file:///C:/Users/moone/Downloads/sample-chapter-movement-patterns.html Part II · The Architecture — Chapter 4 The Eight Patterns Learn these and you can build a session in any gym, hotel or kitchen on earth, with whatever is in front of you. Most people learn exercises. They learn the bench press, the leg press, the lat pulldown — and their training becomes a list of machines. Take the machines away and the training stops. That's why a business trip derails people for a fortnight. Train patterns instead of exercises and the problem disappears. There are eight of them. Every worthwhile movement in any gym is a variation on one of the eight, which means the question stops being what machine is free and becomes which pattern am I training, and what's here that does it. This is the one chapter worth reading in order. Everything after it — the templates, the movement menu, the whole programme — assumes you think this way. The index Squat Knee Hinge Hip Vertical push Overhead Horizontal push Forward Vertical pull Down Horizontal pull Back Carry Trunk Locomotion Ground Eight patterns. Four levels of equipment. One question: which pattern, and what's here that does it. Squat Knee-dominant · Bilateral or split Sit down and stand up under load. It builds the quads and glutes, and it's the pattern that decides whether you get out of a low chair unaided at seventy. If you sit at a desk for nine hours, this is the one your body has quietly stopped practising. Tier 0 Nothing Bodyweight squat Split squat Step-up Wall sit Tier 1 Minimal Goblet squat Bulgarian split squat Dumbbell step-up Tier 2 Home gym Back squat Front squat Box squat Tier 3 Full gym Hack squat Leg press Pendulum squat ▲ Get this one coached. The back squat under a loaded bar is the single lift where self-teaching goes wrong most expensively. Two or three sessions with a coach, roughly €50–70 each in Ireland, and you have it for life. Until then, goblet squat. Hinge Hip-dominant · Posterior chain Push your hips back, keep your spine where it is, stand back up. The hinge is not a squat with a straight back — the movement happens at the hip, not the knee. It trains the hamstrings, glutes and the whole back line, and it is the difference between picking up a suitcase safely and spending a week on the floor. Demo — Romanian deadlift Video embeds here. Replace this block with the Vimeo or YouTube iframe. Common fault Bending at the waist with the knees locked and the back rounding — turning a hip movement into a spinal one. You'll feel it in the lower back rather than the hamstrings. What it should be Soft knees, hips travelling backwards, chest coming down as a consequence. Tension arrives in the back of the thighs. The spine holds its shape throughout. Tier 0 Nothing Hip hinge drill Single-leg RDL Glute bridge Nordic curl Tier 1 Minimal Kettlebell deadlift Kettlebell swing Dumbbell RDL Tier 2 Home gym Conventional deadlift Romanian deadlift Trap bar deadlift Tier 3 Full gym Hip thrust Back extension Cable pull-through ▲ Get this one coached. The deadlift and the kettlebell swing both reward good instruction enormously and punish bad habits slowly, which is the dangerous combination. The trap bar is the forgiving way in. Vertical push Shoulder · Overhead Press something from your shoulders to over your head. It builds the shoulders and triceps, and it's the honest test of whether you still have overhead range — most desk-bound people don't, and don't know it until they try. Tier 0 Nothing Pike push-up Wall walk Handstand hold Tier 1 Minimal Dumbbell press Kettlebell press Banded press Tier 2 Home gym Overhead press Push press Z press Tier 3 Full gym Machine shoulder press Landmine press Smith press Horizontal push Chest · Forward Push something away from your chest. Chest, front shoulder, triceps. The most trained pattern in every gym in the world and, for most people, the most over-trained relative to the pull that should balance it. Tier 0 Nothing Push-up Incline push-up Deficit push-up Dip Tier 1 Minimal Floor press Dumbbell bench Banded press Tier 2 Home gym Bench press Incline bench Close-grip bench Tier 3 Full gym Chest press machine Cable fly Pec deck Vertical pull Lat · Overhead to chest Pull something from above down towards you, or pull yourself up to it. Lats, biceps, upper back. Along with the horizontal pull, this is the pattern that undoes the shape a desk puts on you. Tier 0 Nothing Doorway row Towel pull-down Under-table row Tier 1 Minimal Band pull-down Suspension row Bar pull-up Tier 2 Home gym Pull-up Chin-up Weighted pull-up Tier 3 Full gym Lat pulldown Assisted pull-up Straight-arm pulldown Horizontal pull Mid-back · Rearward Pull something towards your torso. Mid-back, rear shoulder, biceps. If you do one thing for the way you carry yourself, make it this, and do more of it than you do pressing. Tier 0 Nothing Inverted row Table row Prone Y-T-W Tier 1 Minimal Dumbbell row Kettlebell row Band row Tier 2 Home gym Barbell row Pendlay row Chest-supported row Tier 3 Full gym Seated cable row T-bar row Machine row Carry & anti-rotation Trunk · Resisting movement Hold something heavy and don't let it move you. This is what the trunk is actually for — not producing movement, but refusing it. It's the most neglected pattern in the eight and the one that transfers most directly to carrying luggage through an airport without your back complaining. Tier 0 Nothing Plank Side plank Dead bug Bird dog Tier 1 Minimal Farmer's carry Suitcase carry Waiter's walk Tier 2 Home gym Front rack carry Sandbag carry Yoke walk Tier 3 Full gym Pallof press Cable chop Ab wheel Locomotion Whole body · Covering ground Move yourself from one place to another under your own power. Walking, running, rowing, cycling, rucking, skipping. It's the pattern the other seven exist to support, and the one that most affects how you feel at 3pm on a Wednesday. Tier 0 Nothing Walking Running Stairs Skipping Tier 1 Minimal Rucking Weighted carry walk Sled drag Tier 2 Home gym Rower Assault bike Turbo trainer Tier 3 Full gym Treadmill Stepmill Ski erg What to do with this You don't train all eight every session. The templates in Part III distribute them across the days you have — two days a week covers all eight; six days lets you weight them towards whatever you're chasing. What you should take from this chapter is the habit of asking one question before you start: which patterns is this session covering, and what's in this room that does them? Once that question is automatic, no gym, hotel or travel schedule can stop you training. Hard Way Fitness Chapter 4 of 48