Best Exercises For Each Bodypart?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
22

[quote]Eppert wrote:
sentoguy is right on, and took the words right out of my mouth. I wanted this to a reference point for beginners and anyone short on time. I was hoping that most of T-Nation’s finest would have similar ideas, and I was right. If anyone looks at this thread, they can see several lifts repeat from lifter to lifter, so maybe that’ll help them see that it’s a good lift.

I thought asgardian’s post was funny, by the way. haha[/quote]

Well, I hope someone organizes the information, and eventually, this would become a sticky.

23

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
I agree, beginners should stick to the basics and not overcomplicate things. They don’t need to do 3 different exercises per muscle group.

But, I saw this thread as more of an encyclopedia of exercises, kind of a reference for them to refer to if they need a new exercise for a specific body part. And Eppert did ask for the “best 3”, so that’s what I personally listed (IMO).[/quote]
I agree with both of these points 108%.

chest: Low incline dumbbell press, flat barbell bench press, pec-deck

upper back: Rope pulldown, strict barbell (pendlay) row, power clean

shoulders: Barbell push press, 1-arm dumbbell press, 1-arm power lateral raise (explosive “cheat” positive, strict negative)

biceps: Barbell curl, chin-up, 1-arm cable curl

triceps: Neutral grip dumbbell bench press, overhead dumbbell extension, rope pressdown

abs: Full contact twist, hanging leg raise, plank

quads: Front squat, leg press, lunge

hamstrings: Romanian deadlift, 1-leg dumbbell deadlift, standing leg curl

calves: Standing barbell calf raise, seated 1-leg calf raise, toe raise

lower back: Good morning, 45 degree back extension hold static for time (not reps), reverse hyper

forearms: Cable hammer curl w/ rope, farmer’s walk, reverse curl

traps: Close grip snatch, dumbbell shrug, face pull

24

ya, I know my abs would look better if I had bigger arms than abs, but…I don’t know, it’s a work in progress. my ab workout is only 4 lifts, while my chest is 6-8 lifts, and arms is similar. (bench, incline, decline, flyes, incline, decline, cable crossovers) I’m pushing more weight than guys with bigger chests, but that’s not what this post is about, so I’ll stop now.

25

You can’t “Move” your abs by training any more than you can move your biceps to the back of your arm. That’s how your made.

26

chest: DB bench press
upper back: BB rows
shoulders: Strict BB military press (seated or standing)
biceps: Combination of bb/db curls, incline db curls, preacher curls
triceps: Combination of close-grip BP, bb tricep extensions
abs: ?
quads: olympic-style backsquat, front squats
hamstrings: Romanian dead lift
calves: seated calf-raise machine
lower back: deadlifts

27

Chest: bench
Upper back: snatch
Shoulders: Press
Biceps: chins
Triceps: Dips
Abs: front squat
Quads: Oly squat
hams: Glute ham raise
Calves: one legged calf raise
Lower back: Deads

28

Are people afraid of curls or are chins the new superior exercise for building up your biceps? If we’re talking strictly a biceps exercise, chins aren’t the best.

29

[quote]ab_power wrote:
Are people afraid of curls or are chins the new superior exercise for building up your biceps? If we’re talking strictly a biceps exercise, chins aren’t the best.

[/quote]

People are afraid.
You know how I know that Chins aren’t the best
Bicep Builder? Because I do weighted Chins with 90lbs
and my arms are still small.

30

Chest: bench/dips

Upper back: Chins/Snatch/Clean

Shoulders: Press (standing)/Overhead Squat/Snatch

Biceps: Chins/Row

Triceps: Dips/(close grip)bench/Snatch

Abs: Front/Overhead squat, L-Hold/Snatch/Clean

Quads: Front/Back/Overhead squat/Snatch/Clean

hams: Deads/RDL/Snatch/CLean

Calves: Front/Back/Overhead squat/Snatch/Clean

Lower back: Deads/RDL/Row/Snatch/CLean

Back: Chins/Deads/RDL/Row/Snatch/Clean

thats better :slight_smile:

ab_power:
Curls are good, but I’ll take Chin Ups and Rows any day over curls for overall strength and mass.

31

[quote]ab_power wrote:
Are people afraid of curls or are chins the new superior exercise for building up your biceps? If we’re talking strictly a biceps exercise, chins aren’t the best.

[/quote]
http://www.T-Nation.com/article/performance_training/cosgroves_five_ahha_moments&cr=performanceTraining
" Ah-ha! #5: Hypertrophy is a systemic response and effect, not a localized one…Conclusion: If hypertrophy is what you want, develop training strategies that target the entire system at once."

32

chest: Bench Press
upper back: DB/BB Rows or Chin Ups
shoulders: Any form of Shoulder/Military Press
biceps: BB/DB Curls
triceps: Close Grip Bench Press/Skull Crushers
abs: Crunches, Rotational work, planks, squats, and deadlifts. Not sure what is best.
quads: Back squat (legs spread shoulder width, squat to parallel or below.
hamstrings: Romanian Deadlift
calves: Calf Raises
lower back: Good Mornings, Deadlifts, Back extensions (not hyper)
(another one or two of your choice if you must): Deadlift

33

[quote]stuward wrote:
ab_power wrote:
Are people afraid of curls or are chins the new superior exercise for building up your biceps? If we’re talking strictly a biceps exercise, chins aren’t the best.

http://www.T-Nation.com/article/performance_training/cosgroves_five_ahha_moments&cr=performanceTraining
" Ah-ha! #5: Hypertrophy is a systemic response and effect, not a localized one…Conclusion: If hypertrophy is what you want, develop training strategies that target the entire system at once."

[/quote]

I hope this was a sarcastic post.

34

There is NO “best”. Their effectiveness will change depending on your build, training history, injury history etc.

OTOH there might be some strong candidates for worst, LOL

35

chest: Barbell Bench Press, DB Inclines, Barbell Inclines

upper back: Weighted Pullups, DB Rows, Barbell Rows

shoulders: Military Press, DB Press, Arnold Press

biceps: Barbell Curls, Hammer Curls, Alternate DB Curls

triceps: Close Grip Bench, Skull Crushers, Pushdowns

abs: Deadlifts, Squats, Crunches

quads: squats, Leg Press, Hack Squats

hamstrings: SL Deadlifts, Regular Deadlift, Goodmornings

calves: Standing Raises, Donkey Raises, Seated Raises

lower back: Deadlift, SLD, Goodmornings

36

chest: Dumbbell flat bench or ultra wides

upper back: Hang Clean

shoulders: Mine suck, but I’m fixing that with Military press

biceps: Another neglected muscle for me

triceps: Close grip bench

abs: being skinny

quads: Front Squats

hamstrings: Sumo pull, GHR

calves: sprinting

lower back: good morning

These are what work for me, who knows what the best is?

37

420×891 83.8 KB

377×800 338 KB

38

looks like we have a winner. several winners, to be exact. thanks to all who contributed to this thread. the red x’s are my input. after my “got as far as I can go on my own” thread, I leaned what works best for me. in the red x’s (and some others that I didn’t x on) I use DB’s where I can, excluding flat bench press.

39

[quote]Otep wrote:
undeadlift wrote:
I’m KISS. 4 exercises are enough, especially for beginners.

Chest: Dips
Upper back: Chins
Shoulders: Dips
Biceps: Chins
Triceps: Dips
Abs: Deadlifts
Quads: Squats
Hamstrings: Deadlifts
Calves: Squats
Lower back: Deadlifts

I agree, just…

Chest: cleans
Upper back: cleans
Shoulders: cleans
Biceps: cleans
Triceps: Jerks
Abs: jerks
Quads: Squats
Hamstrings: Squats
Calves: cleans
Lower back: cleans[/quote]

Personally, I favor training and developing all of my muscles.

40

chest: wide grip barbell bench
upper back: DB rows
shoulders: militaries
biceps: standing BB curls
triceps: close grip high board press
abs: OLY lifts
quads: front squats maybe leg press
hamstrings: glute ham raise
calves: seated calf-raise machine
lower back: deadlifts

41

If people did as little excercises as they could to get the same effect why do people say deadlift when they can say clean, or snatch they are basically using the same muscles, but more?

E.G. the 3 excerices most would choose:
Squat
Dead
Bench

the 3 excrcises I would choose:
Snatch (or C&J)
Muscle up (or Chin&Dip)