The Most Difficult Exercise, Ranked

Voting rules: Choose the exercise you think is the most difficult!

Updated on Apr 30, 2024 06:24

Determining the toughest exercise can be quite subjective, varying widely from person to person depending on a myriad of factors such as physical condition, experience level, and personal preferences. However, having a clear ranking based on popular opinion can provide valuable insights, especially for newcomers trying to navigate their fitness journey. This list is compiled from the votes of countless fitness enthusiasts who have shared their experiences and challenges. By engaging with this list, users not only contribute to a broader understanding of exercise difficulty but also gain perspective on what may lie ahead in their own fitness paths. Voting on or browsing through these rankings might inform your next workout choices, and foster a community of informed, motivated individuals who are eager to push their limits. Each vote helps refine and adjust the list to more accurately reflect the challenges posed by various exercises.

What Is the Most Difficult Exercise?

1

89
votes
One-arm pull-up

This exercise requires a tremendous amount of upper body strength, particularly in the back and arms. It involves pulling your entire body weight up using only one arm.
The one-arm pull-up is a demanding exercise that involves performing a pull-up while gripping the bar with only one hand. It requires significant upper body strength, grip strength, and core stability. The exercise targets the back muscles, particularly the latissimus dorsi, biceps, and the muscles of the forearm.

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Muscles Targeted: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms

Equipment: Pull-up bar or rings

Grip: One hand pronated (overhand) grip

Execution: Hang from the bar with one hand, keeping the body straight. Pull yourself up until the chin is over the bar, then lower back down with control.
2

30
votes
Planche

The planche is a gymnastics move that involves holding your body parallel to the ground with your hands planted on the floor. It requires an immense amount of core and upper body strength, as well as balance and control.
The Planche is an advanced gymnastic exercise that requires significant upper body strength and control. In this move, the body is held parallel to the ground, with only the hands touching the floor for support. The legs and torso are lifted off the ground, leaving the body in a horizontal position. It is considered one of the most difficult bodyweight exercises due to the immense upper body strength and core stability required.

Muscle Groups Targeted: Shoulders, chest, triceps, core

Level of Difficulty: Advanced

Body Position: Parallel to the ground, with hands supporting the body

Hand Placement: Hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart

Elbow Angle: Straight, locked out
3

29
votes
Silentrunner at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Front lever

The front lever is another gymnastics move that involves holding your body parallel to the ground. In this exercise, you're hanging from a bar and holding your body straight out in front of you. It requires a great deal of upper body and core strength, as well as grip strength.
The Front lever is a highly challenging bodyweight exercise that primarily targets the muscles of the core, back, and shoulders. It involves suspending the body horizontally while holding onto a horizontal bar, with the legs extended and parallel to the ground.

Muscles Targeted: Core, Back, Shoulders

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Body Position: Horizontal with legs extended and parallel to the ground

Grip: Overhand

Required Strength: Strong core, back, and shoulder muscles
4

11
votes
Muscle-up

The muscle-up is a combination pull-up and dip. You start by hanging from a bar and pulling your body up until your chest is at the bar, then you transition into a dip and press your body up to the top of the bar. It requires a lot of upper body strength and explosive power.
The Muscle-up is an advanced upper body exercise that combines elements of both pull-ups and dips. It involves transitioning from a hanging position below the bar to a position where the arms are fully extended and the body is above the bar.

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Primary Muscles Targeted: Back, Chest, Shoulders, Arms

Secondary Muscles Targeted: Core, Biceps

Equipment Required: Pull-up bar or gymnastic rings

Movement Type: Compound
5

5
votes
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Stephanie Rubi · Public domain

Handstand push-up

This exercise involves doing a push-up while in a handstand position. It requires a lot of upper body strength, balance, and control.
The Handstand push-up is a challenging exercise that targets the upper body and requires a great deal of strength, stability, and balance. It is performed in a handstand position, with the body inverted and supported by the hands while performing a push-up motion.

Muscles targeted: Shoulders, triceps, upper chest, and core

Difficulty level: Advanced

Balance requirement: High

Strength requirement: High

Stability requirement: High
Handstand push-up in other rankings
- Position 2 of 10 in Most difficult movement in CrossFit
6

15
votes
Human flag

The human flag is a gymnastics move that involves holding your body parallel to a vertical pole or bar, with your hands holding onto the bar and your body extended straight out to the side. It requires a tremendous amount of upper body and core strength, as well as balance and control.
The Human flag is a challenging bodyweight exercise that involves holding the body parallel to the ground while gripping a vertical object with hands. The legs are extended straight out sideways, resembling a horizontal flag. It requires a high level of upper body strength, core stability, and control.

Muscles Targeted: Shoulders, arms, back, obliques, and core muscles

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Equipment Needed: A vertical object sturdy enough to support bodyweight, such as a flagpole or stable vertical bar

Grip Technique: Overhand or underhand grip with hands shoulder-width apart

Execution: Bracing the core, the body is held horizontally with legs fully extended to the sides, and arms gripping the vertical object
7

8
votes
One-arm push-up

Similar to the one-arm pull-up, this exercise requires a lot of upper body strength, particularly in the chest, shoulders, and triceps. It involves doing a push-up with one arm while keeping your body straight and balanced.
The one-arm push-up is a challenging variation of the traditional push-up exercise that targets the upper body and core muscles. In this exercise, the individual performs a push-up movement using only one arm, while the other arm is kept behind the back.

Muscles Targeted: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Balance Required: High

Stability: Challenging due to single-arm support

Equipment: No equipment required
8

6
votes
Photograph: Frank C. Müller, Baden-Baden · CC BY-SA 4.0

Planche push-up

This exercise combines the planche and the push-up. It involves holding your body parallel to the ground with your hands planted on the floor, then lowering your body down into a push-up while keeping your legs off the ground. It requires a tremendous amount of upper body and core strength.
The Planche push-up is an extremely challenging exercise that requires significant upper body strength and balance. It involves holding the body parallel to the ground while performing a push-up motion. The exercise primarily targets the shoulders, chest, triceps, and core muscles.

Difficulty: Very Difficult

Upper Body Strength: High

Balance: Critical

Muscles Targeted: Shoulders, Chest, Triceps, Core

Equipment: No equipment needed
Planche push-up in other rankings
- Position 2 of 10 in Most difficult push-up
9

4
votes
Pistol squat

The pistol squat is a one-legged squat that involves lowering your body down until your thigh is parallel to the ground, then standing back up again. It requires a lot of leg strength and balance.
The pistol squat is a challenging single-leg squat exercise that requires balance, flexibility, and strength. It involves lowering down into a deep squat position while keeping one leg extended straight in front of the body.

Difficulty Level: Advanced

Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves, Core

Equipment: None (can optionally use a prop for balance)

Balance Requirement: High

Flexibility Requirement: High (especially in the hips, hamstrings, and ankles)
Pistol squat in other rankings
- Position 3 of 10 in Most difficult movement in CrossFit
10

2
votes
Dragon flag

The dragon flag is an exercise made famous by Bruce Lee. It involves lying on your back on a bench or other elevated surface, then lifting your entire body up off the bench using only your upper body and core strength. It requires a lot of upper body and core strength, as well as balance and control.
The Dragon flag is an advanced abdominal exercise that requires both core strength and control. It involves lying on your back with your hands holding onto a bench or bar above your head, then lifting your entire body off the ground while keeping it straight, and lowering it back down.

Muscles targeted: Rectus abdominis, obliques, hip flexors, and hip extensors

Difficulty level: Advanced

Core strength requirement: High

Equipment needed: Bench or bar

Progression: Can be progressed by increasing the range of motion or adding weights

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Discussion

Ranking factors for difficult exercise

Muscle groups involved

Exercises that engage multiple large muscle groups simultaneously are often considered more challenging. For example, compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and pull-ups recruit multiple muscles across various joints, increasing the overall difficulty.
Balance and stability

Exercises requiring a high level of balance and stability, such as single-leg moves or exercises using unstable surfaces (like BOSU balls or suspension trainers), can be more challenging as they demand greater muscle activation and control.
Technique and form

Complex exercises involving a higher degree of skill, precision, and technique can be more challenging, especially when learning a new movement or trying to maintain proper form.
Intensity and resistance

The level of resistance or intensity of an exercise – such as the amount of weight lifted or the speed at which the movement is performed – can heavily impact difficulty. Higher resistance or intensity may demand greater strength and endurance.
Range of motion

Exercises that require a large range of motion, like deep squats or full-range pull-ups, place more demand on the muscles and are generally considered more difficult.
Fatigue and endurance

Exercises that push the body to its limits of fatigue and endurance can be more challenging, particularly for the cardiovascular system and overall muscle stamina.
Progression and adaptability

Some exercises can be easily modified to increase difficulty and complexity, making them more challenging as you progress in fitness levels and capabilities.
Personal factors

Individual factors like flexibility, mobility, balance, and strength can impact the difficulty of an exercise. A movement that may be relatively simple for one person can be extremely challenging for another based on individual limitations or weaknesses.
Injury risk

Exercises with a higher risk of injury or requiring more caution and control in execution should be taken into account when determining difficulty.
Mental and psychological challenge

The mental or psychological aspects of an exercise, such as focus, motivation, and overcoming fear, can also contribute to its difficulty.

About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most difficult exercise. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or exercise is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

2246 views
198 votes
10 ranked items

Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each exercise once every 24 hours. The rank of each exercise is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

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More information on most difficult exercise

When it comes to fitness, everyone has their own preferred exercises and workout routines. However, some exercises are notoriously difficult and require a lot of strength, endurance, and mental toughness to complete. The most difficult exercises are often those that engage multiple muscle groups and require proper form to avoid injury. Some examples of these challenging exercises include the deadlift, pull-up, squat, and burpee. These exercises not only require physical strength but also mental fortitude to push through the discomfort and fatigue. While they may be difficult, mastering these exercises can lead to significant improvements in overall fitness and strength.