If I Could Only Do Three Exercises...

LCE is pleased to present Guest Author, Graeme Street.

What if you only had ten minutes a day to keep yourself healthy and fit? What if you could only workout from home and you couldn't find the time to go to the gym or purchase expensive equipment? What if you were told that you could only do three exercises for the rest of your life to stay healthy, strong, and fit? You know what I would say? Great! The simpler the better!

Everyone always asks me what I do for my exercise program to stay fit and lean. I always feel it's a loaded question, but when I sit down and really think about my typical exercise routine I realize that I always come back to the same basic exercises again and again. Whether or not I do them the same way or with the same purpose and function each time is more debatable.

But truth be known, if I could only perform three exercises for the rest of my life they would be squats, push-ups, and back rows or pull-ups.

The reason I chose these three "foundation building exercises" is simple. All of these exercise: the squat, the push-up and the back row are all "functional" exercises that work all the muscles of my body completely. Each and every one of these aforementioned exercises has everyday application and function and each one of them works all the muscles of my body at the same time.

When I use the term "functional" to describe an exercise, what I really mean is that the exercise has "purpose and application" to movements in my everyday life. "Functional exercises" test my strength, balance, endurance and coordination and thus have a meaningful and usable effect on my life. Not only that, but performing any one of these exercises will challenge you more than any other exercises I know (and trust me, I know literally thousands of them) because they challenge the body to such a high degree.

Most exercises that you see people doing at the gym have little or no "functionality" in everyday life. People spend a lot of time on the inner and outer thigh machines or doing bicep curls or abdominal crunches till their blue in the face in the hopes of slimming and conditioning these areas. What most people fail to recognize is that the body does not have the capacity to "spot reduce" or remove fat from any targeted area of the body. The body works as one unit and removes fat in a uniform fashion. Thus, an exercise that doesn't challenge the body as a whole has diminishing returns. The objective of exercise should be to maximize energy expenditure and stimulate the body as much as possible in as few movements as possible. The squat, push-up, and back row do exactly that.

If you really want to burn fat, build lean muscle, and strengthen your body in every way, then these three exercises are a must! They offer more "bang for your buck." Not only will you burn a great deal of energy while you're performing them, but the after-effects they have on your metabolism are tremendous.

These exercises stimulate just about every major muscle group in the body and as a result your body is forced to utilize a lot of calories during the exercises. But, even more importantly, your body has to repair and build new muscle after these exercises are performed and this is where the real benefit comes into play. Performing these three functional exercises will increase your metabolic rate hours or even days after you've done them. Unlike smaller, more isolated exercises like the bicep curl or the abdominal crunch, functional exercises have a much more profound effect on your metabolism and is the ultimate reason why they should be the foundation of any good exercise program.

A lot of you may be wondering right now if you can actually build a strong, lean, fit body with just these three exercises. The answer is most certainly yes! You may wonder "what about my abs or my hips and butt, don't they need special attention?" Good question, but as you may have already guessed the answer is no. Your time in the gym or during your workout would be much better spent performing three or four challenging functional exercises than 10 or twelve smaller and less functional exercises. Trust me, all of these exercises challenge your hips, biceps, thighs, and especially your abs, more than you can imagine.

If you really want great legs, a lean and hard stomach, and a great upper-body you can't get any better than these exercises. Just look at gymnasts. Look at the development of their bodies. Trust me, these people don't spend their time doing bicep curls and crunches or investing their hard earned dollars in "six second abs"! They challenge their bodies with variations of squats, push-ups and back rows and pull-ups.

The problem with these challenging exercises is that most people don't perform functional exercises like squats, push-ups, and back rows because they're difficult. If you've read any of my other material you know how I feel about this, right? "If it's not hard, it's not worth doing!" To get in shape and improve yourself, your mind and your body--you must challenge it! And not just every other week, but often and in as many different ways as you can.

By incorporating these three exercises: the squat, the push-up, and the back row into a well balanced weight training, cardio, and diet program you will develop a strength foundation that will allow you to build from. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do other exercises. Quite the contrary. I want you to understand that the purpose of these exercises is to help you perform other exercises better and stronger. Variation is the key to success and you can always add new and effective ways of challenging your body. I will tell you however, that every other exercise you do stems and originates from these three basic exercises.