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When you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the gym, efficiency is essential. You need workouts that maximize results, and to do that, you need to focus on the best muscle-building exercises for your entire body.
Even if you have plenty of time for workouts, it’s still helpful to learn the smartest ways to target and develop muscle. While you don’t need to know the origin and insertion point of every major muscle, a little science can help. Knowing what role each muscle plays in moving the body will help you focus on exercises that will challenge you in all the right ways.
But all of this comes with a disclaimer: Everybody is different. The muscle-building exercises below may be scientifically sound, but they won’t necessarily work best for everyone. If a certain method or exercise already yields results for your development, there’s no reason to take it out of the picture. If, however, you’ve been struggling to bring up lagging muscle groups, the moves below may be exactly what you need.
The Best Muscle-Building Exercises for Every Muscle Group
Group 1: Chest
The chest muscles have a common origin and insertion point, but despite this, many like to divide the chest into two parts: The upper and lower chest (or the clavicular and sternal pectoralis muscles). Without getting too technical, it’s important to know that the chest doesn’t actually attach “on the chest.” The muscles run from the sternum all the way to the upper arm, and because of this, their role will be to “close” the arm from a wide open position diagonally across the body.
That’s a pretty unique job, and it involves a joint that has a wide range of motion. For these reasons, this muscle group doesn’t get one “top” exercise. It gets two.
Low Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
The popular flat barbell bench press isn’t the top choice to really hit the chest muscles. Since the correct setup for any bench press involves arching the back, a flat bench press makes it harder to involve the upper chest. Using a low inclined position allows a lifter to better access both the sternal and clavicular pectoralis. Second, using dumbbells rather than a bar allows a lifter to customize his or her hand and elbow position to better access the chest fibers without stressing the shoulders as much.
How to Do It:
Set up an adjustable bench to a level lower than 45 degrees. With this exercise, you’ll still have enough leverage to move some heavy weight. Since mechanical tension and progressive overload are key components of building muscle, this is important. With a dumbbell in each hand, bench press as normal (see here for a step-by-step guide). Using dumbbells isn’t always conducive to pursuing low-rep maxes, so focus on sets of eight reps or higher for this exercise.
High-to-Low Cable Flye
By setting up cable pulleys high on the posts and performing a converging chest flye that finishes around stomach level, you’ll mimic the exact role of the chest muscles. Although you’re at the mercy of your shoulder joints’ stability (thus limiting the weight you can lift here), this makes a perfect follow-up for the heavier and more stable dumbbell bench press above.
How to Do It:
Set up the cables at shoulder level and hold the handles, one in each hand with arms spread apart, while assuming a staggered stance position, with one leg in front and the other leg behind you. Place most of the weight on your front leg and position yourself for a good stretch in the chest with a slight bend in the elbows. Next, close the arms via a converging flye pattern. Finish with arms extended and hands in front of the waist. Slowly return to your starting position. Keep the reps high for this one: 12 to 20 reps should be ideal.
Group 2: Back
The back isn’t just one or two muscles—it’s made up of many distinct ones. For a solid V-taper, however, the lats are the key player. And there’s one move to really work them.
Pullup
Shocker, right? The pullup, when done with an overhand grip, puts the lats, which are internal rotators and adductors of the upper arm, into the perfect position for working hard under load from the beginning to end of the pattern. The lats also have plenty of involvement with other upper back muscles like the lower traps, rhomboids, rear deltoids, and teres muscles, so they’re kind of a one-stop shop for getting an impressive posterior side.
How to Do It:
Place the hands on the bar roughly shoulder-width apart. Next, hang from the bar with straight elbows, and pull the shoulders down as far as possible before attempting to pull your body upward. You should feel your neck lengthen and your chest raise. More importantly, you should feel your back muscles contract. This should initiate the next part of the pull in one fluid motion. Drive your elbows downward to lift your body up and bring your face above the bar. You’ve just performed one rep. Lower yourself down under control to the same straight-elbow start position; repeat for as many reps as you see fit (or can do).
Group 3: Quads
The quads are a simpler muscle group. They’re made up of four muscles with a common insertion point: the quad tendon right above the knee. Though they have a minor role in flexing the hip, they’re mainly called upon to extend the knee (to create a “kicking” motion from that hinge joint). To work the quads, the goal is to get the knee into the deepest flexion under load.
Heels-Elevated Dumbbell Squat
Getting the knees as far over the toes as possible will create maximum knee flexion that the quads will have to work hard to extend. Elevating the heels by standing on a slant board doubles down on the quad activity and eliminates the need for extreme ankle mobility. Moreover, it keeps the torso much more vertical, so other muscle groups like the glutes and lower back don’t have as much involvement and the quads work harder. To really double down on the benefits here, aim for a narrow stance with your feet slightly less than shoulder-width apart.
How to Do It:
Stand squarely on the slant board. Point the toes outward slightly wider than the heels. Remember, since your heels are already elevated higher than your toes, there’s no need to lift them off the board as you squat. Keep pressure through the full foot. Hold a pair of dumbbells by your sides like briefcases and aim to stay as vertical as possible as you descend to full depth. To keep your vertical orientation, imagine placing the weights down beside your ankles.
Focus on sets of 10 to 15 reps. The quads respond well to higher rep ranges, and the dumbbells spare your upper body the stabilizing effort required when squatting with a barbell.
(Note: the image above does not show a heels-elevated squat.)
Group 4: Glutes
The glutes are the largest hip extensor muscle the body has, but they usually work in synergy with other muscles during movements like deadlifts or squats. As popular as those movements are (and yes, they do help develop the glutes), they’re not as great at isolating hip extension as this movement below.
Hip Thrust
The hip thrust can be a bit awkward to set up, but a growing number of gyms have fixed thrust machines in their weight rooms in order to make the process much easier. The thing that sets a hip thrust apart from a deadlift is the horizontal orientation. By lying down horizontally, you place the glutes under mechanical tension for a much greater portion of the lift—virtually the entire thing. Compare that to, say, a Romanian deadlift or a squat, where you have the hips extending horizontally against a weight that’s being affected by vertical gravitational forces. At best, the glutes will be under maximum tension for only half the movement.
How to Do It:
To do the hip thrust, the upper back must be positioned flat against a surface, like a bench, that will not move. If you don’t have access to a hip thrust machine, place the bench against a wall and lie down on it. Place the bar with a bar pad on the fold of the hip. Keep the feet flat on the ground, bend the knees 90 degrees, and keep the legs hip-width apart. Dig in with the heels and place the hands on either side of the hips, on the bar. Squeeze the glutes and raise the hips to full extension. You should look like a tabletop, with the glutes working hard. Lower almost to ground level and repeat. Focusing on sets of eight to 15 reps is ideal here.
Group 5: Hamstrings
Similar to the quads, the hamstrings have two roles: hip extension and knee flexion. Admittedly, this is a tough muscle group to narrow down to one exercise—both roles are important and have their own key movements. But chances are some version of all the popular exercises (deadlifts, hamstring curls, good mornings, and more) will already have a place in your program. With that in mind, I chose a movement that combines both functions of the hamstrings to really work the muscle while keeping the knee joint happy.
Nordic Hip Hinge
The classic Nordic curl focuses on the eccentric aspect of knee flexion—in other words, the lowering phase. Not only can this be tough on some lifters’ knees, but it is also a bit one-dimensional (though effective). Since most lifters aren’t strong enough to perform the concentric version of this movement, it’s worth bringing hip extension into the mix via the variation below. Adding weight makes this a serious contender to any other hamstring isolation movement in the game.
How to Do It:
Set the heels under an immovable object (like a bar set on the lowest pin position of a squat cage) and be sure the knees are resting comfortably on a padded surface. From a kneeling position, lean forward slightly, just enough to create isometric tension on the hamstrings (for knee flexion). Next, while maintaining that tension, take a bow by hinging at the hip joint. Now you’ve tapped into hip extension for a total hamstring blast. Return to the start position for one rep. If bodyweight isn’t enough to make your hamstrings scream, hug a weight plate at the chest.
(Note: The image above shows a regular Nordic curl.)
Group 6: Arms
Since “arms” don’t really count as a single muscle group (they’re really two groups: biceps and triceps), I had to make a choice of which to emphasize. The smart move is to choose the larger of the two groups, and that would be the triceps. Plus, the biceps will get a hell of a lot of accessory stimulation from the pullups above.
The triceps muscle consists of three heads and does two things: extend the elbow and extend the shoulder. Most people who try to work the triceps forget about that second action and focus purely on elbow extension. That’s why popular movements like the close-grip bench press, dips, or pressdowns all failed to make the cut here. These movements all involve upper-arm positions that are close to the body, and they mainly target the lateral heads of the triceps (the most visible part of the “horseshoe” when you contract them). It’s important to also get the long heads of the muscles involved by having more action at the shoulder.
Skull Crusher “Plus”
This pattern involves the lateral head action of a classic skull crusher through elbow flexion, but it adds in the long-head action of a pullover pattern to hit shoulder extension on each rep as well. To really thicken the entire upper arm, this pattern is money.
How to Do It:
Place the hands on the curved portions of an EZ bar and start in a horizontal bench press “finish” position. Bend at the elbow slowly until the weight hovers above the forehead and the elbows are flexed at 90-degree angles. Next, open up the shoulder joint by reaching toward the floor with the weight. Really try to push the elbows above your head so the upper arms almost cover your ears. In one motion, reverse the movement to return the arms and the weight to where they started. It’s OK if your elbows flare open a little bit on each rep. Focus on sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Group 7: Shoulders
Contrary to popular belief, the barbell overhead press isn’t the most reliable way to build impressive deltoids. The deltoids are made up of three heads (anterior, mid, and posterior) and stimulating them through a pressing pattern hardly places a real focus on each of those heads. Collectively, the deltoids are abductors of the arm, and they have a role in external rotation as well. The traps are more responsible for the elevation of the shoulder blade, which is why a bodybuilding-style isolation exercise is fitting for really hitting the deltoids hard.
Lean Away Cable Lateral Raise
This movement takes advantage of force angles for optimal mechanical tension on each rep, and it keeps the deltoids as the prime mover. This movement is biased toward the mid deltoids, but since they’re the largest of the three heads, it’s a worthy contender for the best-bang-for-your-buck movement for the muscle group.
How to Do It:
Stretching the deltoids means placing the muscle fibers in the most elongated position. For this group, that means folding the arm across the torso diagonally. That’s the start position for this exercise. Set a cable on a low pulley and stand sideways to it. Hold the cable handle with the hand farthest from the pulley and stand close to the tower. Next, using your free hand, hold on to the tower itself, and lean your body away from the tower so that if you let go, you’d topple over.
From this position, perform lateral raises. Start with the hand at the opposite thigh and lift the hand diagonally upward so it finishes at shoulder level. Try not to shrug the shoulder, and focus on keeping the elbow slightly bent to the same degree on each rep. This one works for higher reps, so sets of 12 to 15 would be ideal. Following this movement with a classic dumbbell military press is a perfect formula for gains.
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