Whilst many people focus on maximal strength, that’s not the only skill you can work on in the gym. There’s also the art of being supple. Suppleness means being able to bend and move parts of the body easily. You might think holding static stretches is enough to make you more supple, but that isn’t enough. It’s all about fluid movement whilst remaining strong.

How do you make your body more supple? You add variety to your training. Instead of only sticking to the traditional lifts, incorporate movements that hit your end range of motion, work on your balance and allow you to move through different planes of motion. We've put together five exercises, three of which only require your bodyweight - but you can make them more comfortable by using Gym Floor Tiles.

Five Suppleness Exercises

Side Kick Through

This is a great exercise if you’ve not got any equipment available but still want to work on mobility in your lower body. The side kick through is an animal flow style movement where you move from a tabletop position and kick your leg to the opposite side, ending on one arm and foot. It requires mobility in the ankles, knees, and hips. Flowing movements like this are good for improving your suppleness because you’re constantly moving from one position to another.

Turkish Get Up

Achieving an 8kg Kettlebell Turkish get up requires suppleness in the shoulders, hips, and ankles, as well as good core strength and shoulder stability. When stripped back, the movement is all about moving from a lying to standing position, but it’s harder than you might think. Begin with no weight and increase the difficulty by holding a kettlebell, placing more load on the body. If you don’t have access to a kettlebell, you can use a dumbbell.

Windmill

The kettlebell windmill is a core strengthening exercise that mainly works the internal and external obliques. It can improve suppleness because it requires a lot of range during the side bend. You can also perform a ½ kneeling windmill as a regression.

Cossack Squat

Cossack squats are one of few lower body exercises that work in the frontal plane. If you want to be supple then it’s important to move in different planes of motion. The cossack squat is similar to a side lunge, except you’re going deeper into the lunge which requires more hip mobility and flexibility in the adductor muscles. To make this exercise more difficult, hold a barbell overhead.

Gorilla Squat

This is a squat variation that lengthens your hamstrings and increases depth in the bottom of the squat. Starting in a forward fold holding onto your toes, slowly squat down until you’re holding a full squat with your chest lifted. Often you won’t go this low in a traditional barbell or goblet squat, so it’s a good exercise to hit that end of range.

The aim of the exercise is to be able to begin with straight legs and finish in a deep squat with your bum close to the floor.

Remember, it’s not always about lifting as much weight as possible. Being supple has many advantages in daily life and can increase the longevity of your training. Check out our Gym Mats For Home

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Tags: Equipment > Kettlebells