All you really need are the basic compound lifts in order to build muscle.

There are a million and one different exercises using different equipment to target every muscle in a myriad of different ways. It’s overwhelming. Luckily, most of those options are useless for the average person. As with anything, the fundamental lifts are basic and provide most of the returns.

In general, the fundamental lifts can be broken up into the major movement patterns: the squat, the hinge/lift, the pull, and the push.

If you focus on the major movement patterns, you’ll know how to switch out exercises based on what gym equipment you have available. E.g. you could do bodyweight variations for all of these, or use barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, cables, or machines for each of these patterns.

Squat

  • Movement: bend at the knees to lower ass to the grass
  • Main Muscles: quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings*
    • Depending on your form, squats can target the hamstrings pretty well, or not much at all.
  • Secondary Muscles: hamstrings, calves
  • Examples:
    • Squat: Bodyweight, Db Squat, Bb Back Squat, Bb Front Squat
      • Targets the quads more
    • Split: Bulgarian Split Squat, Lunge
      • Targets the glutes more, the Bulgarian is extremely hard and GOATed.

Hinge

  • Movement: lift heavy thing off the ground
  • Main Muscles: hamstrings, glutes,
  • Secondary Muscles: spinal erectors, lats, biceps
  • Examples:
    • Hinge: Romanian Deadlift (RDL), Deadlift, Kb Swing, Glute Bridge
      • Targets the hamstrings really well.
    • Split: One Leg RDL
      • Same, but one side at a time, still hamstring dominant.

Pull

  • Movement: pull the hands towards the body
  • Main Muscles: latissimus dorsi, trapezius (all 3), biceps, rear delts
  • Examples:
    • Vertical: Pullup/Chinup, Cable Lat Pulldown
      • Targets the lats more, and chinups are the best bicep grower.
    • Horizontal: Inverted Row, Db Bentover Row, Bb Bentover Row
      • Targets the trapezius and rear delts more
    • Hinge: there’s a lot of overlap between Deadlifts/RDL/Swings and pulling, since the lower back, lats, traps, rear delts, and biceps are holding the weight in the hinge movement.

Push

  • Movement: push the hands away from the body.
  • Main Muscles: chest, front delts, triceps
  • Examples:
    • Horizontal: Pushup, Ring Pushup, Db/Bb Bench Press, Db/Bb Incline Bench
      • Targets chest, front delts, and triceps
    • Vertical: Pike Pushup, Handstand, Db/Bb Overhead Press
      • Targets mainly front delts and triceps
    • Dips: targets both the lower chest and front delts really well, as well as being the best tricep exercise, the dip is GOATed.

Core (lower-upper link)

  • Movement: stabilizes the entire body during every movement, rotates the body
  • Muscles: abs, obliques, spinal erectors, some weird internal muscles
  • Examples in the four different planes of motion
    • AntiExtension: Plank, Ab Rollout, Hanging Leg Raise
    • AntiLateral: Suitcase Deadlift, Side Plank
    • AntiRotation: Pallof Press
    • Rotation: Woodchopper, Russian Twist