I had one of those Reddit scrolling sessions the other day and as I was getting up for a good sit-down (read: take a shit), this post caught my attention:
I’ve seen some variation of this question a few times on Instagram, so let me kung fu kick a few motherfecking words out of this post…
…and let’s talk about the best exercises for muscle growth (and fat loss cuz training for muscle growth and fat loss is the same). First, a quote by Sean Nalewanyj:
“<…> Technically speaking, if your goal was to maximize hypertrophy 100% and you could determine that a specific movement was the absolute BEST possible option for a given muscle… I suppose that’d be a “must” for you. <…> But in practical terms <…> there are no individual exercises you absolutely HAVE to do.”
Social media is full of reels ramming “Top 3/5/10 best exercises for muscle growth” down your throat when in reality, exercise selection is a bit more complex and nuanced than that. Choosing exercises solely because someone claims they’re best or optimal for muscle growth can lead to doing exercises you hate, find highly inconvenient, or profoundly stupid.
This is why, instead of giving you a specific list of exercises, I will walk you through my 4-step checklist I use to choose the best exercises for muscle growth for my clients.
When I design programs for my clients, I’m thinking about hitting these four:
- Does that exercise put a high amount of tension on a target muscle?
- Can you take that exercise close to failure and progress over time (safely)?
- Does that exercise feel good?
- Do you enjoy doing that exercise?
I suspect you have questions. So let’s go over each one and learn why you need to tick those four boxes if you want to maximize muscle growth.
1. Does that exercise put a high amount of tension on a target muscle?
Muscle growth results from your muscles working against resistance. However, you need to create a significant amount of tension in the specific aka target muscle group. If the stimulus is sufficient, your muscles adapt by getting bigger and stronger. So you need to train with sufficient load and effort (more on that later).
The other thing is that high tension needs to be applied to a target muscle. For example, if you want to target quads, you wouldn’t do Bosu ball squat.
For one, there are 95 reasons why that exercise is stupid. Second, since stability is the limiting factor, you would limit tension on your quads because you wouldn’t be able to train with a heavy enough load and take a set close enough to failure. Like I said, stupid. Smith machine or hack squat, or leg press would make a lot more sense.
So, when it comes to growing muscle, ensure you choose exercises that put a high amount of tension across the muscle you want to grow. No silly Bosu ball squats, planks, or burpees, phleaaase.
2. Can you take that exercise close to or to failure and progress over time (safely)?
When choosing exercises, remember that you will need to add weight and/or reps over time to ensure continued progress over time (double progression system, remember?). And you will need to do that in a way that you end up pushing reasonably close to failure. 0–3 reps shy of failure, preferably:
An example of a poor exercise choice in that regard would be Goblet squat because as you get stronger, it becomes difficult to overload it. Most gyms simply don’t have heavy enough dumbbells. And even if they do, it’s ridiculously hard to hold a 130-pound dumbbell without your arms or traps giving out first. Leg press, hack, or back squat would be better choices.
The same goes for planks, combo exercises, plate/dumbbell squeeze chest press, cable pull-through, and other equally impractical exercises. If you can’t repeatedly add extra weight and/or reps on a certain exercise, don’t do it.
3. Does that exercise feel good?
No exercise should cause pain or discomfort. If it does, you won’t be able to create sufficient tension, push yourself close to failure, and progress over time.
For example, I find my left forearm go, ‘Hey, Egis, something’s fucky here, I don’t feel good’ if I do weighted chin-ups too often. So it’s not a good exercise for me in the long run. I can get the same stimulus with any lat-focused single-arm cable pulldown without my left forearm filing a formal complaint and telling me to duck off.
Always remember that unless you’re a competitive powerlifter, there are no must-do exercises. Especially those that cause physical pain or discomfort.
4. Do you enjoy doing that exercise?
Don’t do exercises you hate to hell and back. Barbell hip thrust makes your hip bones hurt for about a year and a half? Don’t do it, maybe? Barbell back squat gives you more back pain than you’re willing to tolerate? Don’t do it, maybe? Bulgarian split squat makes your heart say ouch and quit on you? Don’t do it, maybe?
Once again, there are no must-do exercises for muscle growth. So, ensure you choose exercises that you enjoy and can be consistent with. It’s very hard to get great results if you’re not consistent with your training.
I always ask my clients if they’re enjoying the exercises we’re doing because enjoyment is a huge factor for maximizing long-term adherence to the program. If they don’t enjoy something, we change it. With so many options available, you should be able to find exercises you enjoy. Or at least don’t hate.
In Sum
Keep in mind that I’m talking about muscle growth here. If that’s not your goal, what are you doing here? Why are you reading this post? Kinda sorta maybe go away? But yeah, do whatever you want in that case — burpees, planks, wall sits… Who cares.
But if muscle growth is the main aim, structure your training program so that it contains exercises you can do pain-free, take close to or all the way to failure, and progress over time without hating your time in the gym.
If you’re confused about program design, apply for my 1-on-1 coaching program, pretty please? I tend to get cool results. Check my approach and results on Instagram. Or…
If you want something free, sign up for my Weight Loss Formula that’s designed to help you create the foundation of good habits & sustainable strategies that set you up for long-term weight loss success (it comes with “5 pillars of weight loss”).
Originally published by me on Medium on the 12th of March, 2025
