Man Maker
A dumbbell complex that chains a push-up, two renegade rows, a squat clean and an overhead press into one rep.
How to do it
- Set two dumbbells on the floor about shoulder-width apart and take a high plank with one hand on each handle.
- Lower your chest toward the dumbbells and press back up, keeping your hips level and your feet wide enough to stay stable.
- Row the right dumbbell to your ribs without letting the hips rotate, lower it under control, then repeat on the left.
- Step or jump both feet up outside your hands so you finish in a deep squat with the dumbbells still on the floor.
- Stand and clean both dumbbells to your shoulders, then press them overhead until your elbows lock out.
- Lower the dumbbells to your shoulders and back to the floor, then return to the plank to start the next repetition.
Key technique cue
Keep the hips square during each row; ribs down, no arching in the press.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Letting the hips rotate during the row, which turns the plank into a twist and pulls load off the working side.
- ✕ Setting the feet too narrow in the plank, which makes the base unstable and forces you to cut the row short.
- ✕ Flaring the ribs and arching the spine on the press, which shifts load off the shoulders and onto the lower back.
- ✕ Chaining the four parts together before each one is clean, which is the fastest way to lose form once fatigue arrives.
Benefits
- ✓ Covers push, pull, squat and press patterns inside a single repetition, so a short set does a lot of work.
- ✓ Drives heart rate high with nothing but a pair of dumbbells, which suits circuits with limited floor space.
- ✓ Exposes trunk stability under fatigue, because the rows require anti-rotation control mid-set.
About the exercise
The man maker stacks four patterns into one repetition. From a high plank with a dumbbell under each shoulder you press through a push-up, row one bell and then the other while keeping the hips square, bring the feet to the hands, then clean the pair to the shoulders and press overhead. The renegade row and the dumbbell squat to overhead press each rate as advanced on their own. Load stays light relative to any single component, because the limiting factor is trunk control under fatigue rather than pressing or pulling strength. It gives conditioning programs one movement that reads as push, pull, squat and press.
Updated
Similar exercises
A week of training and meals built for you
Workoutify plans workouts around your days, time and equipment — and a menu for your goal and macros.