James Newbury and the ATP Science Team recently teamed up at Soul Rebel CrossFit Gym to discuss some of James’ favorite functional movements, that aren’t just limited to CrossFit but can be done at home or the standard gym set up easily with minimal equipment and targeted the whole body.

James Newbury ran us through his Top 5 exercises he loves for functional movement:

1. Kettle Bell swings in the Russian and American variations. This form of movement when performed correctly targets the following areas of the body:

• Abs.
• Shoulders.
• Pecs/chest.
• Glutes.
• Quads.
• Hips.
• Hamstrings.
• Lats.

It can also be performed in a high-intensity form of training so does serve as a form of circuit training cardio and gets the heart rate up.

2. Toes through ring taps if you don’t have rings available, this can be relayed on a standard pull-up bar as toe taps. A great exercise if you are wanting to predominantly target core strength from various angles. Toe taps work the following areas of the body:

• Rectus abdominous (those abs that make up your six-pack)
• Pelvic floor.
• Transverse abdominals (the ones behind the six-pack)
• Back stabilizing muscles.
• Obliques.

You may find that working with a bar or hanging bands under the triceps is more supportive to hold yourself up there so that the arms are less fatigued while becoming more accustomed to this movement.

3. Barbell thrusters – When performed correctly these can be a total body workout and can be a great tool for increasing overall strength as well as stability and form control. Because its such a diverse exercise for multiple muscle groups, we will cover the major target groups involved in this exercise:

• Quadriceps.
• Glutes.
• Hamstrings.
• Shoulders.
• Trapezius.
• Triceps.
• Core.

4. Box jumps – these are tricky to get your rhythm on, but once you do can be both an excellent skill, cardio, and high-intensity exercise as well as an impressive party trick! When performing box jumps, you are working on these key areas:

• Calves.
• Quadriceps.
• Hamstrings.
• Core.
• Cardiovascular health.

As you can see, this exercise develops more power and strength to the muscle groups in the lower body, but are crucial for building up strength in the lead-up to more compound exercises too.

5. Double Unders - A perfect combination of cardio meets plantar and lower leg conditioning. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the double movement, of getting two reps in one jump, but it just takes practice. Start with just normal skipping, to begin with, if you are new to skipping and using a rope, sometimes the double under can catch on your toes and ankles in the beginning. Aside from being an excellent cardiovascular exercise – skipping can also work for the following muscle groups:

• Shoulders.
• Feet.
• Quads
• Abs.
• Forearms.

Want to check out the tutorial?

Check out the instruction video with James Newbury and learn more about our ATP athletes by following the link below to the ATP Science YouTube Channel.