While combining activities or exercises for greater benefit is not an entirely new idea—think alternating push-ups with jumping jacks—the fitness industry has seen a tremendous recent growth in high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) in a variety of forms. One of the key concepts in this method of exercise is combining movements or alternating between two types of work through intervals for greater benefit. The incredible human body will respond to this by getting stronger, faster and more coordinated through the various movements. Another advantage to this type of training is time savings with the ability to target a variety of benefits in one workout. For the purpose of this article we will keep the focus on strength specifically and how to get even better results from combining one or more strength movements—known as ‘compound exercises.’ There are a variety of ways to combine movements with one primary approach including a lower body move in combination with an upper body, effectively creating a ‘total body’ movement. Squats and lunges may be done along with upper body moves to increase balance, control, coordination and, ultimately, functional strength that repeats the moves we make in real life activities.
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