The key to any successful resistance training program lies in its well-roundedness. Basically, this means that it needs to train your entire body and incorporate all five basic movement patterns of resistance training.
Mastering these human movement patterns, and progressing them over time, will not only make you stronger and more muscular, but it will also act as a kind of insurance policy against everyday life injuries.
Quite literally, when you get better at the five basic movements—which can really only be done through resistance training—you will improve your general health, resilience, and overall quality of life.
After all, there are many movements you perform in everyday life that you can improve simply by focusing on these exercises.
Many things you do are a combination of one, two, or even more of these patterns without you realizing it. Examples include picking up something heavy from the ground, getting up from the couch, carrying groceries, putting luggage in the overhead compartment of a plane,…
Learn more about the amazing health benefits of resistance training here!
Below, I’ll explain these essential human movement patterns, along with providing numerous examples of exercises you can do, and how they may benefit you on a day-to-day basis.
5 Basic Movement Patterns of Resistance Training
There are a number of different ways to classify resistance training movement patterns. There’s no official classification system for these kinds of movements, though, and how they’re grouped together is usually up to the personal trainer or strength coach.
I’ve opted to separate them into five categories based on the main muscle groups they target. Most are compound exercises, too, meaning that they’ll hit multiple individual muscles in the same exercise.
Additionally, many of these movements will also dramatically improve your balance, mobility, and coordination, especially if you’re a beginner.
1. Squat
One of the most common resistance training exercises, the squat involves bending your hips and knees to lower your upper body, and then extending it back upward.
It’s a fantastic compound exercise that belongs in any resistance training program. In fact, if you’re able to do a squat properly and your program does not include some form of squatting, you probably need another program. It’s that important and effective.
Squats are also a movement you do on an (almost) daily basis. Just getting up from the couch is a form of a squat. Performing a squat correctly requires stability, coordination, and lower body strength and mobility, which will help you do everyday tasks more efficiently and safely.
Main Muscles Worked By Squat Exercises
- Quads
- Glutes
- Adductors
- Hamstrings
- Core muscles
- Lower back muscles
Common Squat Exercises
- Barbell back squat
- Barbell front squat
- Dumbbell front squat
- Box squat
- Goblet squat
- Hack squat
- Split squat
2. Hip Hinge
Hip hinging exercises perform another exceptionally beneficial movement pattern, which carries over to many aspects of day-to-day life. Oftentimes, bending over to pick up things from the floor, whether it’s a heavy bag of groceries, a child, or even a pet, is a form of a hip hinge.
A hip hinge involves your posterior chain, which includes major muscles along the back of your body, such as your hamstrings, glutes, and many back muscles.
Hip hinging is essential to overall strength and health. Getting better at hinging exercises, such as deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and good mornings, will lead to improved mobility, spinal strength, a strong back, and reduced risk of injuries from all kinds of things, both in and outside of the gym.
Main Muscles Worked By Hinge Exercises
- Hamstrings
- Glutes
- Spinal erectors
- Lats
- Traps
Common Hinge Exercises
- Deadlift
- Romanian deadlift
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Trap bar deadlift
- Good morning
- Hip thrust
- Kettlebell swing
3. Push
Pushing means extending your hands and arms away from your body. Push exercises involve three main muscle groups: your chest, triceps, and shoulder muscles. However, by adjusting the angle and the width of your grip, you’re able to focus a bit more on (certain parts of) each muscle.
There are two types of push exercises. A horizontal push—pushing something away from your chest—primarily targets your chest and triceps muscles, with some of your shoulder muscles involved as well.
On the other hand, during a vertical push or press—pushing something upward above your head—your shoulder muscles will be dominant, along with some triceps action.
Additionally, vertical push exercises, especially when done standing up, also activate your core muscles, which will help you stay balanced with the weight above your head.
Main Muscles Worked By Push Exercises
- Pecs
- Triceps
- Delts
Common Horizontal Push Exercises
- Barbell chest press
- Dumbbell chest press
- Close-grip barbell chest press
- Barbell incline chest press
- Dumbbell incline chest press
- Push-up
- Dumbbell fly
- Skullcrushers
Common Vertical Push Exercises
- Barbell shoulder press
- Dumbbell shoulder press
- Push press
- Arnold press
4. Pull
Pulling is the opposite of pushing. During pulling exercises, you bring a weight closer to your body. These exercises involve your back, biceps, and shoulder muscles, and are essential for overall upper body strength and aesthetics.
Like pushing exercises, pulling exercises are also divided into two categories. A horizontal pull movement brings a weight closer to your chest. It targets your traps, rhomboids, lats, rear delts, and biceps.
A vertical pull starts with your arms extended overhead and involves either pulling a weight downward (for example, lat pulldowns) or your own body upward (for example, pull-ups).
For both horizontal and vertical pulling movements, you can adjust the width of your grip and the position of your hands (palms facing out, facing each other, or facing inward), allowing you to target certain upper body parts more.
Main Muscles Worked By Pull Exercises
- Lats
- Traps
- Rhomboids
- Biceps
- Delts
Common Horizontal Pull Exercises
- Bent-over barbell row
- Single-arm bent-over dumbbell row
- Seated cable row
- T-bar row
- Face pull
Common Vertical Pull Exercises
- Lat pulldown
- Pull-up
- Chin-up
- Inverted row
5. Rotation / Anti-Rotation
The fifth basic human movement pattern is rotation. Rotational exercises are essential to developing core strength, balance, and stability.
They’re also very important for improving overall sports performance, whether it’s playing soccer, tennis, basketball, throwing, running, or virtually any other full-body sport.
Involving the rotation of your torso, this is a movement pattern that you perform countless times every single day. Therefore, building and maintaining core strength and balance is crucial to your long-term mobility, quality of life when your older, and reducing your risk of falling and getting injured.
Rotation exercises involve some form or rotational movement, whether it’s turning your torso while keeping your lower body fixed, or vice versa. Excellent examples are cable woodchops, Russian twists, and medicine ball rotational throws.
The counterpart of rotational exercises are anti-rotational exercises, which should be used as a complement to one another.
These exercises require you to keep your body braced and fixed, while an outside force tries to turn it, essentially resisting rotation. Examples include Pallof presses, side planks, and kettlebell around-the-body passes.
Main Muscles Worked By Rotation and Anti-Rotation Exercises
- Abs
- Obliques
- Core muscles
- Hip and shoulder muscles
Common Rotation Exercises
- Cable woodchops
- Dumbbell woodchops
- Russian twists
- Medicine ball rotational throw
- Lying windshield wiper
- Bicycle kicks
Anti-Rotation Exercises
- Pallof press
- Side plank
- Pull-through plank
- Kettlebell windmill
- Kettlebell around-the-body pass
- Bird dog
When incorporating all five of these basic movement patterns of resistance training, you’ll have a phenomenal basis for a successful fitness program.
Again, all of these movements are important for overall strength and health, and they should be trained on a regular basis—at the very least once a week.
