The 6 foundational movement patterns you need to include in your strength training program

Last week, Kelly, one of my podcast listeners, asked me to take a look at her workout routine and give some general feedback. "I'd like to make sure I'm being as effective as possible with my time in the gym", she said.

When she showed me her 3-day-a-week workout plan, I noticed that the bulk of the exercises were isolation moves: biceps curls, triceps extension variations, leg extensions, pec flyes, leg curls, lateral raises, etc. While doing anything at the gym is better than nothing, this routine is far from effective, and will not work very well to build muscle and strength, or affect body composition.

Kelly needed to completely restructure her workout program, prioritizing compound lifts that involve multiple joints and multiple muscle groups. These compound movements are the ones that will lead to strength gain, muscle development, increased metabolic rate, improved bone density, and overall body composition changes.

Compound lifts are categorized into 6 movement patterns, each of which should be included in your training program.

Mastering these movement patterns improves functional fitness and builds skills required for more advanced exercises. Since they're compound movements, you'll be able to lift more weight, recruit more muscle fibres, and gain more strength compared to isolation movements.

These patterns are necessary for daily life, too! Everything from carrying groceries and picking up after your dog, to getting up from your office chair and reaching for an object on a high shelf, are based on these movement patterns.

Here are the 6 fundamental movement patterns:

Squat

Squatting involves lowering your body by bending your hips and knees, then returning to a standing position. It's required for activities like sitting or getting up from a chair, or getting in and out of a car. Proper squat mechanics enhance body control and prevent injuries.

Variations include: Bodyweight squat, goblet squat, barbell back squat, safety bar squat, sumo squat, resistance band squat, dumbbell front squat, landmine squat, Cossack squat, hack squat, pistol squat.

Pictured here: mini-band squat.

Hinge

The hinge involves bending at the hips with minimal knee movement. This engages the posterior chain muscles, including the glutes and hamstrings. This movement is essential for actions such as picking objects off the floor or lifting a suitcase.

Variations include: sumo deadlift, kickstand deadlift, trap bar deadlift, Romanian deadlift, rack pulls, kettlebell suitcase deadlift, Jefferson deadlift, banded hip hinges.

Pictured here: barbell deadlift.

Lunge

The lunge is a unilateral movement where one leg steps forward or backward, lowering your hips toward the ground. This pattern improves balance, mobility, and strength, crucial for actions like transitioning from sitting to standing.

Variations include: lateral lunge, reverse lunge, walking lunge, curtsy lunge, kettlebell racked lunge, front foot elevated reverse lunge.

Pictured here: resistance band reverse lunge.

Push (upper body)

Pushing movements involve pressing weight away from the body, engaging the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Daily examples include pushing a door open or placing items on a high shelf.

Variations include: push-ups, barbell overhead press, Arnold press, barbell bench press, dumbbell incline press, floor press, TRX chest press, kettlebell single arm overhead press.

Pictured here: resistance band chest press.

Pull (upper body)

Pulling actions draw weight toward the body, engaging the back and biceps. Daily examples include pulling down a garage door, pulling down windows or blinds, or dragging a chair across the floor.

Variations include: seated row, chin-ups, pull-ups, inverted rows (barbell or TRX), lat pulldown, bench-supported rows, muscle-ups, dumbbell bent-over rows, renegade rows, face pulls.

Pictured here: resistance band row.

Carry

Carrying involves holding weight while moving, engaging the core and enhancing grip strength. You perform this movement pattern when you're carrying groceries (all in one trip, right?) or a suitcase.

Variations include: kettlebell racked carry, suitcase carry, overhead carry, bottoms-up kettlebell carry, Zercher carry, trap bar carry, yoke carry, sandbag carry

Pictured here: farmer's walk.

Putting it all together

You don't need to do all 6 movement patterns in each workout. Just make sure you're training each movement at least once a week. When my coaching team and I create workouts for our clients, we include single-joint or isolation movements (like the exercises my podcast listener was focusing on) only once all the 6 foundational patterns have been accounted for. If a client strength trains twice a week, they're likely not doing any isolation movements. If someone strength trains 4 days a week, we usually include one or two isolation movements at the end of their workouts -- but the bulk of each training session is still compound, foundational movements.

Programming your workouts

Aim for 3-4 sets of each exercise, around 8-10 reps for each set. These sets should feel like a 7 or 8 out of 10 on a scale of perceived exertion, where 1 is sitting on the couch and 10 is absolute max effort.

If you strength train 2 or 3 days per week for 30-40 minutes, I wouldn't do any isolation exercises at all (e.g. lateral raises or triceps pulldowns). Focus all your training on compound movement patterns. If you're used to longer workouts (over 45 minutes), you could sneak in a few isolation exercises at the end of your sessions. For 2 days per week, train your full body each workout. For 3 days per week, I would do 3 full-body workouts, or one lower, one upper, and one full-body.

If you train 4 days per week, I'd alternate between upper body and lower body workouts, so you do two of each per week. As always, you'd focus the bulk of your training on compound lifts from the 6 fundamental movement patterns. If you've covered all the movements, you could throw in an isolation move or two at the end of each workout.

Short on time?

Choose 2-3 movement patterns and see how many rounds you can do in 10 minutes.

Sample workout programs

Three days per week of strength training:

Day 1

Barbell back squat 4 x 8-10 reps

Kickstand deadlift (kettlebell or dumbbell) 3 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell reverse lunge 3 x 10 reps

Dumbbell incline chest press 3 x 10 reps

Seated cable row 3 x 10 reps

Farmer's walk 3 x 30 sec (work your way up to holding half your body weight in each hand)

Day 2

Barbell deadlift 4 x 8-10 reps

Goblet squat 3 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell walking lunge 3 x 10 reps

Dumbbell or barbell overhead press 3 x 10 reps

Dumbbell row 3 x 10 reps

Suitcase carry 3 x 30 sec each side

Day 3

Barbell bench press 4 x 8-10 reps

Lat pulldown or seated cable row 3 x 10 reps

Reverse lunge to single leg deadlift 3 x 6-8 reps

Dumbbell overhead press 3 x 10 reps

Dumbbell or kettlebell sumo squat 3 x 10 reps

Kettlebell racked carry or farmer's walk 3 x 30 sec

Feel free to add an abs circuit after each workout, or on days off from lifting. Notice that these are only compound movements, and each workout covers all 6 foundational movement patterns.

Four days per week of strength training:

Day 1: upper body

Dumbbell incline chest press 4 x 10 reps

Seated cable row 4 x 10 reps

Dumbbell overhead press 4 x 10 reps

Farmer's walk 4 x 30 sec (work your way up to holding half your body weight in each hand)

Optional bi’s, tri’s, abs.

Day 2: lower body

Barbell back squat 4 x 8-10 reps

Kickstand deadlift (kettlebell or dumbbell) 4 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell reverse lunge 4 x 10 reps

Optional glute work + abs.

Day 3: upper body

Barbell bench press 4 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell or barbell overhead press 4 x 10 reps

Dumbbell row 4 x 10 reps

Suitcase carry 4 x 30 sec each side

Optional bi’s, tri’s, abs.

Day 4: lower body

Barbell deadlift 4 x 8-10 reps

Goblet squat 4 x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell walking lunge 4 x 10 reps

Bulgarian split squat 4 x 10 reps

Optional glute work + abs.

Questions?

I'm happy to connect with you any time! Questions about movement patterns or creating workouts? Existential concerns? Need vegan world domination tips? Send me a message!

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