The best single exercise

In our personal training sessions, we often get asked this question, “what is the best single exercise I could do?”. The answer to this question will vary greatly on the individual, their abilities, and where they are on their current fitness journey. But here we have compiled a list of the top single exercises to do along with the ranking of the difficulty, adaptability, and suitability for all levels. Most of them will require no equipment or just a single item. They can also all be done in a small space of about 2 m², or enough room to do a squat in

Choose exercises that use lots of muscle groups

Although no exercise can do everything, most of the ones chosen here recruit lots of muscle groups at the same time and provide great value for money in terms of how much fitness and benefit you will get from each move. Although we have cheated a little by combining some exercises, technically no rules have been broken as combined moves are a great way to work lots of things at once.

Strength training and also get your heart rate up!

The exercises need to fulfill quite a lot of briefs. Do they raise the heart rate and bring all the benefits of cardiovascular exercise? Are they functional? Do they involve the core muscles and balance? And one of the most important questions, will they maintain or increase lean muscle mass and bone density? This last quality is a big factor in which exercise one might choose over the age of 40 and beyond when muscle mass becomes vitally important both for health and weight maintenance.

Push-up/plank

A combination of a push-up and a plank this exercise uses lots of muscle groups and it’s great not just for the chest triceps and shoulders but also for the core. It will also get the heart rate up and provide some cardiovascular benefits.

How to do it – with your hands shoulder-width apart raise yourself up so early or toes and hands are connected to the floor with your head shoulders knees in a nice straight line. Do 8 to 12 push-ups and at the end hold your arm straight for a 15 to 30 seconds plank. Rest for 15 seconds and repeat another two times.

Muscle group score – 7
Heart rate score – 6
Balance score – 5
Functional score – 7

Total – 25

Squat to overhead press

For this classic you needn’t have a dumbbell or barbell. Many items found in the home or work, like water bottles books or even shopping bags. This one hits more muscle groups than any other in our list and also scores very highly in the functionality department.

How to do it – hold your weight at the chest with both hands, sit your bum down until your thighs are parallel with the floor, keeping your knees behind your toes and hinging at the waist. Stand up from the squat position and in the same movements press the weight overhead before returning to the start position. Video here!

Muscle groups score – 9
Heart rate score – 8
Balance score – 6
Functional score – 9

Total – 32

Turkish get up

Sometimes dreaded because of its difficulty and challenge. Using nearly all our major muscle groups and rating extremely high on the functionality scale, the Turkish get up is essential for the elderly, providing the technique they need to make sure they can get up off the ground after any fall or mishap. Also scores very highly in getting the heart rate up.

How to do it – with a small weight in one hand, lie on your back raise your arm up vertically with the weight in it and bend the knee on that side. Sit up, resting you’re free hand on the floor swing the straight leg out behind you so you are in a lunge position and stand up while keeping the weight directly overhead with straight arms. There is a video here.

Muscle groups score – 9
Heart rate score – 9
Balance score – 6
Functional score – 8

Total – 32

Push up to Burpee

A bit of a cheat this one, as it combines two exercises. You can also include a squat after standing tall for the Burpee. The best in our list for getting the heart rate up and providing great levels of general fitness as well as keeping you strong and maintaining muscle.

How to do it – hands shoulder-width apart on the floor, toes on the floor, shoulders hips, and knees in a straight line. Do the push up lowering yourself until your elbows are at 90°, push back up, then keeping your chest up, jump your feet as far forward as you can and jump up into the air with your hands overhead. A beginner version would be just to stand up without the jump. There is a video of this one here.

Muscle group score – 8
Heart rate score – 9
Balance score – 6
Functional score – 7

Total – 30

Renegade row

Possibly the most challenging one on the list the renegade row is another multifaceted exercise recruiting lots of muscle groups – particularly helping shoulder stability and core strength. It is the only exercise in our list that also includes a pulling movement. In a world where we sit at computers, encouraging poor posture, pulling exercises become more important as they can help to realign us and keep us upright. They can also avoid postural problems like neck stiffness and shoulder/back problems. A dumbbell is preferable for this one although a kettlebell can work too.

How to do it – get yourself into a straight arm plank position with a dumbbell in one hand –  keeping your hips square, and your shoulders hips and knees in line like a plank. Lift the weight up so it is in line with your side and lower it to the floor. Repeat for 12 to 14 repetitions, and then roll the dumbbell over to do the same on the other arm. There is a video of this here.

Muscle group score – 8
Heart rate score – 8
Balance score – 8
Functional score – 7

Total – 31

The Result

Looking at the scores, you can see that both the squat to overhead press and the Turkish get-up come out on top. Of course you could combine all of these exercises into a super effective circuit that will provide amazing value for money in terms of time and efficiency. All the muscle groups are covered and your heart rate will definitely be up. Try to ensure that you have sufficient weight or resistance so that by the time you get to 12 repetitions it’s getting really difficult and taking you into overload. Happy training, and good luck.