Keep your workout program minimalistic and simple by building around the only exercises you need to create the body you desire. Here’s how.

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Unless you’re new here, by now you should know that I prescribe to a minimalistic approach to your health and fitness.

We’ve overcomplicated much of this stuff.

Usually in hopes of seeing faster progress.

• Chasing low calorie diets to “speed up” fat loss
• Cranking out endless, grueling workouts because it “burns off calories faster” and stokes the metabolic fire (or some bullshit)
• Removing entire food groups from our diet
• Feeling guilty and restrictive and punishing yourself for eating something “bad” or for simply missing a workout

This is all flawed. Faster results do not come from these approaches.

In reality, the slow and steady path is actually the fastest way to victory.

Especially when it comes to getting in shape, looking good and feeling great.

While much of the time, I talk about this through the lens of nutrition, today we’re going to talk about how this applies to fitness.

Let’s apply the minimum effective dose to your fitness plan.

You’re going to learn:

• The six core movement patterns
• The only exercises you need to do that correspond to those movement patterns
• How to apply those exercises to your workout plan

And at the end of this article, you’ll get a sample workout that can be your base for long-term strength training success.

Let’s get into it.

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These six core movement patterns are the only exercises you need

When you’ve heard the phrase, “functional fitness,” it’s probably been followed by a bunch of crazy-looking exercises that have you balancing on a swiss ball while trying to curl a dumbbell.

I’d say that this is needless to say, but I’m guessing I still need to say it anyway … this is not “functional.”

At no time in your life is this shit going to help you.

You are much more efficient if you curl the dumbbell while standing and then practicing balancing techniques on an apparatus that does not have the potential to pop.

True story.

Fitness influencers love to take catch phrases and then run with them. Ignore those clowns. Stick to the basic fundamentals.

When we discuss the only exercises that you need to do in order to build that body you are looking for, look no further than these six basic movement patterns that the human body uses to function:

1. Push
2. Pull
3. Squat
4. Lunge
5. Hinge
6. Gait (Carry/Walking)

This is it.

Think about how you move throughout the day. You’ll start to see how the basic patterns come into play.

Bending over to pick up your kids’ toys off of the floor (hinge).

Placing a dish up in the cabinet (press).

Dipping down to look underneath the sink (squat).

Climbing stairs (there’s a bit of a lunging pattern here).

Picking up your kid and carrying her to bed (carrying and walking).

Opening a refrigerator door (pull).

In order to build true functional fitness, we’ll want to mimic those movement patterns and get stronger and more efficient while doing them.

How do we get stronger? Great question.

That comes from applying progressive overload.

There are numerous ways to progress and adapt your programming to increase the challenge for your body and encourage better fat burning.

Practice tougher movement variations –– For example: moving from a goblet squat to a back squat OR moving to a full push-up after performing the push-up on your knees.

Add more weight –– This is the most common pillar of improved strength. If you are adding more resistance to the barbell (or picking up heavier dumbbells or kettlebells), you are no doubt getting stronger.

Perform more reps or sets of a given exercise –– Let’s say you can perform eight goblet squats with a 45-pound dumbbell. If you can perform nine or 10 reps with that same weight, you are showing improved strength.

Reduce your rest time between sets or reps –– This one is more about intensity, but it is an under looked variable in strength training. Put down the phone and actually take a rest period for one minute (instead of three) and see how much tougher it is to move that weight in your next set.

Decrease your lifting tempo, increase the speed, length of interval or resistance on cardio sprint sessions –– Progressions come in many forms and this one includes how much time you spend practicing the toughest part of a movement. More time under tension means more stimulus to the muscle and more strength.

Improve the form on how you perform movements –– Better form is an indicator that you have more control of the weight. More control of the weight means you are getting stronger. If you’re struggling to move up in weight and/resistance, check your form. Make sure you’re hitting on all cylinders before trying to crank out more reps or higher weight.

Let’s put it all together now …

The only exercises you need to do that correspond to those movement patterns

A well-balanced workout program will emphasize these patterns of movement first and foremost. In doing so, all of your muscles will get some work.

When you couple that with a sound nutritional program based on the proper calorie and macronutrient profile, that’s when the physique awesome sauce magic happens.

As a result, the best strength training plans will provide variations on these movements:

• Push: bench press, push-ups, overhead press
• Pull: pull-ups, rows, pulldowns, bicep curls
• Hinge at the hips: deadlifts, kettlebell swings
• Squat: variations on the squat (front, goblet, back, air squats, etc)
• Lunge (or single-leg): variations on the lunge and single-leg deadlifts
• Carry: simply walking and/or variations on the weighted carry

Your workout doesn’t really need to be much fancier than this.

As long as you are hitting each major muscle group and movement pattern at least twice per week with an emphasis on getting stronger each workout, you’ll do just.

How to apply the only exercises you need to your actual workout plan

With that said, here are the most basic guidelines to get you started in the right direction:

Train 2-3 days per week.

Prioritize compound movements as the core of your workouts (squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, lunges, carries, etc.). Isolation exercises, like bicep curls are secondary.

Perform 3-6 exercises per workout.

Perform 3-6 sets per exercise.

Train in the 3-12 rep range for most compound exercises. Isolation or accessory work can sometimes benefit from higher rep schemes (15-20 or even more).

Take 60-120 seconds of rest in between exercises.

Be sure to factor in proper rest and recovery days every single week.

Add weight, reps or sets on a weekly to monthly basis.

Change either your exercises or the rep ranges you’re working at every 4 weeks.

Do not go to failure to prevent the risk of injury, but do push yourself on each rep. You should really be feeling it at the end of each set.

Make these tenants the constant focus of your fat loss exercise programming.

If you do, I can promise that if you couple your training with a solid and consistent weight loss nutritional profile and apply the old adage of consistency over perfection, you will see the long-lasting body transformation you’ve been hoping to achieve.

And now, as promised, you get the chance to grab your own workout program that includes these various movement patterns … you can grab that below.

Let me help you build the right plan utilizing the only exercises you need … 

Finding the right time and right workout plan can be incredibly overwhelming. But, I’m here to help you out.

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “the only exercises you need” and I’ll answer any questions you have about training.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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