Overview of Use These 10 Exercises to Completely Transform Your Body with Dr. John Rusin
Shawn Stevenson sits down with strength coach and injury-prevention expert Dr. John Rusin for a practical masterclass on the 10 highest-ROI exercises for improving body composition, performance, mobility, and long-term joint health. The core idea is simple: not all exercises are created equal—the best choices are the ones that are safe, scalable, effective, and transferable to real life and sport.
Dr. Rusin breaks down each movement with coaching cues, loading strategies, progressions, and regressions so people of all training levels can use them effectively. The episode emphasizes that the real payoff comes not just from what you do, but how you program it.
The 10 High-ROI Exercises
1. Trap Bar Deadlift
- Dr. Rusin’s top pick for overall return on investment.
- Benefits:
- More spine-friendly than a conventional deadlift
- Strong emphasis on quads, glutes, hamstrings
- Neutral grip makes it more natural and accessible
- Often allows lifters to use more load safely
- Key point: It’s a highly effective full-body hinge pattern with lower injury risk and better ease of learning.
2. Bulgarian Split Squat
- A brutal but extremely effective unilateral lower-body exercise.
- Benefits:
- Great for quads, glutes, hamstrings, and lateral stability
- Builds single-leg strength and athleticism
- Transfers well to running, cutting, jumping, and aging well
- Loading variations:
- Two dumbbells/kettlebells = most overall strength
- Contralateral load (weight opposite the front leg) = more glute/lateral chain emphasis
- Ipsilateral load (weight on same side as front leg) = more quad emphasis
- Goblet/front rack = more core and upright torso demand
- Coaching cues:
- Use a tripod foot
- Brace and create tension before descending
- Actively drive the back foot into the bench for better pelvic stability
3. Neutral-Grip Pull-Up
- Preferred over many other pull-up variations because it is:
- Shoulder-friendly
- More accessible for many people
- Better for integrating lats, upper back, biceps, forearms, core, and pelvis
- Progressions:
- Band-assisted pull-ups
- Feet-assisted pull-ups with the feet on the floor/rack
- Manual assistance from a partner
- Once ready, Dr. Rusin recommends adding load and treating pull-ups like a serious strength movement.
4. Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
- One of the best hinge exercises for glutes and hamstrings.
- Why it stands out:
- Excellent hamstring lengthening under load
- Strong glute contraction at the top
- Teaches a true hip hinge
- Often superior for hypertrophy compared with a traditional deadlift
- Dr. Rusin favors dumbbells because they allow more natural hand and load positioning throughout the range of motion.
5. Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
- Described as the upper-body equivalent of the Bulgarian split squat.
- Benefits:
- Unilateral pulling
- Heavy core and hip integration
- Great for lats, upper back, shoulder health, and functional hypertrophy
- Common setup options:
- Three-point stance on a bench
- Split stance with a hand supported on a bench or rack
6. Farmer’s Carry
- Framed as the most natural loaded movement: walking.
- Benefits:
- Trains grip, shoulders, core, glutes, balance, gait, and conditioning
- Extremely scalable and accessible
- Useful for youth athletes, adults, and older lifters alike
- Variations:
- Two-hand farmer’s carry
- Suitcase carry
- Front-loaded, offset, backward, side-to-side, or circular carries
- Best use: often as a finisher for 3–5 minute intervals.
7. Reverse Lunge
- Preferred over forward lunges for many people because it is:
- Easier on the knees and lower back
- More loadable
- Better for learning step mechanics
- Key distinction:
- Non-alternating sets are better for strength and hypertrophy
- Alternating sets are better for higher reps, conditioning, or failure training
8. Hip Thrust
- A major glute-builder with wide applicability.
- Useful for:
- Athletic performance
- Aesthetics
- Posterior-chain strength
- Lower-back-friendly training
- Dr. Rusin notes that the movement matters more than any single piece of equipment.
- Variations include:
- Hip thrust machine
- Smith machine
- Heavy banded hip thrusts
- Double-banded variations
9. Loaded Push-Up
- Dr. Rusin argues push-ups are undervalued compared with bench pressing.
- Why they matter:
- Hands-on-ground closed-chain pressing is excellent for shoulder health
- Allows scapular movement and dynamic stabilization
- Can be progressed with extra range of motion and external load
- Ways to load:
- Weighted vest
- Plates on the back
- Bands
- Push-up handles, dumbbells, or kettlebells for deeper range of motion
- Emphasis: Use full ROM and treat it like a true progressive strength exercise.
10. Goblet Squat
- A highly accessible, spine-friendly squat pattern.
- Benefits:
- Encourages a more upright torso
- Helps improve squat depth and technique
- Great for core stability and full-body mechanics
- Dr. Rusin’s goblet squat challenge:
- Use 50% of bodyweight
- Hold it in a goblet/front-rack position
- Perform as many clean reps as possible through full ROM
- Goal is to break 25 reps
- It’s a simple but effective test of squat proficiency and durability.
Key Training Principles Emphasized
Train for Return on Investment
Dr. Rusin repeatedly stresses that the best exercises are:
- Safe
- Accessible
- Effective
- Scalable for beginners and advanced lifters alike
Use the Right Variation for the Goal
The episode highlights that the same movement can be biased differently depending on:
- Load position
- Grip position
- Unilateral vs. bilateral setup
- Range of motion
- Tempo
- Assistance level
Don’t Ignore Programming
- The exercises are only part of the equation.
- Progress happens when the movements are placed into a smart program with:
- Progressive overload
- Proper volume
- Recovery
- Goal-specific intensity
- Dr. Rusin says these movements show up constantly in his programming because they consistently deliver results without unnecessary wear and tear.
Resources Mentioned
Dr. Rusin’s Training Resources
- Unbreakable training app:
becomeunbreakable.com - Book: Pain-Free Performance
- Includes 60+ weeks of programming
- Covers bands/bodyweight through advanced functional hypertrophy
- Comes with thousands of video demonstrations
Bottom Line
This episode is essentially a roadmap to building a stronger, more resilient, more athletic body with fewer wasted reps. Dr. Rusin’s message is clear: focus on big, scalable, high-return movement patterns, learn how to load them properly, and program them with intention. If you’re looking for the most efficient exercises to improve strength, performance, and longevity, this list is a strong place to start.