The Underrated Full Body Exercise (That Looks A Little Silly)

Sometimes, the best exercises don’t look very impressive, but this one’s a good one:

Shake it up!

You’ll want a heavy blanket of some kind, or a thick towel. Something that won’t whip/snap.

Then:

• Set your stance: stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and core braced. Hold one end of the towel in each hand.
• Start shaking: explosively shake the towel up and down with both arms, keeping your elbows slightly bent. Focus on powerful, quick movements.
• Add footwork: shuffle side to side, step forwards and backwards, or move in small circles while continuing to shake the towel. Keep your upper and lower body working together, but independently.
• Mix movement planes: alternate between vertical shakes (up and down), horizontal shakes (side to side), or diagonal motions to engage more muscles.
• Adjust intervals: do short bursts (10–20 seconds) going for all-out for conditioning and power; use longer rounds (1–2 minutes), at 65–75% effort for endurance.

The main advantage of this is that it works the body in every direction—lateral, forward, backward, rotational—unlike running, biking, or even burpees that stay in one plane.

It conditions shoulders, arms, and core while improving strength, endurance, balance, and stability. It’s also a good option if lower body impact needs to be reduced (e.g. due to injury, joint problems, etc).

For more on all of this plus a visual demonstration, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!