New research suggests that exercise selection may enhance muscle growth, prompting experts to weigh in on whether individualising our programs could yield similar results. Dr Mike Israetel, PhD, a frequent commentator on the latest science around muscular hypertrophy, explains that there aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ exercises and that we might be overcomplicating exercise selection. ‘All of the exercises work well, most of them work really well,’ Israetel says in a recent YouTube video.
How to Choose the Right Exercises to Maximise Muscle Growth
Israetel begins by explaining that we can achieve better gains by selecting the right exercises. ‘And it is kind of intimidating; there are a lot of exercises in the gym first, and second, there are a lot of people on the internet saying all kinds of seemingly very convincing things that they believe in, about how important it is to make sure you do the right exercises for your gains and not the wrong ones. So, let’s take a look at a little bit of the fundamental science first.’
Israetel outlines the following fundamentals about exercise selection:
- All exercises that recruit a muscle will help it grow: ‘There are thus very few “terrible” or “ineffective” exercises for a given muscle,’ he says. Israetel continues to explain that this should eliminate any “neuroticism” we have about exercise selection to zero, because all exercises will deliver results, even the most simple of moves.
- Exercises are better when the target muscle is the limiting factor: ‘If I’m trying to get a big back doing some cable rows, and instead of my back being a limiting factor , my grip is loosening and I’m losing my grip – like I could do five more good reps for my back, but zero more good reps with my hands and I just slip. That’s a problem, because on paper I’m training my back, but in reality I’m not letting my back get even remotely close to muscular failure, which is where it grows the most.’ To remedy this, Israetel recommends using a versa grips, or select better exercises.
- Exercises are better when they are putting the target muscle under a deep stretch: ‘But loading in the stretch must be very high for best effect,’ he adds. New research indicates that loading the muscle in the stretched position, whether through full range of motion or lengthened partials, leads to muscular growth.
- Exercises are better when they give you mega mind to muscle connection (tension, burn), pumps and disruption: ‘Which means you can feel the target muscle under massive tension when you’re training at high reps,’ explains Israetel.
- Exercises are better when they don’t hurt your joints: ‘This might be a rep range solution in some cases vs having to swap out the exercises,’ he says.
- Exercises are better when the amount of effort (systemic fatigue) is worth the result (big tension, pumps, etc): ‘And if you like doing them, exercises cause notably less systemic (psychological) fatigue.’ Israetel continues to explain that we should also choose whichever exercise we’re more excited about trying. ‘Whichever one you like the best — that’s probably the one that you should stick to,’ he says.
Which Exercises Are Best for Beginners?
For those who have trained no longer than two or three years, Israetel says, ‘If you want your best long-term results, I would say that your best time is spent focusing on compound free-weight basics. Bodyweight, barbells and dumbbells, some machines are okay, but mostly bodyweight, barbells and dumbbells.’
‘Learn to do things like underhand pull-ups, dumbbell upright rows, lunges, squats, deadlifts, rows etc. These are the core movements that are going to build your movement competency, they’re going to give you injury resilience and they’re going to allow you to build a foundation of unbelievable size and strength in your muscles for very low effort to put in. And minimum complexity as well. You can get in all the crazy exercises later, you just straight up don’t need them as a beginner and you need to work on your core basic postural anti-gravity exercises that prepare you for low injury probability training, any way you want to do it in your future.’
Which Exercises Are Best for Intermediates?
Israetel outlines the following recommendations for those who have been training for three to seven years:
- Don’t worry about any exercises being “ineffective”, just use the ones you like.
- Try to pick exercises that leave the target muscle as the limiting factor if possible.
- Try to pick exercises that give a great loaded stretch if possible.
- Do the exercises that seem to mess up your muscles the most and joints the least.
- Do exercises that you like to do, are progressing on, and have a good connection with.
- Try lots of different exercises over the years to see what works best for you.
Which Exercises Are Best for Advanced?
For those who are advanced lifters, Israetel recommends you have an intuitive top five list of top five best exercises for every single muscle group, and you rotate through those. He then recommends to optimise this exercise selection based on your needs via feedback.
Common Mistakes
The exercise scientist believes there are a few common mistakes to try and avoid.
1/ Exercise Swapping
Israetel says you should avoid ‘thinking if it’s not the ideal exercise, then you’re missing potential crazy gains and expecting the swap to produce miracles.’ We should stay consistent with an exercise selection for several weeks before swapping it for another move.
2/ Just Sticking to The Basics
He adds that we should avoid just sticking to the basics and never experimenting with other exercises, especially as an intermediate or advanced lifter. ‘Sticking to the basics is dope if you’re a beginner, you need to build those neural pathways for basic competency, yes just stick to the basics. But as an intermediate or as an advanced lifted you shouldn’t just be sticking to the basics, there’s more out there for you. It’s not revolutionary, but it can be a big deal, especially if the stuff you’re doing isn’t working so well for you.’
3/ Getting Neurotic about Exercise Choices
We should avoid over analysing our choices and getting cold feet, says Israetel. Instead we should stick to good movements consistently which is ‘more important than trying to scurry for the ideal [exercise] every other session.’
4/ Ignoring Internal Perception and Feedback
As an advanced lifter, not paying attention to things like where are you experiencing tension in the exercise, is it in the target muscle or is it not, or is the thing we call a tricep exercise really a chest exercise for you. These issues matter. He notes that we should pay attention to tension, burn, pump, perturbation and disruption in the target muscles.
5/ Assuming There Are “Must Do” Exercises
‘They’re bullshit, no such thing,’ says Israetel, ‘not a single “must do” exercise in the gym if your goal is hypertrophy. If your goal is muscle growth, a lot of exercises work really well.’
6/ Forgetting Your Body is Resilient
‘Your body is resilient and as long as you’re starting from relatively light weights with good techniques, progressing over time to heavier weights, the probability that any one exercise is going to get you hurt is teeny tiny,’ says Israetel. ‘There are some exercises that carry a slightly enhanced injury risk — round back ultra heavy deadlifts for example.’
But Israetel is keen to highlight that you should’t fear lifting weights. ‘You don’t need to fear most exercises as long as you start light and have good technique and progress consistently through loads and sets and reps over time time. Then injury probability is really low and most of the stuff you think is going to fuck you up is actually just going to make you stronger and less likely to get hurt in that same scenario.’
