Through my time working out and learning about how to do different exercises, I’ve grown to love some and hate others. There are many exercises that you can use to work any given muscle group, but some are more effective. There are also some exercises that are just ineffective and can even be dangerous if not done correctly. In this post, I’m going to give my favorite, most effective, and generally safe gym exercises. My favorites will definitely be a personal preference, but many others would agree with the effectiveness of them.
- Barbell Squats
As I’ve discussed in my Lower Body blog post, barbell squats work all parts of the legs, as well as the glutes and core. You can modify your depth and stance to slightly change how muscles are worked, and it is a functional exercise. This means that it is a movement that you would perform in day-to-day activities. Low reps and high weight help build strength, and high reps help to build muscle. Overall, this is the main lower body exercise to rely on and anything else can be added in as accessory work.
2. Barbell Bench Press
The bench press has the same benefits of the squat but for the upper body. You work multiple muscle groups: chest, front delts, triceps, and even core for stabilization. This can be done for strength or volume sets, and the bench press has even more room for variation than the squat. A close grip will work more of the triceps, while a wide grip will work more of the chest. Between just these first two exercises, almost every muscle group is worked besides the back, biceps, and hamstrings.
3. Tricep Pushdowns
Any exercise on a cable machine is great because it limits the risk of injury. You can’t fail a rep in the same way that you could with free weights, and there is a somewhat set path of motion for your exercise. Tricep pushdowns can use either a rope or a bar, and isolate the triceps. I’ve found that this is a great exercise to build muscle and you can really work your triceps until failure. Here is a great video showing the form.
4. Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Dumbbells are great for working the biceps because different grip techniques work the muscles differently. A hammer grip (as shown below) works both the biceps and the forearms. The brachioradialis is that visible forearm muscle that connects to the brachialis- which runs under the biceps. Both of these are worked through the curl movement. This will build muscle mass in the biceps and forearms, as well as increase grip strength.
5. Lateral Raises
Lateral raises are a great exercise if done correctly. I would recommend watching the video to learn form because it’s hard to get just from looking at pictures. They will build the lateral delts better than anything else. They’re not my favorite because the burn can get crazy, and your shoulders tire out quickly, but I do them for their effectiveness.
6. Cable Rows
These are good for the mid to upper back. It’s important not to go too heavy and sacrifice form. Otherwise, this will put strain on the lower back and fail to target the intended muscle groups. I usually go light on my last set and try to get as many reps with good form as possible.
If you didn’t notice, throughout those 6 exercises every muscle group is worked. If I were to do a full body workout, that would be my routine. However, more common would be an upper body and lower body split. In that case, I would add some more leg exercises for the lower body day, and then add one or two more to my five upper body exercises on that day.
I really like how you included the different variations for the exercises because I think it gives a great perspective of what can really be done with each one. I also like how the pictures you use highlight the muscles being activated. I am curious since many people still are uncomfortable going to the gym if you had favorite exercises that one can do at home or without any machines.
I really appreciate how you mention what muscle groups are being targeted in each exercise. I am actually quite familiar with some of the exercises you have mentioned in this post because quite a few of them are already incorporated in my workout split throughout the week. Personally, I dislike Bulgarian split squats. Overall, what a great informative post!
I’m personally a big fan of dumbbell workouts and body-weight, but I completely agree with your list. Those exercises do it all consistently and probably most efficiently for the intended goal of getting bigger, stronger, or both. I like how you covered every muscle group too which sort of highlights the best of each. My personal favorites would probably be pull ups for back/chest, hammer curls for arms, incline dumbbell press for chest, and isometrics for legs. Nowhere near the best, but I like those personally.
I appreciate how you included different exercises that do a good job of working different muscle groups, but another thing that I think is important to take into account is what people’s goals are in terms of their working out. For example, someone who is training for a marathon most likely does not need to be doing a heavy barbell bench press in order to help them to reach their goals in running. As a swimmer for example, my strength and conditioning coaches would never have me do tricep pushdowns because that motion is performed so frequently in swimming that training it further is unnecessary and would lead to strain and injury, so instead we train muscle groups that complement those necessary motions.