7 Movement Patterns for Effective Training

There's a reason behind the training that we do— it’s purpose being proper muscular development and functionality for daily living. Check out the 7 effective movement patterns you should be hitting during every workout.

As humans, we’re primal creatures. For centuries we’ve moved in all planes and ranges of motion, intuitively maneuvering adaptation and evolution. From the beginning of time we’ve used 7 different movement patterns that build our body’s muscles, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and fascia, and we should continue to practice these patterns for optimal health. 

SQUAT –

A perfect exercise to build strength, mobility, power, and balance in the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, abdominals and lower back.

HOW TO SQUAT: Place feet about hip distance or slightly wider — whichever is most comfortable for you. Take a deep breath and relax your shoulders. Find a seated position sitting into your hips, then drive through your full foot to stand. Adjust accordingly. For the general public, you’d want to bring the hips about parallel to the knees. This ensures strength and muscle mass development, however, athletes performing squats below parallel like powerlifting, CrossFit, etc, will have greater glue activation, which provides better force production during sprints and jumps. 

Other squat variations —

• Basic Squat

• Split Squat

• Sumo Squat

HINGE –

Trains the posterior chain of the body (the backside) and the core muscles. Hinging regularly will improve one’s flexibility, strength, and balance in daily movements.

HINGE HOW TO (Deadlift): Bring feet about hip distance and find a comfortable standing position. Pull shoulders down and back, and you will feel your lats engage. Bend the knees slightly and begin pushing your hips back toward the wall behind you, all while maintaining a flat back. Drive your weight through both feet, and stand back into starting position. A great cue to hold a tight and engaged back: Pretend you have a $100 bill held between your shoulder blades — if you lose tension, you lose money. Keep it tight, get it right!

Other hinge variations —

• Hip Thrust

• Hip Bridge

• Forward Fold

LUNGE –

A unilateral movement that enhances strength, power, and muscle hypertrophy.

HOW TO LUNGE: Begin with feet together in a comfortable standing position. Step left leg back into a 90 degree angle — with majority loading in the front right leg. While your hips are loaded underneath the torso, drive the weight through the right foot, standing with a vertical torso. Bring your left foot to the original position, focus on evening repetitions on each side body.

Other lunge variations —

• Reverse Lunge

• Lateral Lunge

• Curtsy Lunge

PUSH –

This upper-body movement pattern focuses on all “push” muscles. Depending on the exercise, the pushing muscles include shoulders, chest, and triceps. 

Push variations —

• Pushup

• Shoulder Press

• Triceps Kickbacks

PULL –

This upper-body movement pattern focuses on all “pulling” muscles. Pulling movement patterns use the lats and biceps. There are different variations of the pull — vertical and horizontal. Vertical pulling patterns target the upper portion of the lats, while horizontal pulls target lower lats.

Pull variations —

• Rows

• Pull Ups

• Biceps Curls

ROTATION –

An often overlooked training pattern, rotation trains the entire core, hips, power, and stability. Rotational training transfers power from the lower to upper body, improving explosive movements like running, lifting, and boxing. 

Rotation variations —

• Woodchopper

• Rotational Ball Throws

• Boxing

GAIT/LOCOMOTION–

Gait is the pattern of limb movements during locomotion (walking). Walking & running involves balance and coordination of muscles, propelling the body forward in stride. We can train our gait through numerous exercises such as stabilizing training, stepping, leg lifting, hopping, etc.

Gait / Locomotion variations —

• SL Hops

• SLDL

• Goblet Marches

Now that we’ve covered all movement patterns to get you through an effective and efficient training– it’s time to build, baby! Below is a full body workout that’s definitely going to get you gains. Try it out!

TRI-SET (complete 3-4 rounds of specified reps. pick a challenging weight):

1. Sprints (30s)

2. Pushups (8-10)

3. Squats (12)

TRI-SET (complete 3-4 rounds of specified reps. pick a challenging weight):

1. Deadlifts (12)

2. Reverse Lunges (10e)

3. Bent Over Rows (12)

TRI-SET (complete 3-4 rounds of specified reps. pick a challenging weight):

1. Woodchoppers (8e)

2. Farmer’s Marches (12)

3. Biceps Curls (12)