How to Pick the Right Exercises!
There are many things consumers tend to get hung up on in health and fitness. It is a highly saturated and often confusing space. But fitness is for everyone, and the convoluted nature of the industry only serves to alienate people. We all have bodies, and these bodies were made to move and be resilient! This post is designed to simplify that process. With that in mind, let’s talk about exercise selection.
There are so many exercises to choose from. Not only do we have multiple movement patterns, but we can also vary our grip, hand placement, foot stance, positioning, and modality (barbells, dumbbells, machines, cables, kettlebells, or medicine balls). To the uninitiated, it might seem necessary to consider every exercise in existence - but that simply isn't the case. Some folks also regularly swap out their exercises from week to week, which isn't ideal either. Put simply: keep it simple, and master your chosen movements.
Maybe you’ve seen someone on social media performing a "single-arm cable rear deltoid fly at a downward angle with a cuff." While those variations have their place, it’s best to start this conversation with the basics. The tried-and-true exercises have stood the test of time. If you want to be truly minimalist, these are the only movement patterns you really need:
Upper Body Chest Press (e.g., flat bench press, dips, push-ups)
Upper Body Vertical Press (e.g., overhead press)
Upper Body Horizontal Pull (e.g., rows)
Upper Body Vertical Pull (e.g., pull-ups, lat pulldowns)
Hip Hinge (e.g., deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts)
Squat Pattern (e.g., back squats, hack squats, leg press)
Single-Leg Movement (e.g., lunges, split squats, step-ups)
To simplify this further, you could build incredible full-body strength across a week using just a barbell and a pull-up bar:
Bench Press: Hits the chest, triceps, and front shoulders.
Overhead Press: Works the shoulders, triceps, upper chest, and core.
Barbell Row: Emphasizes the upper back, lats, biceps, and core.
Pull-Ups: Targets the lats, upper back, and biceps.
Romanian Deadlift: Fires up the hamstrings, glutes, and core.
Back Squat: Works the quads, glutes, and adductors.
Bulgarian Split Squat: Deeply challenges the quads, glutes, and balance.
Don’t like barbells? No worries! Try dumbbells instead. Do you prefer the way a cable row feels? That’s totally fine! Don’t overcomplicate the equipment. While there are subtle differences between tools, your choice won't make or break your fitness journey. What matters most is safety, enjoyment, mastering your form, and progressively overloading (gradually increasing the weight or reps) over time.
But what about biceps curls? Or calf raises?
You'll notice isolation movements haven't been mentioned yet. At the end of the day, the average person will make the most progress by sticking to basic compound movements (squats, presses, hip hinges) because they are multi-joint, functional exercises that cover the majority of your bases.
That being said, there is a time and a place for isolations. If you absolutely love lifting weights, are pursuing bodybuilding (casually or competitively), or want to emphasize a lagging muscle group, isolation movements are key. An isolation is a single-joint movement, like a biceps curl or a calf raise.
As a rule of thumb, if you are going to incorporate isolation movements, perform them after your compound movements. Compound exercises allow you to lift heavier weights and require significantly more energy. Hitting them at the beginning of your workout ensures you get the most out of your primary muscles before finishing them off with isolations.
For example, look at this lower-body structure:
1. The Compound Base (The Heavy Hitters)
Barbell Squat & Romanian Deadlift
Note: You can perform all sets of one before moving to the next, or superset them (alternate between sets of each). These two exercises alone hit your entire lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves). Technically, you could stop here and have a great workout.
2. The Isolation Finishers (Fine-Tuning)
Leg Extensions (for the quads)
Hamstring Curls (for the hamstrings)
Calf Raises (for the calves)
There are endless exercises in the fitness library, but a strong argument can be made that 50% to 80% of them are unnecessary. I could easily list 50 different biceps curl variations, but the primary function of the biceps is simply to flex the elbow. Why would we ever need 50 variations to achieve that?
Key Takeaways
Compounds are king. Isolations are great, but they should complement your big movements, not replace them.
The basics win. The tried-and-true movements will always be best. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel!
Consistency beats novelty. Mastering and progressing with a staple exercise is far more beneficial than constantly chasing a trendy new movement.
Enjoy your gains, my friends!
