Shannon’s 2 Favorite Exercises

In the health and fitness world we get asked the question “What is your favorite exercise?” a lot. This is a tough question to answer and I usually just go with the exercise that I have most recently performed and didn’t die doing. So I thought I would actually give it some thought and blog about it. 

Of course I couldn’t come up with just one exercise so I cheated, and came up with two - one strength/power exercise and one aerobic exercise. It will be no surprise that these two exercises are both highly functional in the sense that they mirror activities that need to be performed in everyday life. I often catch myself doing things at home that I can directly correlate to my training and think “I am so lucky that I have the strength and mobility to be able to perform ____ task.” Whether it be rearranging our first floor furniture, carrying Oakley’s massive bags of food from the car to the basement, working in the yard, or putting together a bunch of Rogue equipment (if you know, you know); I know I have the prerequisites to carry out these tasks without injuring myself. Both of my favorite exercises are also multi-joint movements that require precision and coordination. I chose these two movements because I wasn’t very proficient with them when I first started training, but through practice have seen a lot of improvement in my efficiency and just feel so much more confident doing them.

Without further ado my favorite strength/power exercise is a squat clean. If you are not familiar with this movement it comes from the Olympic lifting world and is the first phase of the clean and jerk. Essentially, it is lifting a weight from the ground and catching it at shoulder height while in a squat position and then standing it up. It combines elements of a deadlift and a front squat. It requires stability in the trunk and strength from the posterior chain during the first pull, upper body shrug strength and shoulder mobility in the second pull, and the mobility required for a full depth squat and strength in the legs and trunk to be able to stand it up. It requires the ability to be precise and patient, switch to explosive power, maintain balance in the catch position, and then overcome the mental hurdle of getting out of the bottom of a squat. It’s just great and few movements will make you feel as badass as squat cleans. 

My favorite aerobic exercise is burpees. If you are unfamiliar, this is basically getting on the ground on your stomach and then quickly getting back up again. How can you get more functional than that!? In the words of Stan White Jr, “Unless you are being carried out in a stretcher, you can’t fail a burpee. You will always stand back up again”.  I also love variations of burpees whether it be jumping to a plate, jumping over a barbell (laterally or forward facing), jumping over a box, adding a pull-up - all of it’s gold. It is an awesome cardiovascular challenge that can so easily be thrown into any workout. I think burpees should also be taught more in the rehab setting and with all ages. There are few things more rewarding than getting an 80+ year old on the floor and showing them that they can get back up again without any help. Just imagine the sense of independence you can gain from training this movement consistently throughout your lifespan.

I have done it, I have written down my two favorite exercises and given an explanation as to why. What are your favorite exercises and why? Let me know next time you see me. 

Shannon Hall, PT, DPT