By Miguel J. Ortiz
Way to often people build for overall strength and forget that it’s vital to remain functional in other aspects of movement. Now don’t get me wrong, being strong is great and should be a general goal for most, but what is all that strength worth if you, can’t touch your toes, have poor range of motion in your shoulders with an inability to reach fully overhead or you struggle to get up and down off the ground.
These are just a couple examples of how people will gain all this strength but struggle to apply it outside of the gym. I’m not saying building great overall strength is bad, because it is very good. However, there are a few components that want to work on that will assist in your strength and help general total body functionality. With that being said here are a few total body exercises that absolutely require strength, but will force you to slow down in order to develop quality balance, stability and coordination. These are needed for great total body function.
The first exercise we will cover is a Glute Bridge and One-Arm Overhead Reach. This exercise is great for glute activation, core stability and is wonderful for extending through the shoulder. This movement will provide great core strength and enhance shoulder stability. You’ll need to be able to roll some of your body weight onto each side as you reach overhead. Because of the constant seated positions – whether driving, working, looking at phones or being on your computer – the ability to open up the shoulder, hips and back is critical for posture. In addition, because so many strengthening exercises are in a sagittal plan, adding some rotation into movements is very beneficial to the spine.
The second exercise starts to turn up the strength, but in a unique way. It’s all about finesse throughout the movement. I introduce to you the Loaded Beast Wave Step Through. When it comes to coordination, we want to control every aspect of said movement which involves a level of strength. This exercise is great because you can slow it down and treat it as a general stretching and recovery move if you are sore from your training. You can turn up the speed and intensity by really moving through it to increase your heart rate adding an element of strength. Nonetheless this movement will challenge your core, hip and shoulder stability while also challenging those area’s ranges of motion, which is phenomenal for overall health and vitality.
The final movement requires a lot more patience, especially if your balance isn’t that great. I give you the Single Leg Touchdown with a Curl and Press. The name is a mouth full, but it puts your overall strength and balance to the ultimate test. When you think of function, having the ability to bend over or hinge from your hips and core comes into mind. Standing on one foot while in a balance position and getting a dumbbell over your head at the same time doesn’t make it any easier. This exercise is great because you don’t need a lot of weight to feel the strength that it requires. However, when you start to master the movement and increase the weight it challenges the strength and continues to make the stability and balance harder at various levels.
Have fun with these movements and remember to avoid getting stuck in a strength routine depending on your goal as functionality is key for longevity and vitality of health.
