The 100 Best Exercises to Train Each Muscle Group
Here on Lift Learn Grow we’ve covered a lot of topics;
- The difference between compound and isolation exercises
- How to calculate your daily calorie needs
- How to improve your big lifts like the shoulder press
- Even whether you should cut or bulk first
However, what we haven’t done yet is to provide a straightforward list of exercises for each body part so you can decide what you want to do.
You might ask, “what’s the point of doing this?” To which I’d say… Maybe you need to switch out an exercise to help overcome a workout plateaubut aren’t sure what to choose or you want to use barbell exercises so you can correct a muscle imbalance.
It could be that you want to create your own workout plan.
Perhaps you’re just curious about what’s possible. Whatever the case may be here’s a big ass list of exercises, and to keep it simple the list is split by body part and includes;
- Barbell exercises
- Dumbbell exercises
- Cable / machine exercises
Let’s get into it.
Related: What Are Compound and Isolation Exercises? & Everything You Need to Know About Building Muscle and Strength
Chest Exercises
All compound chest exercises will also work the shoulders and triceps.
Barbell Exercises
- Incline barbell bench press
- Flat barbell bench press
- Decline barbell bench press
- Guillotine (neck) press
- Close grip bench press
Dumbbell Exercises
- Incline dumbbell bench press
- Flat dumbbell bench press
- Decline dumbbell bench press
- Dumbbell pullover
- Dumbbell chest fly
- Dumbbell floor press
Cable / Machine Exercises
- Cable chest fly
- Cable chest press
- Cable crossover
- Incline machine bench press
- Flat machine bench press
- Pec dec
- Dip machine
Other
Related: The Best Exercises For A Bigger, Stronger Chest & 15 Tips to Increase Your Bench Press
Back Exercises
All compound back exercises will also work the biceps.
Barbell Exercises
- Standard deadlift
- Sumo deadlift
- Romanian deadlift
- Trap bar deadlift
- Bent over rows
- Pendley rows
- T-bar rows
- Barbell shrugs
- Barbell chest supported rows
Dumbbell Exercises
Cable / Machine Exercises
- Lat pulldowns – wide & narrow grip
- Seated rows – wide & narrow grip
- Standing push down
- Hyperextensions
Other
Related: The Best Exercises For A Bigger, Stronger Back & 14 Tips to Increase Your Deadlift
Legs Exercises
All leg exercises will work some combination of the quads, hamstring, glutes and calves.
Barbell Exercises
- Barbell back squats
- Barbell front squats
- Barbell lunges
- Barbell Bulgarian split squat
- Barbell step-ups
- Good mornings
- Romanian deadlifts
- Barbell hip thrusts
- Standing calf raises
- Hack squat
Dumbbell Exercises
- Dumbbell front squat
- Goblet squat
- Dumbbell lunges
- Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat
- Dumbbell step-ups
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts
- Dumbbell hip thrusts
- Dumbbell glute bridges
- Standing calf raises
Cable / Machine Exercises
Related: The Best Exercises For Bigger, Stronger Legs & 16 Tips to Increase Your Back Squat
Shoulders Exercises
Compound shoulder exercises will also work the triceps
Barbell Exercises
Dumbbell Exercises
- Standing dumbbell shoulder press
- Seated dumbbell shoulder press
- Arnold press
- Cuban press
- Single arm dumbbell press
- Dumbbell lateral raises
- Dumbbell front raises
- Dumbbell reverse flys
Cable / Machine Exercises
- Machine shoulder press
- Machine lat raise
- Cable lat raise
- Cable front raise
- Cable reverse fly
- Cable face pulls
Related: The Best Exercises For Bigger, Stronger Shoulders & 12 Tips to Increase Your Shoulder Press
Bicep Exercises
Barbell Exercises
Dumbbell Exercises
Cable / Machine Exercises
Triceps Exercises
Barbell Exercises
Dumbbell Exercises
Cable / Machine Exercises
Others
Ab Exercises
- Barbell ab rollouts
- Side bends
- Cable crunches
- Farmers walk
- Sit up machine
- Leg raises
- Knee raises
- Ab crunches
- Russian twists
- Plank hold
- Side plank hold
Related: The Truth About Getting Six Pack Abs
There we have it, a list of the weight lifting exercises for each body part. This list is by no means exhaustive but it does include some of the most effective exercises for each body part.
