Dr. Ross's Weekly Movement Checklist

Dr. Ross's Weekly Strengthening Checklist

To fulfill our body's basic needs of strengthening activity, simply do one or two exercises from each category at least once per week, preferably twice. Completing this task every week consistently will likely result in strength gains, lower stress, more confidence, better sleep, less pain, and overall better health. I know this looks like a lot, so I put the non-negotiables in bold.

Squat (Bodyweight, Barbell back, Front, Goblet, Heels elevated on wedge for extra depth and focus on quads, Heels elevated without a wedge for extra challenge on feet/ankles and balance under load.)
Lunge (Reverse, Lateral. *Most of your weight on the stance leg*)
Hip Hinge (Deadlift, RDL, Goodmorning)
Push Overhead (OHP, shoulder/military pres, Pike Pushup, incline press may be a viable option for those with shoulder issues preventing overhead motions.)
Pull from Overhead (Pull-up, Lat Pulldown, weighted pull-up)
Push Horizontal (Push-up, Bench Press)
Pull Horizontal (Cable Row, Australian Pull-up, Bent Over Row, Face Pulls)
Push Below (Dip, Weighted Dip, Decline Press)
Pull from Below (Shrug, Hip Huggers, High Pull)
Carry (Suitcase, Single Front Rack, Overhead, sandbag)
Plyometrics (Single-leg, Two-leg, Vertical jumps, Box jumps, Depth jumps, Multidirectional Broad Jumps, Fast Footwork, Sprints)
Feet and Ankles (Calf Raises, Toe Raises, MJ's, Eversion, Inversion, Splays, Arch Raises)
Rotator Cuff Big 3(Internal and External Rotation at 0, 90, and 180; Flys and Reverse Flys in a Clock configuration starting at 6 o'clock and ending at 12 o'clock; and 3-Way Raises in Flexion, Scaption, and Abduction. High pulls and Face pulls with a focus on external rotation are also great for strengthening the rotator cuff. Rememeber those external rotation muscles are inherently smaller than your internal rotators like pecs and lats.)
Neck (Flexion, Extension, Rotation, Lateral Bending. Shrugs and OHP also strengthen neck. See "Neck" page for an instructional video)
Low Back (Jefferson Curl, Side Bends, Extension Sit-Ups, Reverse Hypers, Hip Flexors. Despite some controversy I still believe it can be beneficial to train Anti-Movement variations like Beast Crawls and Dynamic Side Planks. If not for the fun of it, these drills can build confidence in the form of a better feel of mind-muscle connection. Keeping injury risk low is largely accomplished by strategically preparing athletes for the physicality of their sport. Something crucial for athletes of all sports, but especially contact sports is the ability to withstand external forces, or anti-movement.
Single Leg Stability (Flamingo, Hip airplane, SL RDL to High knee, SL CARs/Liftovers)
Hamstring Curls (Seated, Lying, Nordics)
- Reasoninig: Deadlifts and RDLs are great but they fail to strengthen the one hamstring muscle that doesn't cross the hip, the biceps femoris short head. You have to bend the knee against resistance to train it.
Arm Accessories: You get plenty of tri- and bi- work with the various pushes and pulls above, but if you enjoy working them in isolation like I sometimes do, then here you go. Get big!
- Tris: Overhead Tricep Extensions, Lying DB Tricep Extensions/skullcrushers, Tricep pushdowns)
- Bis: Incline Curls, Standing Curls, Concentration Curls
- Brachiating (Two hand, One hand, Supinated, Pronated, Dead, Active, Swan.
  - Brachiating or hanging is non-negotiable for shoulder health and function. If you want to know why, then let me know and I'll share my thoughts. The only exceptions are people with shoulder instability from past dislocation.)

Choose one of the following programming options:

A) Work out 2X per week. (9 different exercises per day)

B) Work out 3X per week. (6 different exercises per day)

C) Work out 6X per week. (3 different exercises per day)

D) Work out however many times you want as long as you feel recovered, healthy, and can measure progress over time.

For REPS and SETS, since no two people are the same the only instruction that I can give that applies to everybody is to do your best. If the exercise is hard, then try to complete about 3 sets of 5 reps with 2 minute rest intervals between each set. If the exercise is easy, then maybe try 3 sets of 15. Do enough reps and sets to make you feel like you've adequately challenged yourself and are proud of the work you put in. For the most part, the more effort you put in, the more you'll get out of it. Generally try for an RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) of about 60-80%, which is a subjective measure of the difficulty of the workout. If you feel fatigued, it is encouraged to deload for a short time before increasing the intensity again. The whole point of deloading is to allow the body time to recover from pushing it through intense workouts back to back to back. Experiment with doing a variety of high intensity and low intensity workouts and see how your body responds. Over the course of 3-6 weeks you should have made noticeable strength gains, at which point it is appropriate to increase the weight or intensity of the exercise (progressive overload.) Many will find it beneficial to do 3-6 weeks of heavy/high intensity followed by 3-6 weeks of light/low intensity exercises, a common training concept called periodization.

If you're new to exercising, the abundance of information can be overwhelming, so instead of stressing over small details; just focus on working out consistently, being well rested, well fed, and well hydrated.

For OPTIMAL RESULTS, apart from being well rested, well fed, and well hydrated, there are a couple of things you can do with regards to timing. 1) Time each rep so that you spend at least one second controlling the eccentric (negative) portion of the exercise, and be explosively quick on the concentric portion. In the world of strength training, you typically get stronger by using heavier weights, but some people don't know that you can get potentially just as strong by moving lighter weights faster. It's more about the intensity than the number on the dumbell. 2) Move through a full range of motion, and try to embrace the stretch portion of the movement because that is what stimulates more muscle growth, and I believe it protects against muscle injury. If you watch videos of athletes pulling their hamstrings mid-game, the moment of injury always seems to be at the fully stretched position. Strengthen your weakest links.

IF YOU HAVE PAIN OR DISCOMFORT THAT IS WORSENING DURING ANY EXERCISE OR ACTIVITY, then either modify technique to make it more tolerable or get examined by a doctor if you think you might be injured.

Yours in health,