Good old gym gravity, normally we would associate this with popping into a gym looking at all of the equipment and then choosing the one you know how to use and are most at home with.
Would it be fair to say that’s often the case, stick with what you know?
“If you only do what you can do, you’ll never be more than you are now.”
– Master Shifu
Yes, that is indeed a quote from Kung Fu Panda, I’ll consider myself judged.
The context is important, to acknowledge that we need to widen our skillset and challenge ourselves outside of our comfort zone.
Now, just before you head off and attempt to scale a mountain, let’s consider movement in general.
We walk, we sit, we stand, we will probably do all the same movements each day, so thinking on from last week, how do we add additional range and wiggle room to those movements?
Well, as if you didn’t see this coming, alternative movements can help!
Let’s take a little look at a couple of common movements that we could adapt.
Leg press, solid movement, targets the legs nicely:
- Dumbbell/Kettlebell squats
- Wide/narrow variations
- Trap bar deadlift/squats
- Bulgarian split squat
- Hack squat
- Cable/resistance band squats
Bench press, it has stood the test of time and is a staple of many people’s workouts:
- Dumbbell chest press
- Cable chest press
- Press-up variations
- Floor press
- Dips
- Cross body press
Having a variety of movements for our workouts can help us to keep consistency up, whilst also keeping the workout fresh.
Consistency is always key, but let’s not pretend that having some flexibility and change isn’t also needed.
Having lots of variations could look tricky on the face of it, making pairs or groups can help remove this, for example:
Leg workout 1
- Kettlebell squats 3 x 12
- Leg press 5 x 10
- Bulgarian split squats 3 x 10 (each leg)
Leg workout 2
- Trap bar squats 5 x 10
- Hack squats 3 x 8
- Wide leg press 4 x 12
The reps and sets would need to be tailored, however, this gives us a mix of equipment and a variety of positions, some are slightly more quad focused, some more glutes, and it also includes some single leg work to help with balance and stability.
Just using the 7 leg exercises above (not an exhaustive list) that’s a lot of combinations.
You may even find a new favourite exercise!
As always, Team SF are here to help, fancy adding a few alternative movements to your routine? contact us on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652