The advantages of organizing our training based on the compound movements can be summarized mainly in two points: the first is that thanks to this type of movement, we will recruit a greater muscle mass during the execution of the exercise . The second, the considerable saving of time to work in a few exercises throughout our body globally.

With the seven compound movements that we present below, you can organize a routine that works each muscle of your body and in a short time get in shape.

Burpees

The burpees are one of the most used exercises when it comes to performing compound exercises, since they allow to perform strength work and, at the same time, cardiovascular resistance work (the faster we do them the more we will raise our pulsations). In addition, they are a classic in any HIIT routineand also in many CrossFit boxes.

This exercise allows multiple variants when doing it : with flexion, without flexion, linking it with a dominated, inclined … Practically any possibility that occurs to us (always within the margins of safety in sports practice).

With the burpees we will work both the lower train at the time of performing the leg shrinkages and the jumps as our upper train at the time of adopting the ironing or bending position and our core to stabilize ourselves in this position.

Clean and jerk

In a previous article, we talked about this movement of weightlifting and very present today in all boxes of CrossFit. Basically we can define the clean and jerk as the sum of two movements: the clean or loaded and jerk or clean ( the snatch , the clean and the jerk are the three basic movements of weightlifting).

In the clean and jerk we are going to work practically all of our muscles : the lower train will serve to push us and raise the bar, the upper train will carry the bar to our shoulders (and then over our head) and the core will perform the function of main stabilizer in order to avoid injuries.

Dominated

The dominated are the main exercise composed to work our upper body , since in the execution of this exercise practically all the muscular groups of our upper train intervene .

Depending on the type of grip we use , the main muscle may be different: if the grip is supine or neutral , we will mainly work on our biceps. In the case of the prone grip , the main musculature that will be activated will be that of our lats. Obviously, this does not mean that they are the only muscles that will intervene in the movement.

Another point that we must point out, is that for those people who have had some type of injury in shoulders, elbows or wrists , the most recommended grip will be the neutral type, since it allows to adopt a more secure position.

Step up with slam ball

With this compound exercise we will work mainly the muscles of our legs when performing the step up to the step or bank, our arms when launching the slam ballonce we are on the bench and our cardiovascular system , as faster we go to the bank, throw the ball and go down, more we will increase the pulsations and more aerobic work we will do.

In addition, another important part of our muscles that we will work with through this exercise will be the core and the gluteus medius, the main stabilizers when going to the bank.

Renegade Rowing

The rowing of the renegade is an exercise in which we will mainly work our back and our core.

We will start from the classic position of flexion or plate, but with the difference that on this occasion we will be supported on the dumbbells ( if we want to add extra difficulty we can try to do it on some kettlebells ). We can adopt the position with a greater or lesser opening of our feet, although to give us more stability at the beginning I recommend that you adopt a wide opening (greater than the width of the shoulders).

The basic movement consists of, from the initial position of flexion or plate, perform the rowing movement with the dumbbell (or kettlebell if we have decided to complicate it a little more). The key to the movement will be to perform a scapular retraction when we raise the dumbbell , pressing for a second in the maximum phase of contraction.

If we want to add variety and difficulty to this exercise, we can opt for the inclusion of a bosu as a generator of instability and rely on one hand in the bosu and the other in the dumbbell.

Squat with string whipping

The squat and the movements of strings of ropes are, without a doubt, two extremely complete exercises since one of them focuses on the work of inferior and core train while the other is directed to work our upper body.

To begin, we will adopt a standing position in front of the rope by grasping each end with one of our hands. The first phase of the movement will consist of performing one or several squats and then the string beats. If we want to add difficulty , we can try to perform both movements simultaneously as we can see in the video.

As for the strings of strings, we can perform them in different ways : alternate vertical beats, vertical simultaneous, one hand vertical, horizontal … Or we can intersperse the different options.

Deadlift plus rowing with bar

Compound movement that we can perform with a bar, the main point that we must take into account when doing it is the weight that we are going to load in the bar, since in the deadweight we will be able to move higher loads than in the rowing by what we should reduce the weight of the discs that we place.

The movement will start from a standing position in front of the bar and the first phase will consist of performing the deadweight in the usual way . Once we have placed the bar back on the ground, we will perform an oar with the bar and put it back on the ground to start over.

With this exercise we will work a large muscle mass (both lower train and upper train will be involved), so we will be doing a very complete exercise.