One exercise only

newwan

Hi
Im a rugby player sprinter and have to cut my gym time back to the absolute min. As a result ive been doing less and less exercises looking for best bang for buck.

So my question is if you could only do 1 exercise for the rest of your life what would it be?

Mine would be walking dumbell lunges... Heavy as you can. 50kg hopefully next week.

Since ive started these my high hamstring pain has has disappeared that ive had for 10 years. And i can do glute hams much easier!

So any suggestions?

Mellor

newwan wrote: »

Hi
Im a rugby player sprinter and have to cut my gym time back to the absolute min. As a result ive been doing less and less exercises looking for best bang for buck.

Why exactly do you need to cut gym time to the min?

So my question is if you could only do 1 exercise for the rest of your life what would it be?

In terms of working out as much of your body as possible I'd say it has to be clean and jerk. More or less hits every joint.

Heavy lunges, deadlifts, squats, etc are all great but they lack a significant upper body element. But it's all moot, you're never going to be in a situation where you can only do one exercise. Plus doing the same exercise everyday isn't a great approach.

newwan

Mellor wrote: »

Why exactly do you need to cut gym time to the min?


In terms of working out as much of your body as possible I'd say it has to be clean and jerk. More or less hits every joint.

Heavy lunges, deadlifts, squats, etc are all great but they lack a significant upper body element. But it's all moot, you're never going to be in a situation where you can only do one exercise. Plus doing the same exercise everyday isn't a great approach.

Wanted a change up from cleans and that. Bodyweight snatch was enough...

Im thinking about a split clean...
Reason for it? There is none. I do 3 exercises max per gym session and i program for 3 weeks on 1 down week. Then 3 new exercises or variants to keep it fresh. So i want some new variants

guile4582

Deadlift

EmcD123

newwan wrote: »

Wanted a change up from cleans and that. Bodyweight snatch was enough...

Im thinking about a split clean...
Reason for it? There is none. I do 3 exercises max per gym session and i program for 3 weeks on 1 down week. Then 3 new exercises or variants to keep it fresh. So i want some new variants

Please dont try doing split cleans,theyre not something you should try to learn.
If you like hamstring work then I find RDL's deadly for that. Obviously in terms of explosive power theres power cleans(and power jerks) and power snatches(since you said you can do snatches and all that)

But RDl's,muscle snatches and front squats are really good and pretty fun

COH

To not answer the question - if I had so little time to train that I could only do one exercise I'd probably reevaluate whether or not I should be spending my precious few minutes in the gym at all.

To kind of answer the question - Probably thrusters. Can be done heavy or light, has an upper and lower component, can be varied to suit equipment available etc. Since the premise is that time is a limiting factor I'd rule out weightlifting as my time would be so limited as to preclude me from learning the requisite technique for it to actually be of any actual benefit

To actually answer the question - I'd probably squat, since I love squatting

Caliden

Given you play rugby, deadlifts would give you the best return for time spent.

Alf Veedersane

I'd probably squat.

But I'd reduce the rest time and squeeze in a few more exercises like RDLs and deadlifts.

Maybe some rowing.

Mellor

newwan wrote: »

Reason for it? There is none. I do 3 exercises max per gym session and i program for 3 weeks on 1 down week. Then 3 new exercises or variants to keep it fresh. So i want some new variants

3 exercises per session,plus variable sessions leaves you with plenty of exercises slots. It would make a lot more sense to build a complete program that fits your time rather than tossing a couple of "bang for yer buck" exercise together randomly.

For example, I said clean and jerk for my only one lift answer, as it covers a lot. But I dont think it's actually a good option for your 3 exercisecs sessions.

Todd Gack

Trap bar deadlift

JJayoo

Maybe farmers walks or heavy carries if I could only do one.