Most exercise lists group the movements by body part worked or type of equipment.
But switching things up is a great way to stay motivated on your fitness journey! So let’s change this up, shall we?
An alphabet workout is a nice change of pace. Do one exercise from each letter of the alphabet, or choose one letter and do as many moves as possible!
Let’s kick into it with a list of exercises that start with the letter F.
Here are some of the best exercises that start with F:
- Football Up & Down
- Front Curtsy Lunge
- Front Raise (Dumbbells)
- Foot Switch Alternating
- Front Squat
- Floor Wiper
- Front Plate Raise
- Front Plank
- Farmer’s Walk
- Flyes
- Forearm Curl
- Figure Eight
Let’s look at why each exercise deserves to be on this list, and how you can incorporate these into your workouts.
1. Football Up and Down
The football up and down is a cardio and strength building exercise that combines running in place with burpees.
This is a great exercise for improving coordination and agility.
How To:
- Stand with feet shoulder width apart, crouched down slightly in a half squat position. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees.
- Begin to run on the spot, quickly hopping from one foot to the other, remaining on the balls of your feet. Keep your arms static as you do this fast, explosive movement. Complete 8 quick hops without stopping.
- Crouch down and prepare to put your hands on the floor under your shoulders.
- Take your weight into your hands and shoulders and jump both of your feet out behind you to straighten your legs, keeping the core engaged.
- Get into a high plank position, weight on your hands and toes, in preparation for doing a push up.
- Bend your elbows and lower your upper body to the floor into a push up, chest in between your hands. Touch your chest to the floor and lift your palms up briefly. Keep your feet hip-width apart.
- Press your palms back into the floor to push your upper body back up away from the floor, completing the press up.
- Jump your legs underneath you, preparing to come back to standing in the half-squat position, knees bent but soft.
- Land with your feet shoulder width apart. Transfer your bodyweight back onto your legs and bend your elbows into the preparatory stage position.
- Run on the spot rapidly for 8 hops before jumping down again and repeating the sequence.
Muscles Worked:
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Calves
- External obliques
- Pectorals
2. Front Curtsy Lunge
The front curtsy lunge is great for building lower body strength and stability: it targets the quads, glutes, hip abductors and inner thighs.
The gluteus medius, which is often neglected, makes this an important move.
How To:
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms in front of you, hands held together in front of the upper chest.
- Put your weight into your left foot, step your right foot forward and in front of your left knee to do a forward curtsy movement. Keep the spine in alignment. Stop when your thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Begin to straighten your right leg, pushing up through your heel, returning to your right and left foot at the same time to the starting position.
- Repeat on the other side.
Muscles Worked:
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Hip abductors
- Inner thighs
3. Front Raise with Dumbbells
The front raise is an isolation exercise for the deltoids. Start by choosing dumbbells of a suitable weight. If you are new to weightlifting you should start with a set of light weights and plan to do 10-12 reps for 3 sets.
As you lift the weights, think 3 counts up and 3 counts down, controlling the weights all the way up and down.
How To:
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep the back straight and feet planted flat on the floor. Hold the dumbbells by the sides of your thighs horizontally, palms facing towards the thighs. Engage the core.
- Inhale and slowly lift the weights upwards, arms directly in front of you. Keep a slight bend in the elbows to reduce the impact on the joints.
- Pause when the arms are approximately horizontal to the floor.
- Hold for 2 seconds in the top position.
- Exhale as you slowly return the dumbbells to the start position by the thighs. Keep the core engaged throughout.
Muscles Worked:
- Front deltoids
- Pectorals
- Serratus
4. Foot Switch (Alternating)
The foot switch is a mountain climber variation that involves all the core muscles. The explosive alternating foot switch requires fitness and coordination.
Make sure you keep your back straight and flat, in alignment with the neck and head. Do not raise your hips – keep the pelvis tucked as you perform the switches.
How To:
- Start in the high plank position with your wrists under your shoulders, feet hip-width apart, head/neck and spine in alignment.
- Engage the core and swing/jump the right foot to the right side of the body, knee bent, foot flat on the floor.
- Swing the right foot back to its starting point, almost hitting the left foot as you immediately swing the left foot to the left side of the body. Building up a rhythm, continue to switch feet.
Muscles Worked:
- Abdominals
- Obliques
- Lower Back
5. Front Squat
The front squat allows you to place emphasis on the hamstring, glutes and vastus medialis (the teardrop quad muscle).
Many people find the front squat also helps them to maintain a more upright torso while squatting.
How To:
- Stand with feet shoulder width apart and a barbell resting across the front of the shoulders. Place your finger tips under the bar inside shoulder width and lift your elbows up. Engage your core and lift your chest up.
- Hinge the hips as you descend into a parallel squat position.
- Push your heels into the floor as your drive abc to the start position.
Muscles Worked:
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Abdominals
- Lower Back
6. Floor Wiper
The floor wiper builds upper body strength while simultaneously building core strength, both linearly and diagonally.
This means that all your abdominal muscle fibers are engaged dynamically, while an isometric stress is placed on your upper extremities to give you a great upper body workout, all while you’re lying down.
How To:
- Place a barbell on the floor and stand in front of it. Lie face up with your legs extended and feet together. Place your hands shoulder width apart on the barbell behind you and bring the bar directly above your chest.
- Flexing at the hips, engage your abdominals to bring your legs up.
- Keeping your legs straight, direct your feet toward the left end of the bar.
- Lower both legs down toward the floor in the center without making contact with the floor.
- Keeping your legs straight, direct your feet toward the right end of the bar.
- Continue alternating sides without letting your feet touch the floor.
Muscles Worked:
- Abdominals
- Pectorals
- Triceps
- Hip Flexors
7. Front Plate Raise
The front plate raise is an isolation exercise that has you flexing your shoulders while holding a weight for resistance. It primarily works the front delts, with assistance from the serratus anterior, biceps brachii, and pectoralis major.
Use a 10-pound, 25-pound, or 45-pound plate, depending on your strength and number of reps.
How To:
- Stand with your feet parallel and shoulder width apart, with your knees soft and your pelvis slightly tucked in. Grip a weight plate with both hands using a hammer grip position. Keep your arms stationary, your elbows close to your torso, and your shoulders down and back away from your ears.
- Raise the plate to shoulder height.
- Slowly lower the plate back to the starting position.
Muscles Worked:
- Front deltoids
- Serratus anterior
- Biceps
- Pectorals
8. Front Plank
The front plank is an isometric exercise that will engage your entire core. It also recruits a large number of stabilizer muscles to keep you in place.
If the elbow position is too challenging, extend your arms to rest on your palms.
How To:
- Lie on your stomach on the floor, with your elbows bent, forearms flat on the floor, toes tucked.
- Press through your forearms and toes to lift your body off the floor. Keep your core tight, back flat,and legs straight so your head, back, and legs form a straight line.
- Hold for 30 seconds before slowly lowering yourself to the start position.
Muscles Worked:
- Abdominals
- Lower Back
- Deltoids
9. Farmer’s Walk
The farmer’s walk is a dynamic exercise that works the deltoids, forearms and core muscles, along with many of the smaller stabilizer muscles in your upper body.
How To:
- Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells and stand with them held at your sides.
- Take a large step forward with your right foot, keeping your torso upright.
- Follow through with the left foot.
- Continue walking 10 steps forward.
- Turn around and return to the start position.
Muscles Worked:
- Deltoids
- Abdominals
- Lower Back
- Obliques
- Forearms
10. Flyes
The flye is a classic chest exercise that gives your pectorals a great stretch, working them through their full range of motion.
It can be done either with dumbbells or a cable. Either way is great. Here we describe the dumbbell version.
How To:
- Lie on a flat bench with a pair of dumbbells in your hands. Place your feet firmly on the floor. Lift your arms up above your chest with palms facing each other. Bend your elbows slightly and keep them locked in that position.
- Hinge at the shoulder joint to bring your arms out and down until the dumbbells are parallel to your torso. Do not drop lower or you may cause damage to the shoulder joint.
- Bring the dumbbells back up to meet in the middle of the chest.
Muscles Worked:
- Pectorals
- Front deltoids
- Triceps
11. Forearm Curl
The forearm curls are done on the edge of a bench with a focus on wrist flexion and extension. This places the emphasis on the forearms flexor and extensor muscles along with the brachialis and, to a lesser extent, the biceps brachii.
The exercise can be done with either dumbbells or a barbell. The dumbbell version allows you to focus on each arm individually and is the version described here.
How To:
- Sit on your knees side on to a bench with dumbbells in your hands. Place your forearms on the bench with palma side up and hands hanging over the edge of the bench.
- Extend the dumbbells down to full wrist extension.
- Curl the wrist back up to full flexion.
Muscles Worked:
- Brachialis
- Forearm flexors
- Forearm extensors
- Biceps Brachii
12. Figure Eight
This exercise is also known as the kettlebell figure eight. It is a great move to strengthen your core, especially the obliques and intercostals.
It can also be done with a dumbbell but it’s easier to pass the kettlebell between your legs.
How To:
- Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width and a kettlebell held in your right hand. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward with your torso at a 30 degree angle.
- Hold the kettlebell between your legs about a foot from the floor.
- Pass the kettlebell through your leg to the left hand, bringing it around and through to the right hand, behind the right leg to form a figure eight.
- Continue moving in this figure eight motion to complete your rep count.
Muscles Worked:
- Quadriceps
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
- Obliques
- Intercostals
- Lower back
- Biceps
- Deltoids
Wrapping Up
The dozen exercises beginning with F presented above cover every muscle group and every type of training from resistance training to functional fitness and even yoga.
Put them together to form an F’ing tough challenge – or mix and match them with other letter exercises to create a unique workout.
Good luck!
For more alphabet workouts, see:
Hope this helps!