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We’ve all seen them, articles proclaiming to have fitness figured out in seven exercises or less. These articles proclaim that amazing results can be achieved by following their simple workout routine. I was recently inspired by one such article: Is there one exercise that a beginner could do, and only do, to achieve “amazing” fitness results? I set out to discover if there was such an exercise.
I had initially thought of some kettlebell exercises since I personally have had success working with them. However, many people are intimidated by the kettlebell, or just flat out scared of them. It also can take a while to learn how to use the bell without smacking the back of your arms. I opted to eliminate them and other more “exotic” exercises and stick with the generic lifts. Here is what I came up with:
Clean & Press or Snatch
Thought Process: These were the first two exercises to pop into my head. These are both large muscle movements that incorporate the entire body. These two exercises give you a full body workout in one movement. The problem is these are both very complex movements. They have a lot of moving parts and bad form on either could lead to disaster. Also, both exercises require a certain amount of mental dedication to move the amount of weight necessary to get results. A beginner would be more likely to get hurt than to see results.
Verdict: No
Deadlift
Thought Process: After eliminating the clean & press and snatch, I thought back to their “father” exercise. I felt this would be the next best exercise. It is another large muscle, full body movement. But it also has the same problems as it’s “children”. It is too advanced a movement for a beginner to perform unsupervised. Throw in all the bad information out there about how to perform a deadlift and you once again have a recipe for injury.
Verdict: No
At this point I began to change my thinking. What would be simple? What could anyone do regardless of their exercise experience? I started to think simple.
Air Squats
Thought Process: Air squats seemed simple enough. They’d be easy enough to describe to a beginner and anyone can squat, right? Wrong. I immediately thought back to all of the overhead squat (a type of air squat) assessments I had done and how many people couldn’t hold the form. It is a much more complex exercise than given credit for.
Verdict: No
Lunges
Thought Process: If not a squat, how about a lunge? It is a little simpler than a squat, it’ll work large muscles, has an added benefit of working stability, and it is basically kneeling. Everyone knows how to kneel. Could there be any negatives? Well yes, yes there are. Lunges have one serious problem: sedentary people have a high risk of pulling their quads when doing lunges. I know of no other exercise that has such a high rate of muscle pulls. If someone pulls a muscle the first time they do an exercise, what are the chances they stick with it? The negative mental impact would be enough to deter a number of people.
Verdict: No
Plank
Thought Process: It doesn’t get any simpler than a plank. This is the basic of the basic exercises. It is simple, it engages large muscles, and anyone can do it. The plank is the answer… or not. The plank has a significant drawback: once you can hold plank for 60 seconds or more, the plank losses most of its value. And most people can reach 60 seconds rather quickly. Additionally, a person runs the risk of injuring their back if they don’t, or can’t, keep their back flat while holding plank.
Verdict: No
It was a fool’s errand. There is no single exercise that I could recommend to a beginner to get “amazing” results. All of the great, full-body exercises require coaching to perform properly and even the seemingly simple exercises have a hidden depth to them. The fact of the matter is that it is only through a combination of exercises and exercise progressions that a beginner can achieve results… amazing or otherwise.
-Nick
ACE-CPT, NASM-CES, PES