Chapter 3 of 10 · by Raj

Muscle-by-muscle exercise guide

The best exercises for chest, back, shoulders, arms, forearms, traps, neck, quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves and abs at each level, with cues, mistakes and tips.

Give every muscle one compound movement and one stretch-focused movement each week. Sets × reps are per session, done twice a week. Tap an exercise to watch the demo.

Chest (upper, mid and lower pec)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Push-up, flat dumbbell press, machine chest press	3 × 8–15
Intermediate	Barbell bench press, incline dumbbell press (30°), cable fly	3–4 × 6–12
Advanced	Low-incline barbell press, deficit or weighted dips, deep-stretch dumbbell fly, cable press-around	4 × 5–8 compound, 3 × 10–20 fly

Cues: shoulder blades back and down, slight arch, feet planted, bar to the lower chest, elbows about 45–60° from the torso.
Mistakes: flaring elbows to 90°, bouncing off the chest, half reps, lifting the hips.
Tips: include incline work for the upper chest. Pause 1 second on the chest to remove momentum.

Back (lats, upper back, rhomboids, lower back)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Lat pulldown, seated cable row, assisted pull-up, back extension	3 × 8–12
Intermediate	Pull-up/chin-up, barbell row, chest-supported row, single-arm dumbbell row	3–4 × 6–12
Advanced	Weighted pull-up, Pendlay row, Meadows row, Kelso shrug, single-arm cable lat pull	4 × 5–10 + 3 × 12–15

Cues: pull with the elbows, not the hands. Vertical pulls: elbows to hips (lats). Horizontal rows: squeeze the shoulder blades.
Mistakes: swinging the torso, short range, gripping so hard the biceps take over.
Tips: use straps on heavy rows so grip isn't the limit. Vertical pulls mainly build width; rows mainly build thickness. Let the shoulder blades stretch forward at the bottom.

Shoulders (front, side and rear delts)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Seated dumbbell press, dumbbell lateral raise, reverse pec deck	3 × 10–15
Intermediate	Standing overhead press, cable lateral raise, face pull	3–4 × 6–15
Advanced	Behind-the-body cable lateral, lean-away lateral raise, Y-raise, rear-delt cable fly, machine press	3–5 × 10–20

Cues: on laterals lead with the elbow, raise slightly in front of the body (the scapular plane) and stop around shoulder height.
Mistakes: going too heavy on laterals and swinging; neglecting rear delts.
Tips: front delts get a lot of work from pressing, so spend extra sets on side and rear delts for a wider look. Laterals recover quickly and can be trained 3–4× per week.

Biceps (biceps brachii, brachialis, brachioradialis)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Dumbbell curl, EZ-bar curl, hammer curl	2–3 × 10–15
Intermediate	Incline dumbbell curl, preacher curl, cable curl	3 × 8–15
Advanced	Bayesian cable curl, spider curl, heavy cheat curl with a slow lowering, drag curl	3–4 × 8–20

Cues: elbows fixed by your sides, turn the little finger up at the top, full stretch at the bottom.
Mistakes: swinging, cutting off the bottom half of the rep.
Tips: incline and Bayesian curls load the biceps in a stretched position, which may help growth. Hammer curls also train the brachialis and brachioradialis for a thicker arm.

Triceps (long, lateral and medial heads)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Rope pushdown, bench dips, close-grip push-up	2–3 × 10–15
Intermediate	Close-grip bench press, overhead cable extension, EZ skull crusher	3 × 8–15
Advanced	JM press, single-arm overhead cable extension, weighted dips, cross-body cable extension	3–4 × 6–20

Cues: elbows still, lock out fully, squeeze.
Mistakes: elbows flaring on pushdowns, using the shoulders to push.
Tips: the triceps is the largest muscle of the upper arm, so bigger arms come mainly from bigger triceps. In a 2023 study, overhead extensions (long head stretched) built more triceps than pushdowns, so include one every week.

Forearms and grip

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Farmer's carry, dead hang	2–3 × 30–45 s
Intermediate	Wrist curl, reverse wrist curl, reverse EZ curl	3 × 15–25
Advanced	Heavy farmer's walks, plate pinch, thick-grip work, wrist roller	3 × 30–60 s / 15–25

Tips: do deadlifts and rows double-overhand without straps until grip fails, then strap up. Train forearms at the end of a session 2–3×/week.

Traps (upper, middle, lower)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Dumbbell shrug	3 × 12–15
Intermediate	Barbell or trap-bar shrug, face pull	3 × 10–15
Advanced	Kelso shrug, cable Y-raise (lower traps), heavy rack pulls	3–4 × 8–20

Tips: shrug straight up, pause 1–2 seconds at the top, no rolling. Deadlifts and rows already train the traps heavily; add direct work only if they lag.

Neck (optional, for combat sports or aesthetics)

Beginner: isometric holds against your own hand in 4 directions, 3 × 15 s.
Intermediate/advanced: plate neck flexion and extension lying on a bench, or a neck harness, 2–3 × 15–25. Start very light and progress slowly; the neck is sensitive.

Quads (front of the thigh)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Goblet squat, leg press, leg extension, bodyweight split squat	3 × 10–15
Intermediate	Back squat, hack squat, Bulgarian split squat, walking lunge	3–4 × 6–12
Advanced	High-bar or front squat, heel-elevated squat, pendulum squat, sissy squat, 1.5-rep leg press	4 × 5–10 + 3 × 12–20

Cues: brace (big breath into the belly), knees track over the toes, sit between the heels, depth to at least parallel if your hips allow.
Mistakes: knees caving in, heels lifting, half squats, the lower back rounding at the bottom.
Tips: letting the knees travel past the toes is normal and safe for most healthy knees, and stopping them forward shifts stress to the hips and lower back. Heel-elevated squats suit lifters with tight ankles.

Hamstrings (back of the thigh)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Lying or seated leg curl, dumbbell Romanian deadlift, glute bridge	3 × 10–15
Intermediate	Barbell RDL, seated leg curl, good morning	3–4 × 6–12
Advanced	Stiff-leg deadlift, Nordic curl, single-leg RDL, 45° back extension biased to the hamstrings	3–4 × 5–12

Cues (RDL): soft knees, push the hips back, bar slides down the thighs, flat back, stop when the hips stop moving.
Tips: train both a hip hinge (RDL) and a knee bend (leg curl) every week; they load the hamstrings differently. A 2021 study found seated leg curls built more hamstring muscle than lying curls (more stretch). Nordic curl programmes cut hamstring injuries by up to about half in athletes.

Glutes

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Glute bridge, step-up, cable kickback	3 × 12–15
Intermediate	Barbell hip thrust, Bulgarian split squat (lean forward), deadlift	3–4 × 8–12
Advanced	Deficit reverse lunge, B-stance hip thrust, 45° hyperextension (glute bias), abduction machine	3–4 × 6–20

Tips: squats, lunges and deadlifts already train the glutes hard. Strong glutes support hip and lower-back health and athletic power, not just looks.

Deadlift (whole posterior chain)

Beginner: learn the hinge with a trap-bar or Romanian deadlift, 3 × 5–8.
Intermediate/advanced: conventional or sumo, 1–3 heavy sets of 3–6 once a week. It is very fatiguing, so don't train it to failure and keep weekly volume low.
Cues: bar over mid-foot, shins touch the bar, "pull the slack out", chest up, push the floor away, finish with the glutes (don't lean back).

Calves (gastrocnemius and soleus)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Bodyweight or machine standing calf raise	3 × 15–20
Intermediate	Standing calf raise, seated calf raise, leg-press calf raise	3–4 × 10–20
Advanced	Deficit single-leg calf raise with pause, heavy standing raise, tibialis raise	4–5 × 8–25

Key rule: pause about 2 seconds in the bottom stretch on every rep, no bouncing. Straight-knee raises bias the gastrocnemius; seated (bent-knee) raises bias the soleus.
Tips: calf size is strongly influenced by genetics. Train them up to 3×/week with a full range for steady progress.

Abs and core (rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis)

Level	Best exercises	Sets × reps
Beginner	Plank, dead bug, crunch, bird dog	3 × 30–45 s / 12–15
Intermediate	Hanging knee raise, cable crunch, Pallof press, side plank	3 × 10–15
Advanced	Hanging straight-leg raise, ab wheel rollout, weighted decline crunch, dragon flag	3–4 × 8–15

Cues: curl the spine (ribs to pelvis) on crunches; on leg raises, tilt the pelvis up rather than just swinging the legs.
Tips: abs usually become visible at a low body-fat level (often quoted as roughly 10–15% for men, varying by person), so diet decides whether they show. Train abs like any muscle, with load and progression, 2–3×/week.

Evidence behind this chapter

Maeo et al. (2023), overhead vs neutral-arm triceps extensions, European Journal of Sport Science
Maeo et al. (2021), seated vs prone leg curl and hamstring hypertrophy, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
van Dyk, Behan & Whiteley (2019), Nordic hamstring exercise and injury risk meta-analysis, British Journal of Sports Medicine
Fry, Smith & Schilling (2003), restricting forward knee movement in the squat, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Fact-checked and updated 2026-10-26. General education, not medical advice.

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