Vintage Muscle Workout – 4 exercises for more strength

Reading time: 5 minutes

TV coach and personal trainer Arne Derricks presents effective classic workouts that provide functional training for entire muscle chains. Here, we'll train the extensor, tensile, and compressive muscles, as well as the core. Arne presents classic exercises for this workout that can be performed using both bodyweight and tools from the ARTZT Vintage Series.

Exercise 1: Extensor Chain 1.0 – the Squats

Important for squats: First, stand up parallel, ensuring a stable stance with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Then shift your weight slightly onto your heels. Also, consciously pull your arms down and back, building up slight pressure between your shoulder blades. Then lower yourself slightly, with most of your weight on your heels. Bring your knees forward as high as your tiptoes, and keep your arms stretched out in front of you as you go down. Turn your legs slightly outwards. This allows you to be more flexible in the hips when squatting. Look forward when squatting, and—very importantly—keep your back completely straight. If you find this difficult, reduce the height or depth of the squat. The more mobile your hips are, the easier it will be for you to lower yourself deeply into the squat with a straight back.

Variation: Extensor Chain 2.0 – Progression with additional weight

If this exercise goes well, it's time to move on to Level 2. Arne uses the 3-kilo version from the ARTZT Vintage Series medicine ball range, which includes six different weight classes.

The medicine ball is used as an additional weight during the squat as part of the arm movement. This provides increased impact on the back thanks to the additional weight and the longer lever. It also trains the shoulders. If you squeeze the ball as tightly as possible while extending your arms, you'll also incorporate the pectoral muscles into this effective exercise. Don't forget to relax your facial muscles! When practicing squats, Arne recommends performing the movements from all angles, keeping a controlled eye on them in front of a mirror.

Exercise 2: The Pull Chain – Deadlift

This exercise is often done with a weighted bar, but Arne uses ARTZT Vintage Series medicine balls. But first the basics: Put your hands behind your head, elbows and shoulders form a straight line. It's important that your stomach participates actively and gives your pelvis stability. Knees are slightly bent. Now imagine you are standing with your toes on the edge of a cliff and looking down. You will only fall if you bring too much weight forward, so make sure that your weight is on your heels so that you have a secure footing for this exercise. Now bend straight forward from your pelvis with your back straight. You should feel the tension in your buttocks, the entire back of your legs is active in this exercise. Look down and from a horizontal position back up again. Once you have mastered this movement sequence – please check yourself in the mirror here too – it's time to increase the difficulty.

Variation: Pull chain 2.0 – reinforcement with additional weight

To reinforce the deadlifts, we're again using an ARTZT Vintage Series medicine ball. Arne chooses the heavy 5-kilo ball for this exercise.

In Level 1, you hold the ball in front of your body with straight arms. With the deadlift, you lower the weight—that is, the medicine ball—to just above the floor and then come back up. Make sure your shoulders aren't pulled forward by the weight of the ball during the movement! If you want to make this a bit more challenging, hold the ball in front of your chest with bent arms. You'll see that this is significantly more challenging. Squeeze the ball firmly. If you feel the pull in your glutes and the back of your legs, you're doing everything right.

Exercise 3: The push-up chain

To make things more comfortable, we'll add the ARTZT Vintage Series gymnastics mat for padding for the next sequence. Let's start with the kneeling push-up. For this, kneel on the mat with your hands on the floor in front of the mat. Your shoulders and pelvis are aligned, and the angle between your thighs and torso is greater than 90 degrees. Your upper body remains in a fixed position, and you lower and raise it using only the strength of your arm and chest muscles. Inhale to lower, exhale to raise. Once you've mastered Level 1, move on to the next more difficult level.

Variation: Push Chain 2.0

Now, instead of the simple push-up variation with your knees on the floor, try doing a push-up with your legs straight. If it becomes too strenuous, switch back to your knees. This way, you can increase the number of long push-ups you can do in each workout.

Here, too, there's an even greater improvement, namely with the help of a medicine ball from the ARTZT Vintage Series. Arne chooses a slightly smaller one; for him, this exercise is about shoulder stabilization and balance, among other things. To do this, he assumes the position from Level 1 and supports himself with one hand on the ARTZT Vintage Series medicine ball. The ball is placed under his elbow. When performing the push-up, Arne now has a different load on the opposite side of his body. This exercise can be expanded and varied in many ways by changing sides after several repetitions and/or between long and short push-up positions, or by performing a "rollover" of the medicine ball from one side to the other during the exercise. All of this, of course, benefits not only the muscles but also balance and body awareness.

Exercise 4: The Core Chain – Russian Twist

Abdominal muscle training is a must in any exercise series, but for this sequence Arne has come up with something different instead of the usual exercises: the Russian Twist. The Russian Twist is a twisting movement that is performed with the upper body. To do it, first sit on the ARTZT Vintage Series gymnastics mat with your knees slightly bent and your upper body stretched out. Now, with your back straight, go backwards into a lounger position and from there twist to the right and left until your fingertips touch the floor to the side. Make sure your torso is stable and your back is stretched out; the twisting movement comes from your lumbar spine. The exercise becomes even more challenging if you lift your legs slightly and let them swing in the opposite direction to the arm movement.

Variation: Core Chain 2.0

Of course, the highlight of this exercise cannot be missed: We again use an ARTZT Vintage Series medicine ball as additional weight and move it to the side as we rotate our torso.

These classic exercises provide you with a challenging, effective full-body workout that you can do almost anywhere. Have fun!