Top Exercises for Each Muscle Group 10/84

 Today, I wanted to give you some fuel to build your programs with. People argue back and forth about what exercises are the best for each muscle group so I wanted to put mine out there and let you know my professional opinion. If you've been reading along lately then you know I'm a fan of the basics. There probably won't be any crazy or innovative exercises on this list and that's the way it should be. The basics are the basics for a reason and you should master those before trying to move on. We'll start from the top and work our way down.

Neck: Manual 4-way Neck

Neck harnesses and partner assisted are both great as well but this variation is easy to do if you train alone and is safe for beginners. Neck bridging is something that should be saved for intermediate to advanced lifters because of the potential it posses for injury

Traps: Power Cleans

To this day, nothing hits my traps harder than power cleans, Because I don't do them as often anymore, I always feel it a ton the next day. I'm also sure that my traps were definitely at their biggest when I was competing in Weightlifting full time. Farmer's Carry and shrugs get an honorable mention.

Shoulder: Barbell Strict Press

This became one of my favorite exercises period while I was training it hard a few months ago, My shoulders blew up and I got my strict press from a week 195lbs to a slightly less weak 215lbs in 12 weeks. During that time, I assisted my shoulders with high rep front raises as well as a ton of other pressing exercises.

Pecs: Wide Start Ring Push-up

This is a little variation to a regular ring pushup. Set up the rings wider than shoulder width but keep holding them about shoulder width the whole time. This wide set up forces you to pull your arms together throughout the movement and you'll get crazy activation in your pecs. The need to stabilize help make bulletproof shoulders and you can add some weight for even more challenge.

Lats: Single Arm Dumbbell Row

This classic beast will pile muscle onto your lats, upper back, arms and forearms. Make sure, when you are trying to focus more on your lats, that you pull you elbow straight back and don't shrug your shoulder. Too many people shrug when they get tired and make their upper back do the work. That's part of the reason why you see so many people with jack upper back but no lats (looking at you CrossFitters). Also, your elbow doesn't need to travel much past your body, going too far back take tension off your lats and can cause some issues.

Lower Back: Deadlift

I'll shamelessly add the deadlift here because it needs to go on this list somewhere. Your lower back works a ton on the deadlift to stabilize your spin and well as to help your glutes and hammies extend your hip. Just make sure your back stays flat through the entire movement. Deadlifts are awesome so do them.

Abs/ Obliques: Rollouts

I'm falling in love with rollouts and all their variations because of how effective they are. When doing any variation, make sure to keep your core as tight as possible and don't let you back extend. Use an ab wheel, exercise ball, or TRX for a great exercises that you will definitely feel tomorrow.

Triceps: Cable Pressdowns

There are a ton of exercises you can put here but I love good 'ol cable pressdowns. Once you get your main lifts out of the way it will be beneficial for shoulder and elbow health to hit some isolation exercises like this.

Biceps: Single Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl

Some of the biggest gains I made in my biceps were when I was doing these once a week in a pyramid fashion of 12,10,8,6,10,12. Keep constant tension on the bicep and focus on squeezing throughout the movement. I'm not a fan of letting your arm go 100% straight on this exercise either.

Forearms: Farmer's Carry

One of my favorite exercises period. Blows up your forearms, grip strength, and core strength while adding slabs to your upper back, and shoulders. Not to mention it burns a ton of calories. Just pick up the heaviest dumbbell you can and walk with them. You can also use a trap bar or farmer's walk handles if you're lucky enough to have them.

Glutes: Barbell Hip Bridge

I love these for direct booty work. Here's one reason why I think these are important to add to your squat and deadlift butt building goals. Squats have the  highest glute activation and the bottom of the movement with the hip flexed and deadlifts have the highest at the top when you lock out, but now there is little force required at that point because your body is vertical. On the other hand, bridges have the highest activation with the hip is fully open at the top plus you're horizontal, meaning you need to squeeze HARD the whole time to maintain that position. I'm not saying one is better that the others, but it's is important to have all three in a program.

Glute Honorable Mention: Banded Monster Walks

All my in-person clients know how much I love these. They're a great frontal plane movement that can hit the muscles on the side of you butt super hard. Those muscles (gluteus medius and gluteus minimus) are important for hip stabilization and femoral external rotation.


Hip Flexors: L-Sit Holds or Raises

This is kind of a weird one because few people actually think about working their hip flexors. They're usually just an afterthought for ab exercises but it s important for all of your muscle to work properly and be strong enough. Training these muscles becomes particularly important for athletes who sprint a lot or really anyone who runs. While you're running, if a hip flexor muscle like the psoas is too weak then something like the rectus femoris (a quad muscle that also does hip flexion) will most likely take on more work flexing the hip than it should. This could lead to injuries and poor running mechanics down the line.

Quads: Back or Goblet Squat

Squats are awesome. You should do squats. If your goals is too get big and jacked then you definitely need to be doing back squats. They are thought by many to be the #1 overall muscle building exercise. But (and that's a big but), way too many people's barbell back squats look like garbage due to mobility and strength issues. This is where goblet squats come in. Since goblet squats are front loaded they can help you get a little lower in your squat and with better technique. This can be a pretty sufficient exercises for most people starting out and it's only when you run out of dumbbells that you actually need to move to a bar. Hopefully by that point you've been working enough mobility that your back squat will be looking good.

Hamstrings: RDL and Glute Ham Raise

Double shot for this one. I love both exercises for hamstrings and they both work different movements that this muscle group performs. RDLs (or Romanian Deadlifts) are my favorite hamstring exercise for hip extension while GHDs are my favorite for knee flexion. Both are very important functions of the hamstring that are sometimes out of balance (looking at you again CrossFitters, do more knee flexion).

Calves: Jump Rope

Weaseled out of calf raises on this one even though I often include those in my program. Jumping rope my be the ultimate calf builder outside of running but you need to make sure you do it right. As you jump, really focus on contracting your calves and make sure they are not just working passively as a result if your jump. Practice singles, double-unders, and single leg jumps and do them to start or finish you full body or leg day. Also, message me if you want to hear how I put an inch on my calves in two months. I may do a future post on that too.

Well there you go. Starting adding these exercise to your program and watch the gains come raining down. Don't forget, if you want to be the first to hear about new posts, new programs, and get discounts on paid services, make sure to leave your email in the space above and join my Newsletter list! The list is growing rapidly so don't miss out!

See you tomorrow!

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