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muscle and fitness has ranked the 10
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best exercises to get strong and I'm
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here to tell you are they right and I'm
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also going to give you my top 10 list
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without further Ado let's get stuck into
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it and let's talk about what actually is
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going to get you strong getting strong
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is about moving the most amount of
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weight using as much muscle as
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efficiently as possible that's my
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definition that's a universal definition
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when it comes to strength training and
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those are the parameters by which I'm
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going to be reviewing these exercises
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now the first on their list I assume
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that this isn't a top 10 this is just a
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10 there's not a 1 to 10 ranking the
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first one they've listed is the bench
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press now this is definitely a good lift
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it's good that it's a compound lift good
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that it's a barbell lift but the thing
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that I don't like about it is that
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you're supported by a bench so the total
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muscle mass that you're using is mostly
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limited to shoulders triceps and chest
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of course if you're a really good bench
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pressure you can get some back involved
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you get some legs involved but for the
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most part this is just going to be
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isolated to horizontal pushing movement
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I do like that it's a fundamental
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movements of fundamental movement
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pattern of life that's good I like that
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those are push pull uh hinge squats
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overhead press and carry but for me this
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just doesn't quite make my list the next
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one is a dip now this is also not on my
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list the good part about this though is
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it's easily performed and you can do
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this mostly anywhere the bad thing is if
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you're really strong setting this up
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becomes really impractical the shoulder
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range of motion required uh if you don't
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have it it's definitely High injury risk
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and all in all a body weight exercise is
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just hard to feel like that's what's
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truly going to get you the strongest
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I'll explain that more when I get to my
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top 10 list moving on to number three
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we're into the bread and butter now the
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deadlift the deadlift it's heavy it's a
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fundamental movement pattern something
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we all do every single day it's probably
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the exercise that you could lift the
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most weight in The Only Exception is
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highle powerlifters often squat more
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than they deadlift but this has to be
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either number one or number two on any
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reasonable person's list of the top 10
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best exercises to get strong now the
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only downside to this is deadlifting can
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be dangerous Robert obers is famously
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credited on Joe Rogan's podcast talking
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about doing deadlifts is something that
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people shouldn't do because the risk
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reward ratio is just not there well the
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risk reward ratio regardless of what it
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is I'm going to have to pick my bag up
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off the ground I'm going to have to help
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a friend move I'm going to have to move
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a couch whatever it is you have to be
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strong in a hinging pattern the best way
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to do that is to get into the most
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controlled environment possible into the
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easiest Implement to move possible learn
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good core bracing techniques and then
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learn how to deadlift properly that will
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make you safer for life more robust more
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resilience and ultimately stronger of
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course deadlift is on my top 10 another
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one on my top 10 I said this has to be
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number one or number two on everyone is
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the squats now again this is a heavy
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fundamental movement pattern and most
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people lose their independence when you
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can't sit down or stand up from a toilet
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so from Life great for performance
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whether you're a powerlifter and
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strongman is one of your excuse me
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squatting is one of your events or
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you're a strong man and squatting is
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going to contribute to other events I
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found this to be the foundation of
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strength across the board of course it's
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going to help with squatting events it's
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going to carry over to deadlifting it's
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going to help with your Atlas Stones
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it's going to help with any sort of
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triple extension whether that be
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overhead pressing or throwing uh it's
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going to help with moving events because
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if your legs are strong you're going to
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be able to move weight better it's also
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the best core exercise when they do
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intramuscular EMG studies uh that and
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deadlift again number one into two for
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core strain which by the way is not
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hindered if you wear a belt wear a belt
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push into that that actually increases
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core muscle activation thereby making
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your core stronger now the downside of
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squats is the technique must be learned
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it's not as simple for most people as a
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deadlift often times you can sort of get
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to a half Squad it's a bit awkward where
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do you put the bar on your back Etc uh
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but if you need any help with that I
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have 100% free guide I have in the
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description and in the pin comment for
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you to be able to get your squat into a
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good
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position next one they've put a step up
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this is number five stepup is probably
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the most confusing one on the list it's
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definitely great for hip strength for
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sure but you're going to use less than
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half of the weights when you go to a
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single single leg movement as you do in
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a full body movement so back to my
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criteria of I want to use as much muscle
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as efficiently as possible to move as
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much weight as I can and that's the
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definition getting strong well something
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like a step up is not really going to
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fit the bill because the weight is going
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to be so low it can be a great exercise
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to help focus on your hips but if we're
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going for overall total strength
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squatting is going to be better this is
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not to say there's no place for step-ups
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or split squats or anything great for
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correction great for specific hip
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strength but if we're looking for the 10
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best exercises to build overall strength
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I don't think step-ups should be on the
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list in number six we have the bent over
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row definitely an underrated movement
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for strength and something that I do
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have on my list with a slight variation
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the best part about this is of course
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you're moving the bar belt but a big
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part of maintaining a good bent over row
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focuses a lot on your spinal Erectors a
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lot on your core strength and a lot on
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your posterior chain your glutes
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hamstrings Cal to be able to hold that
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position while you're rowing the Barbo
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really really good now the only downside
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that I will Rectify in my top 10 list is
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a standard bent over row is limited by
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spinal erecto
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strength number seven we have pullup now
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pull-up and dip they're going to mostly
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fall into intellectually the same
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category for me uh it is the best
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overhead pulling option for sure which
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is not a fundamental movement pattern to
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me because there's never a time where
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you have to pull down from from over
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your head uh but it does help keep good
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healthy shoulders the issue though is a
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pullup is simply going to work your
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biceps your real dels your lats your
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your lower traps so it's great for
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shoulder health and great for those
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particular muscles but the total load
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that you could use is so much lower than
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in other movements that there are
00:06:22
probably other things that you could be
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better off doing now again I think this
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is the best overhead pulling motion
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it's also easy to cheat it's easy to do
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the thing where you you sort of pop your
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legs up all the way up to to Kipping
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pull-ups in in CrossFit uh now it's not
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on my top 10 list but it is my number
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one honorable mention and I think it's a
00:06:42
great exercise but if we're just purely
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going off the basis of getting strong
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it's not on my list in number eight we
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have military press or standing shoulder
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press this is great because it requires
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full body control a lot of core control
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great shoulder range of motion it will
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help to keep the shoulders healthy if
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you can perform a good clean military
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press uh now the bad thing is it can be
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a little bit dodgy if you're off balance
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if you lack the core strength if you
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lack the coordination it's also very
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easy when you're military pressing to
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get your elbows too far forward and so
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if you look from the side it almost
00:07:15
becomes a tricep extension off your
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shoulder which limits the overall
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strength you have to work on opening
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your thoracic vertebrae directing your
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eyes up to the ceiling and then press
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and come through after you've locked out
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I do like this exercise and and it is on
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my top 10 list as well in number nine
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not necessarily number nine but the nin
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ninth one that they've listed is the
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shrug good side of shrug if you use
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straps you could use very high loads the
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bad side of shrugs it's just a very very
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specific isolation movement it's not on
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my top 10 list for that reason all
00:07:51
you're doing is stressing your ability
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to elevate your SCA to raise your
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shoulders this isn't necessarily what I
00:07:59
would Define as what's going to help you
00:08:01
get strong purely strong and the last
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one they've put here is close grip bench
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press A variation of bench press it's
00:08:08
just going to be more tricep work it's a
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great exercise just like the bench press
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is a great exercise I don't see how this
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has to be listed as a separate entity to
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bench pressing the one miss misnomer
00:08:19
with closed grip bench press is that if
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normal bench is here anything closer
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than that is a close grip okay close
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grip as soon as you pass your shoulders
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as soon as you're in tighter than your
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shoulders this this is not a place you
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want to be in yeah you don't need to be
00:08:33
in the kangaroo uh pressing position you
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always want to be nice and outside your
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body elbows tucked great for the triceps
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but now we're getting even more isolated
00:08:42
than a bench press your back is
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supported total musculature used
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relatively low that is why it is not on
00:08:49
my list so what is my list what are the
00:08:53
10 exercises you should be doing if you
00:08:54
want to get strong let's get stuck into
00:08:57
it number one now this is not r ranked
00:08:59
in order although it was off the top of
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my head so the ones earlier listed are
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probably the most potent number one is
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squat I think this is great for
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performance across the board for any
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athlete for any individual and for any
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strong man squatting is something you
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need to be doing and a fundamental
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movement pattern of Life number two is
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deadlifting also included in the muscle
00:09:20
and fitness list you need to be
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deadlifting I don't care if you're
00:09:23
watching this video and you're 60 or
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you're 20 or you're 15 or 100 you need
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to be learning to pick things up off the
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ground in a safe manner whatever that
00:09:32
looks like for you now your Corb bration
00:09:34
needs to be correct your hip hinging
00:09:36
needs to be correct your programming
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needs to be correct there was a there's
00:09:39
a responsibility of getting in the gym
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and working hard and if you're not
00:09:43
responsible deadlift is one of them that
00:09:44
bring it out but it's not because the
00:09:46
dead is bad it's because your
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irresponsibility is getting
00:09:50
exploited number three is overhead press
00:09:53
now they call it military press I'm
00:09:55
saying overhead press this is a standing
00:09:57
overhead press I only differentiate that
00:10:00
I have no problem if it's a push press
00:10:02
or a strict press I think both are very
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efficacious and both will help you to
00:10:07
get strong again fundamental movement
00:10:09
pattern of life in number four it's
00:10:12
going to be my variation on what they
00:10:14
wanted to do with the shrug and it's
00:10:15
going to be a farmer's walk it's going
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to work your traps it's going to work
00:10:19
your grip strength it's going to work
00:10:21
your single leg strength and it's going
00:10:23
to work your core stability a much much
00:10:25
better alternative than just shrugging
00:10:27
alone so far armor walk is definitely on
00:10:30
my list now there's a couple in here
00:10:33
this is bias of course from the
00:10:35
strongman world but it's in the name
00:10:37
strong man we know how to get strong
00:10:40
what we do makes us the strongest man in
00:10:42
the world and made me the strongest man
00:10:44
in the world in
00:10:46
2023 uh number five I have yoke for
00:10:49
those who don't know a yoke is an
00:10:50
apparatus where you put it on your back
00:10:52
like a squat but then the objective is
00:10:54
to walk with it not to squat with it
00:10:56
great for core control great for hip
00:10:58
strength great for core stability and
00:11:00
for me something like a yoke is going to
00:11:02
work on your hips while building total
00:11:04
body strength much better than something
00:11:06
like the step up that muscle and fitness
00:11:08
proposed my next exercise is the leg
00:11:10
press there's no getting around that the
00:11:12
leg press is the absolute highest amount
00:11:15
of weight that you're going to be moving
00:11:16
in the gym most leg presses are 45
00:11:18
degrees so if you have a 45 degree leg
00:11:20
press and you're leg pressing 1,000 lbs
00:11:22
that's the equivalent of squatting 500
00:11:25
based on
00:11:26
trigonometry squatting 500 lbs for
00:11:28
someone who leg presses a th is going to
00:11:31
be a push it's also going to be limited
00:11:32
partially by technique by core strength
00:11:36
by stability on the leg press you can
00:11:38
just push and when it comes to getting
00:11:39
strong you want to learn how to push to
00:11:41
your maximum and you can do that on the
00:11:43
leg press in number seven this is my
00:11:46
variation of the bent over row it's the
00:11:48
penl row the difference here is that in
00:11:50
every rep the bar drops down to the
00:11:52
ground and you focus on the concentric
00:11:54
movement and let the bar fall all the
00:11:56
way to the ground you're doing a
00:11:57
deadlift up to your knee and then
00:11:59
carrying the momentum and pulling as
00:12:01
hard as you can up to your stomach the
00:12:03
finish position same as a bent over row
00:12:05
but start position is bar on the ground
00:12:07
the reason I like this like I said with
00:12:08
the bent over row is that it's not
00:12:10
predicated on your spinal erector
00:12:12
strength it's also going to be working
00:12:15
your rowing power and it's also going to
00:12:17
be reinforcing your deadlift position a
00:12:20
fundamental movement pattern that's why
00:12:21
I'm a big big fan of penl
00:12:24
Rose we got two strong n events left the
00:12:28
first one is the arm overarm sled
00:12:31
drag again little bit more Niche but
00:12:34
this is where you have a rope and we're
00:12:36
pulling and Gathering and pulling and
00:12:39
Gathering and for me in terms of
00:12:41
building pulling strength this is going
00:12:44
to be great upper body pulling strength
00:12:46
along with grip strength along with uh
00:12:48
what I'm going to call functional
00:12:49
strength which is a a buzzword that is
00:12:52
used far too often but simply could the
00:12:54
strength translate over to many other
00:12:56
things in the case of an arm overarm
00:12:58
sledg egg it AB absolutely could and it
00:13:00
covers us off on two fronts for pulling
00:13:02
towards you one with the penl row which
00:13:03
is cheating a little bit because it's
00:13:05
carrying momentum but this one much more
00:13:07
strict on overarm sledg egg also
00:13:09
building Anor robic capacity for you to
00:13:11
be able to do more work in all of your
00:13:13
other lifts because you're getting out
00:13:14
of breath because you're working very
00:13:16
hard for anywhere between 30 to 60
00:13:18
seconds and if that capacity Goes Up
00:13:20
Your Capacity to recover from everything
00:13:22
else will go up as well in number
00:13:25
nine you won't be able to do this at a
00:13:28
commercial gym but Atlas Stone I I
00:13:30
cannot have this LIF list without
00:13:31
mentioning Atlas Stones it's a deadlift
00:13:34
off of the ground a front squat and an
00:13:36
extension you have to squeeze this is
00:13:38
the in terms of total body strength this
00:13:41
is an incredibly good test of strength
00:13:44
the only downside is it's highly
00:13:46
variable and highly dependent on how
00:13:49
tall you are and how long your arms are
00:13:50
there's big advantages there but if
00:13:52
you're just a person looking to get
00:13:54
strong getting out there getting
00:13:55
yourself with stone getting that overall
00:13:58
bar that's going to be an incredible way
00:14:00
for you to build strength and rounding
00:14:03
out my list I have overhead press
00:14:04
standing overhead press in the list but
00:14:07
seated barbell shoulder press is my last
00:14:09
one working on strict upper body
00:14:13
strength we got the shoulders and the
00:14:14
chest involved we still have the core
00:14:16
involved because we're not just going to
00:14:17
be slouching back on the seat you you
00:14:20
definitely want to be on the seat but
00:14:21
there's going to be a lateral stability
00:14:23
component and it's a way that you can uh
00:14:26
remove the element of being able to
00:14:27
extend your back to and turn it into a
00:14:29
bench press like I famously do and and
00:14:32
work on that pure shoulder strength now
00:14:35
I would love to know your guys thoughts
00:14:37
please send off in the comments and if
00:14:38
you want a program written by me that's
00:14:40
in the description and in the pin
00:14:41
comments I would love to have you on
00:14:43
team moose as Lift Every be kind the
00:14:46
Shoppers in the channel appreciate you
00:14:47
guys if you haven't already go ahead and
00:14:49
subscribe and we will catch you tomorrow
00:14:55
[Music]
