The programme

Day 1

Five moves, in the order you'd train them.

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1Goblet squat

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12A dumbbell

Set up

Stand tall, feet a little wider than your hips
Toes turned out slightly, wherever feels natural
The weight held up against your chest in both hands, elbows tucked in underneath it

The movement

Sit down between your feet, hips going back and knees bending together, until you are as low as you can go with your back staying long. Then drive back up through the whole of both feet until you are standing tall again.

What to get right

Screw your feet out into the floor, so the knees track in line with the feet and never fall inward
Chest up. The weight at the front is doing half that job for you
Down as slowly as you come up. No dropping into the bottom

Easier

Squat down onto a chair or a box and stand back up from it. It caps how far you go, it's there to catch you, and it lets you build the strength without the fear

Harder

More weight, grown by the rules
Then, if you have a gym and the control to earn it, a front or back squat with a barbell. There's no rush, and plenty of strong people never leave the goblet

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2Press-up

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12No kit needed

Set up

Hands a little wider than your shoulders, on whichever surface you're using
Body in one straight line from head to heels, middle braced
The further your feet are from the surface, the harder it is

The movement

Lower your chest towards the surface under control, until it's a few inches away or gently touching. Then press yourself back up until your arms are straight. Slow down, honest up.

What to get right

One straight line, head to heels. No sagging in the middle and no backside in the air
Elbows travelling back at about forty-five degrees, not flared straight out to the sides
The whole range. A short, bouncy press-up builds a short, bouncy press-up

Easier

Move up the ladder, not down: a wall first, then the edge of a worktop, then a sturdy bench, then the floor. Each step is the same exercise at a kinder angle

Harder

Lower the surface, and eventually the floor
Then a floor press or a bench press with weights, though you'll not need that for a long while

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3Row

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12Two dumbbells

Set up

Hinge forward from the hips with your back flat
The weights hanging straight down from your shoulders
Middle braced, back long and still
With a band instead, stand tall facing the anchor and step back until there's tension

The movement

Pull both weights up towards your ribs, leading with the elbows, and let the shoulder blades draw back and down as you go. Then lower them slowly all the way back down.

What to get right

Start the pull with the shoulder blades, not by heaving with the arms
Back flat and still throughout. No rocking up and down to help the weights
Slow on the way down. That half is the half people waste

Easier

One arm at a time, hand and knee on a bench so the back has nothing to do but stay still

Harder

More weight, grown by the rules
A cable row or a barbell row in a gym

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4Farmer's carry

20 to 30 seconds of walking, a couple of roundsA weight in each hand

Set up

Stand tall between them and pick them up with a flat back
Shoulders back and down, arms hanging
Middle braced

The movement

Walk. Slowly and tall, for a set distance or a set time, then set them down with a flat back and rest.

What to get right

Shoulders back and down. Don't let the weight round you forward
Steps smooth and unhurried, eyes up
Breathe. It's easy to hold your breath and just endure it

Easier

Lighter, and a shorter walk. There's no technique to fall back on, so weight is the only dial

Harder

Heavier, then further. When your grip gives out before anything else, that's the grip getting its turn to catch up

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5Pallof press

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side, with a hold at the end of each pressA band anchored at about chest height

Set up

Stand side on to the anchor, feet about hip-width
Band held in both hands, in against your chest
Step out until there's real tension on it, and brace your middle

The movement

Press your hands straight out in front of you until your arms are long, and hold there while the band tries to twist you. Then bring them slowly back in to your chest. Do your reps, then turn around and face the other way.

What to get right

Shoulders and hips stay square. The band does not get to turn you
Press straight out in front, not off to one side
Keep breathing behind the brace. It's easy to hold your breath and grip

Easier

Stand closer to the anchor, or use a lighter band

Harder

Step further out, or use a heavier band
Then press with your arms overhead rather than straight out

Day 2

Five moves, in the order you'd train them.

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1Loaded hinge

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12A kettlebell

Set up

Stand tall, feet about hip-width apart, a soft bend in the knees
Set your neutral spine and brace your middle
The weight held in both hands, hanging down in front of your legs

The movement

Push your hips back behind you, as if you were closing a car door with your backside, and let your chest tip forward as they go. Hips travel back, not down. Let your knees keep only that soft bend they started with, don't let them push forward, and feel a good stretch come on down the backs of your thighs as your hips move back. If your range allows it, let your upper body come the whole way down until it's roughly parallel with the floor, flat as a tabletop from hips to head. Put the same three-three-three tempo on it that you've used all chapter: about three seconds to lower into the hinge, three held at the bottom while you check your back is still one flat line, then three to drive your hips forward and rise back to tall, squeezing your glutes at the top.

What to get right

The flat line of your back, held the whole way
The movement happening at your hips, and the work landing in your hamstrings and glutes, not as a strain in your lower back
Depth handed to you by your hamstrings, never forced. A short hinge with a flat back beats a deep one that rounds, every time
No pause at the bottom once there's weight in your hands

Easier

A lighter weight and a shorter range

Harder

More load, added slowly, once the pattern holds

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2Overhead press

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12A pair of dumbbells

Set up

Stand tall, feet about hip-width
Weights at shoulder height, palms facing forward or slightly in
Middle braced, ribs down, so your lower back can't arch to help

The movement

Press the weights straight up overhead until your arms are at full stretch, then lower them slowly back to your shoulders. Press up, not forward.

What to get right

Shoulder blades set, shoulders down and long. No shrugging up towards your ears
Ribs down throughout. If your back arches to get the weight up, the weight is too heavy
Slow on the way down. That's where the strength is built

Easier

One arm at a time, so you can watch it
Or go back and live on the straight-arm raise from the shoulder chapter a while longer. The control comes first, and the strength is built on top of it

Harder

More weight, grown by the rules
A barbell in a gym, once the dumbbells are easy and honest

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3Pulldown

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12A wedged doorway pull-up bar

Set up

Kneeling or standing under the anchor
Arms up and out, band held in both hands, a little tension already on it

The movement

Pull down and in towards your chest, elbows driving down towards your ribs. Then let it back up slowly, all the way, until your arms are long again.

What to get right

Start with the shoulder blades, not the hands
Ribs down. Don't lean back to cheat the last few inches
All the way up at the top. A short pulldown builds a short pulldown

Easier

If you can't anchor anything overhead, don't force it. Lean harder on your rows for now, which cover much of the same ground, and make the vertical pull the first thing you claim when you get to a gym

Harder

If you can fit a doorway pull-up bar, work the real thing: hang and pull yourself up, with a band or a foot on a chair taking some of your weight until you need less of it
In a gym, an assisted pull-up working towards an unassisted one

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4Suitcase carry

Slow walks of 20 to 30 seconds or so a side, a couple of rounds each handA dumbbell

Set up

Stand tall, the weight hanging at your side, shoulders level
Set your neutral spine and brace your middle, exactly as you have all chapter

The movement

Simply walk, slowly and tall, for a set distance or a set time, then turn around and come back, and swap the weight to the other hand for the return. The whole exercise is the walking. There's no clever movement to it. The work is all in what you don't let happen.

What to get right

Staying dead level and tall while the weight tries its hardest to tip you over towards it
Both shoulders level and your spine stacked straight up. Don't lean away to counterbalance it either, that's just swapping one bend for another
Breathing behind your brace, steps smooth and unhurried, eyes up

Harder

A heavier weight. The heavier it is, the harder it pulls, and the more your steadying muscles have to work to keep you honest and tall

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5Woodchop

2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 each side, light and controlledA band anchored high

Set up

Stand side on to the anchor, feet a little wider than your hips
Both hands on the band, arms long, up and across towards the anchor
Middle braced

The movement

Pull down and across your body, from high to low, turning through your middle as you go, until your hands finish outside your opposite hip. Then control it back up along the same line. Do your reps, then turn around.

What to get right

Turn through your middle. Don't just swing your arms across in front of you
Feet planted and hips still. The turn happens above them
Controlled both ways. The way back up is not a rest

Easier

Less tension, and a shorter range. Turn only as far as you can control

Harder

A little more tension, or a fuller turn as your control allows

Bonus Day 3

The lighter, different-flavour day. For when two sessions have become a habit you don't have to think about.

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1Split squat

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 each leg, controlledSomething within reach for a steadying hand

Set up

Stand tall, then step one foot a good stride straight back, into a long split stance
Front foot flat, back heel lifted
Weight shared fairly evenly between the two feet, roughly fifty-fifty

The movement

Lower yourself straight down, thinking of dropping your back knee towards the floor rather than bending your front knee. Aim that back knee straight down and let the front leg bend to allow it. Go only as far as you can under control and without the knee complaining. Shallow is fine, especially to begin with, and the depth comes as the control does. Then drive back up through both feet to where you started, pushing up through the mid-foot and heel rather than the toes, and keeping the whole foot planted. Do all your reps in that stance, then swap your feet over.

What to get right

The front knee tracking in line with the foot as you lower and drive up, never caving inward
Screw the front foot out into the floor, and you'll feel the hip take charge of holding the knee in line
The whole of the front foot staying in contact with the floor, and the movement straight down and up

Easier

Step-ups onto a low, sturdy step. Lead with one leg, driving up through the heel of that foot rather than pushing off the back one, stand tall, then lower yourself back down slowly under control. Keep the step low while the knee is still grumpy, because it's the stepping down that a sore knee tends to object to most

Harder

A touch deeper as the knee allows, then a weight held, then evening up your two sides until the weaker one has caught the stronger

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2Straight-arm raise

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, slow and cleanA light plate

Set up

Stand tall, feet about hip-width
Middle braced gently, the way you learned at the back, so your ribs don't flare and your lower back doesn't arch to help
Arms hanging down in front of you, elbows soft
Shoulder blades set down and back

The movement

Keep a soft, slight bend in your elbows the whole way, never locked out straight, the same easy unlock you keep in your knees. Raise the weight slowly up in front of you, on up past shoulder height and all the way overhead until you are reaching tall. Then lower it just as slowly back down under full control. As it comes overhead, let it settle a touch in front of straight up rather than forcing it back behind your head. Slow up, slow down, and no swinging it.

What to get right

The shoulder blades gliding round and up as your arms rise, and no shrug
The shoulders staying down and long the whole way
The weight a touch in front of dead overhead, where the shoulder has the most room and the least pinch
The lift coming from your shoulders, not from leaning back and swinging the weight up

Easier

Raise only to the height where your shoulders stay down and easy, even if that's no higher than shoulder height to begin with, and let the top come back as the control grows
Or go back and live on the wall slide a while longer, then return to this

Harder

A light weight in each hand, once the shared-weight version feels easy, so each shoulder works on its own and the weaker side can have the extra it needs
Then, once that overhead reach is strong and clean, letting the weight travel a little past vertical at the top, easing it gently back beyond straight overhead so the shoulder gets a soft stretch at the very end of its range while it's still under load

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3Face pull

2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15A band anchored at about head height

Set up

Hold an end in each hand, arms out in front of you at shoulder height
Step back until there is tension on the band before you start

The movement

Pull the band towards your face, hands travelling wide and elbows staying high, until your hands are either side of your head. Then let it back out slowly under control.

What to get right

Elbows high, level with your hands. Let them drop and it becomes a row
Shoulders down. No shrugging up towards your ears
Slow on the way back out

Easier

Less tension on the band, or stand closer to the anchor

Harder

A little more tension. Not much more

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4Waiter carry

20 seconds a side is plenty, a couple of roundsOne light weight

Set up

Stand tall, the weight pressed straight up overhead in one hand
Arm locked out tall, shoulder set down and away from your ear
Middle braced, ribs down

The movement

Walk, slowly and tall, keeping the weight steady above you. Then bring it down under control and swap hands.

What to get right

Arm tall and the shoulder steady underneath it
Don't lean away from the weight to counterbalance it
Ribs down. If your back arches to hold the weight up, it's too heavy

Easier

Hold the weight at your shoulder rather than overhead and walk with it there, until the overhead position is comfortable

Harder

A little more weight, or a longer walk. Very little more

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5Bird-dog

5 to 8 each side, a round or twoA mat

Set up

On your hands and knees, hands under your shoulders, knees under your hips
Set your neutral spine and brace your middle
Head in line, eyes down at the floor

The movement

Reach one arm forward and the opposite leg back until both are straight and level with your body. Hold. Then bring them in and swap. Three seconds out, three held, three back.

What to get right

No sagging in the middle and no tipping to one side. A cup of tea on your lower back shouldn't spill
Reach long rather than high. The leg doesn't need to go above the line of your back
Slow. Momentum makes this easy and useless

Easier

Move just the arm, or just the leg, and add the other once you can hold the line honestly

Harder

Hold longer at the far point, or reach further away rather than higher

Read yourself

Fix the roots

The six moves all fifteen

The programme

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Want one built around you?