Think of this as your adventure tool box: We’ve got the strength moves you need for peak performance, from core training to flexibility building to explosive power drills. Ramp up your fitness plan with these six workouts, guaranteed to get you buff—and ready to play outside.
Flexibility
Full-body stretches for maximum mobility
Classic Strength
Dumbbell, barbell, and machine work for large muscle groups
Explosive Power
Superhero moves: squats, deadlifts, and box jumps
Eccentric Strength
Efficient mobility-building through innovative exercises
Integrated Strength
Real-world moves focusing on the stabilizer muscles
CORE STRENGTH
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Cable Wood-Chop 1. Stand with your left shoulder facing a weight-machine cable. Positioning the handle up high, grab with both hands. |
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2. With knees slightly bent, pull down from upper left to lower right in one controlled movement. Keep your leading arm straight throughout the motion to focus the work on your core. After completing a set, switch sides and repeat. |
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Straight-Arm Lat Pull-Downs 1. Stand either away from or facing a cable-machine lat station. With your arms straight, knees slightly bent, grab both ends of the bar and hold it about head high in front of you. |
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2. Engage your abdominal muscles and without tipping forward push the bar down in a vertical plane with straight arms until it reaches your legs. Then slowly release the bar back upward, keeping your arms straight. |
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Russian Twists with Stability Ball 1. Rest your upper back, shoulders, and head on a stability ball, with your hips parallel to the floor. Grasp a medicine ball in both hands with your arms straight out above you. |
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2. Rotate your trunk from the center to the right, back to center, then to the left, so the stability ball rolls beneath you. Do it swiftly enough that you roll onto your shoulder on each side. Don’t let your hips drop. Try to keep your chest, hips, and knees in a straight line. |
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Resisted Stability-Ball Crunches 1. Lie with your back draped over a stability ball. Let your head relax toward the floor and anchor your feet under a fixed object. Hold a medicine ball under your chin. |
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2. Keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth, (to activate the neck flexors) curl forward just far enough to tighten your abs; then slowly let your self back down. |
FLEXIBILITY
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Glutes (Active) 1. Lie on your back with your arms at your sides and knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Place your right ankle across your left knee. 2. Lift your left leg until it’s at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Now rotate the left leg in ten slow, small circles. Repeat with left ankle on right knee. |
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Glutes (Passive) 1. Lie on your back with your arms at your sides and knees bent, feet flat on the floor. 2. Grab your left leg behind the knee (keep the right foot on the floor), pull the knee toward your chest, and hold for 20 seconds. Repeat with other leg. |
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Hamstrings (Active) 1. Lie on your back with legs slightly bent, feet flat on the floor. 2. Lift your right leg toward your head as far as you can while keeping the leg straight and the heel flexed. Lower and repeat with the left leg. |
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Hamstrings (Passive) 1. Lie on your back with legs slightly bent, feet flat on the floor. Lift your right leg and grab it behind the knee. 2. Keeping your right leg straight, pull it toward your chest and hold for 20 seconds. Lower leg to the floor. Repeat with left leg. |
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Back (Active) 1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Roll your shoulders forward, round your back, and reach out as if you’re going to hug a tree. 2. In the same motion, bring your arms slowly back to your sides. |
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Back (Passive) 1. Stand like a rag doll, letting your shoulders, arms, and head roll forward. Focus on fully relaxing your upper back and shoulders. Breathe deeply ten times. |
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Hip Flexors (Active) 1. While standing, extend one leg in the air behind you as far as possible by contracting your glutes (not your hamstrings). 2. Keep the other leg, your torso, and head straight and upright. Switch legs and repeat. |
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Hip Flexors (Passive) 1. Step into a lunge. 2. Keeping your torso and head straight and upright, straighten the rear leg and hold for 20 seconds. Switch legs and repeat. |
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Quads (Active) 1. Stand and lift one heel toward your rear, while stabilizing yourself on a chair. 2. Don’t tip forward, and keep your standing leg, torso, and head straight and upright. Switch legs and repeat. |
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Quads (Passive) 1. Standing upright, lift one heel toward your rear and grab your foot. 2. Pull it toward your rear and hold for 20 seconds. Switch legs and repeat. |
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Abdominals (Active) 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Place your palms on the small of your back. 2. Push your hips forward while slowly arching backwards as far as you can. |
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Abdominals (Passive) 1. Lie back on a stability ball, lace your fingers behind your head, and plant your feet on the floor. 2. Let your head and shoulders drape over the ball. Hold for ten breaths then slowly pull yourself upright. |
CLASSIC STRENGTH
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Bench Press 1. Grip a barbell with your hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Lower the bar to the center of your chest with your upper arms moving out to the sides, touching your chest lightly. |
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2. Press the bar back up, without locking your elbows at the top. |
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Incline Bench Press 1. Lie on an incline bench with your feet flat on the floor and a small arch in your back. Grab the bar with hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart, and lower the bar to your upper chest, touching it lightly. |
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2. Press the bar back up, but don’t lock your elbows out at the top of the lift. |
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Dumbbell Chest Flies 1. Lie back on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your arms slightly bent, lower the dumbbells down and out to your sides. Your arms should stay perpendicular to your torso, and don’t allow them to dip lower than parallel to the floor. |
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2. Now raise the dumbbells directly over your shoulder joint, in the same arc with which you lowered them. Keep your palms facing each other, and don’t lock your elbows. |
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Military Press 1. Sit in a chair with a back support at a slightly reclined angle. Grip a barbell so that your forearms are perpendicular to the bar, just in front of your chin. |
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2. Lift the bar directly overhead, and then lower it back down to your chin. |
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Dumbbell Raises (Lateral) 1. Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, grab two light dumbbells in each hand, palms facing each other, and hold them at your sides, just off your thighs. |
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2. Slowly raise the dumbbells until you’re making a cross with your arms and body. Slowly return the dumbbells to the start position. |
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Dumbbell Raises (Front) 1. Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, grab two light dumbbells in each hand, palms facing your body, holding the dumbbells just off your thighs. |
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2. Slowly raise the dumbbells out in front of you until they’re shoulder high; return them to the start position. |
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Cable Press-Downs 1. Attach a pushdown bar to an overhead cable pulley. With a slight bend in your knees, stand facing the cable machine with your feet shoulder-width apart. Grip the bar with your hands close together, palms facing down, your elbows held at roughly 90-degree angles. |
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2. Push the bar down toward the floor until your elbows are straight and held close to your torso. Return the bar to the start position and repeat. Keep your back straight throughout. |
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Dips 1. Grip a set of parallel bars with palms facing each other. Lower your body until your shoulders are slightly lower than your elbows, making sure not to let your elbows splay to the sides. |
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2. Using your arms, press yourself up—arms extended, torso straight and upright. Don’t hunch your shoulders and don’t let your elbows lock out at the top of the lift. |
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Seated Cable-Row 1. Keeping your back straight, lean forward and grasp the handle with both hands. Your legs should be bent throughout the exercise. |
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2. Pull the handle into your stomach, maintaining a straight back throughout and keeping your elbows close to your torso. Return the handle to the start position. |
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Lat Pull-Down (Overhand) 1. Sit at a lat pull-down station and adjust the pad so that it rests on your legs just above your knees. Grab either end of the bar, palms facing away from you, arms fully extended. |
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2. Pull the bar down in front of your face until it’s below your chin, while keeping your back upright and straight. Slowly return the bar to the start position. |
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Lat Pull-Down (Underhand) 1. Sit at a lat pull-down station and adjust the pad so that it rests on your legs just above your knees. Grab the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing your body, arms fully extended. |
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2. Pull the bar down in front of your face until it’s below your chin, while keeping your back upright and straight. Slowly return the bar to the start position. |
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Standing Straight-Bar Curls 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, with a slight bend in your knees, holding a barbell at thigh-level with your hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing out. |
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2. Curl the barbell up to your chest, keeping your elbows against your sides throughout the lift. Slowly lower the barbell back to the start position. |
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Dumbbell Hammer Curls 1. Stand erect with your feet shoulder-width apart, a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing each other. |
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2. Keeping your back straight, lift one dumbbell to your shoulder, as if you were swinging a hammer. Return the dumbbell to the start position in the same motion. Repeat with other dumbbell to complete one rep. |
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Barbell Squats 1. Rest a barbell behind your head on you shoulders and trapezius, not your neck. Position your hands wide on the bar. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. |
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2. Keeping your back straight (stick your butt out and look up to the ceiling to help you achieve this), squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Press yourself back into a standing position by concentrating on using your stomach, glutes, and leg muscles. |
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Leg Extensions 1. Adjust the seat so that the axis of the leg-extension machine lines up with your knee joint. Slide your ankles under the footpad and grip the handles near your hip. |
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2. Extend your feet up and out until your legs are straight. Lower them to the start position. |
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Leg-Curl Machine 1. Lie face down on the bench of a leg-curl machine with your knee joints lined up with the machine’s pivot point. Adjust the footpad so that it rests on the back of your lower legs. |
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2. Curl your feet toward your butt as far as possible, while keeping your hips on the bench. Lower the footpad slowly back down. |
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Calf Raises 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and a barbell across your back and shoulders, with your hands spread wide on the barbell. |
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2. Rise up on your toes, then let yourself back down. |
EXPLOSIVE POWER
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Deadlift 1. With feet shoulder-width apart, squat down and grab a barbell on the floor with your hands shoulder-width apart. Look forward and stick your chest out. |
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2. Keeping your torso in the same plane, straighten your legs. |
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3. Finish with your legs straight and your torso upright, chest sticking out. Carefully reverse the motion to return the barbell to the ground. |
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Stiff-Legged Deadlift 1. With feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart and legs straight, lean forward and down and grab a barbell on the floor with hands shoulder-width apart. Stick your chest out, look forward. |
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2. Look up and raise your torso, taking care to keep your back flat throughout the lift—stick your chest and butt out to help you. |
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3. Continue motion to the standing position, keeping your back straight and your abdominal and glute muscles engaged. Carefully reverse the steps to return the barbell back to the floor. |
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Upright Row 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grab a barbell with your hands approximately four inches apart, palms facing your body. Hold the barbell in front of your thighs. |
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2. Lift the barbell toward your chin while keeping your elbows high. Stop when the barbell reaches shoulder height. Slowly lower the bar to the start position. |
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Jump Squats 1. Rest a barbell weighted with no more than half your bodyweight behind your head on your shoulders and trapezius, not your neck. Position your hands wide on the bar. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. |
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2. Keeping your back straight (stick your butt out and look up to the ceiling to help you achieve this), squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Jump back upright so that your feet leave the floor. As you land, bend your legs to absorb the shock. |
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Forward Jumps 1. Starting on your toes, leap forward as high and as far as you can. |
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Backward Jumps 1. From your heels, leap backward as far and as high as you can. |
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Box Jumps 1. Standing in front of a two-foot-high box, leap up onto the box. |
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2. Land squarely and firmly on top of the box, not falling forward or backward. |
ECCENTRIC STRENGTH
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Bodyweight Squats 1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. |
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2. As you squat down, raise your arms in front of your body to counterbalance your bodyweight. Stop lowering yourself when your thighs are parallel to the ground, then spring back upright. |
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Platform Lunges 1. Standing on a four-inch-high platform, step out into a lunge as far as you are tall. 2. Spring back to the platform, and step out with the other leg to complete one rep. |
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Medicine-Ball Squats 1. Stand a few feet from a partner and have him stand on a bench and drop a medicine ball from over his head to your chest. |
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2. Catch the ball with both hands and drop into a squat. |
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3. Now spring up and throw your partner the medicine ball as if your were making a basketball jump shot. |
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Medicine-Ball Lunges 1. Face away from your partner and have him toss the ball so you can catch it over your shoulder as you lunge forward. |
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2. In one smooth motion, bring the ball around to the front of your body as you go down into a full lunge, untwisting your torso. |
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3. Without stopping the motion, spring back up and toss the ball over the same shoulder back to your partner. Alternate legs and shoulders with each toss. |
INTEGRATED STRENGTH
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Lawn Mower Pull
1. Stand next to a cable machine with the handle positioned near your feet. Squat and grab the cable with both hands. |
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2. Stand and pull the cable up toward your opposite side, as if starting a lawn mower. Finish a set, then turn 180 degrees so the other side of your body is next to the cable station and repeat. |
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Cable-Pull Squats
1. Face the cable machine. Squat down and grab the handle with both hands between your legs. |
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1. Stand up, keeping your back straight, by engaging your legs and hips. |
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Standing Cable Press
1. Stand facing away from a cable machine, placing one leg in front of the other as if you were going to throw a punch. Grab a handle in each hand and position at chest height. |
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2. Holding your back straight (don’t lean into the press), press the weight forward, keeping the handles at chest height. Switch feet with each set. (Set one: right foot forward, set two: left foot forward.) |
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Standing Cable Row
1. Stand facing the cable machine with one foot in front of the other. Grasp two cable handles positioned at chest height, with arms straight. |
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2. Pull the handles to your chest, keeping your back upright (don’t lean back). Switch feet with each set. (Set one: right foot forward, set two: left foot forward.) |
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One-Legged Overhead Cable Press
1. Stand on one leg, facing cable machine with the cable pulley positioned at your feet, and hold a cable handle in each hand—hands at shoulder height, palms facing in. |
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2. Press the weight overhead, ending the lift with your palms facing out. Complete six reps on each leg. |
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One-Legged Bicep Curl, Overhead Cable Press
1. Stand on one leg, facing cable machine with the cable pulley positioned at your feet. Hold handle with each hand resting on the tops of your thighs, palms facing away from your body. |
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2. Curl the handles to your shoulders, engaging your biceps. |
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3. Now press the weight overhead, ending the lift with your palms facing out. Complete six reps on each leg. |
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Cable Lunges
1. Face away from the cable machine. Position two cable handles waist high and grab with each hand, holding them on either hip. |
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2. Lunge forward, keeping your back straight and handles on your hips. Step back. Do 12 reps on each leg. |