The hinge pattern
Hip-dominant lower-body work: the hips travel back and forward while the knees stay relatively still.
The shape of the movement
45MOVEMENTS
The glutes and hamstrings produce the movement and the spinal erectors hold position. This is the pattern that transfers most directly to picking things up, and the one most often done with a rounded back and a shrugged neck.
24 of the 45 run without a gym. A pattern with no home version in it is a pattern you will skip.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·PATTERN ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION, NOT BY EQUIPMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How a movement lands in the hinge pattern
- Start from the joint action, not the sensation. A muscle is credited when the action it produces is the one being resisted.
- Credit exactly one role per exercise: prime mover, or synergist and stabiliser. Nothing is listed twice.
- Rank by technical demand on a 1–5 scale — how much practice the movement needs to be done safely, not how hard the set feels.
- Attach the published MET category so the energy figure on every card traces back to the same table.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·ATTRIBUTION BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
Every hinge movement
The other patterns
The questions that come up on the floor
What is the hinge pattern?
Hip-dominant lower-body work: the hips travel back and forward while the knees stay relatively still. The glutes and hamstrings produce the movement and the spinal erectors hold position. This is the pattern that transfers most directly to picking things up, and the one most often done with a rounded back and a shrugged neck.
Which muscles does hinging train?
Across the 45 hinge exercises on this site, the prime movers are the upper back, trapezius, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, lower back. Which one leads depends on the angle and the equipment, not on the pattern alone.
How often should I train the hinge pattern?
Twice a week is a sensible default for every pattern. A programme built on movement patterns rather than muscles is harder to leave holes in — if every week contains a push, a pull, a squat, a hinge, a carry and some trunk work, very little gets missed.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The people behind these sites
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This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
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