With today’s blog post, we want to trim all the fat and tell you what you should be focusing on with your training this offseason.

When it comes to developing training programs, we always use the same foundation for the movements we want to train. Our training blocks might focus on different things, like muscle development, strength, mobility, and power, but they all have five staple movements on each training day – Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat, and Carry exercises.

The concept of Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat, Carry originated from Dan John, the king of simplicity in the field of strength & conditioning. This is how we’ve trained both ourselves and clients with fantastic results, and will continue to do so as time goes on.

So, what exactly does Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat, Carry consist of? Well, exactly what it sounds like.

Push – a push exercise is any movement where you’re using your upper body to push a resistance away from you. Examples of push exercises include Push-Ups, and Bench Press variations.

Pull – a pull exercise is any movement where you’re using your upper body to pull a resistance towards you. Examples of pull exercises include TRX Rows, and Pull-Up variations.

Hinge – a hinge exercise is a movement where you’re moving your hips are bending (hip flexion) while minimizing the amount your knees bend (knee flexion). These are posterior chain-focused exercises, that help strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and back. Examples of hinge exercises include Kettlebell Swings, and Deadlift Variations.

Squat – as the name suggests, a squat exercise is a squat variation. This can be a two-leg or single-leg squat. Examples of squat exercises include Barbell Front Squats, and Dumbbell Split Squats.

Carry – a carry exercise is a movement where you’re walking while holding weights, hence the name. Loaded carries are excellent ways to develop hip, core, and grip, and overall strength. Examples of carry exercises include Farmers Walks and Kettlebell Rack Carries.

We stack these five movements with mobility training and that’s how we formulate our programs. Seriously. Our objective is to have our clients “be brilliant at the basics”, a quote we’ve stolen a million times from Dewey Nielsen. The more efficient you get with the fundamentals of movement, the better off you’ll be in the long run.