunge easily lends itself to a jump variation, which is good for sports and bone density as well as a version that could involve the upper body, such as a 1 or 2 armed shoulder press 360′ lunge. To increase the difficulty on the legs you can add extra weight through dumbbells or barbells. Your balance can be challenged by bringing your heels off the floor.
The good thing about the exercise is that it can be done by people with more challenging bodies that need to be regressed from the standard opening exercise. With various injured clients and some who are over 60, or 70 years old I have used a very shallow modified lunge. In this exercise they take a very short and shallow lunge into each of the movement directions.
What Does This Mean For You
Try this exercise out and see how it feels. Use whatever variation applies best to you and then keep doing it for a few weeks. If you are injured then start with the shallow version of the exercise and build gradually. If you are experienced then start easy to check your movement patterns then build up to the harder exercises.
VIDEO – The 360′ lunge –
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