Exercises

                                  

Biceps:

Biceps Brachii are probably the most favorite muscle to work out for most beginners.  This is because most people are impressed by big arms (women of course).  I rarely work my biceps because I know that true size of your guns comes from your triceps.  This doesn't mean that you shouldn't work your biceps, they definitely add to the appearance of your arms.  Biceps consists of two major components – a long and a short head, and a small muscle located at the bottom of the biceps, near the elbow bend – Brachialis.  The best way to work the biceps is to do no more than three exercises in one training session where in one, your wrists stay neutral throughout the exercise, in another, your wrists are facing palms up, and in the last one, you supinate your wrists throughout the movement (meaning your wrists go from neutral at the bottom to palms facing up at the top).  Not necessarily in that order.  There is an enormous amount of exercises designed to hit your biceps from every possible angle.

Barbell Curls (straight bar curls) are the best mass-builder for the biceps.  They work your entire biceps structure.  To perform them correctly use the following directions.  First, stand straight, with your feet about shoulder width apart (if another stance is more comfortable for you, go ahead and use it).  Hold the barbell with palms facing up, also about shoulder width apart, perhaps a little closer together, whatever feels comfortable.  Without squatting down or moving your torso, slowly bring the bar up to your chest.  You may or may not touch your chest with the bar, once you pass the vertical line and bring the bar closer to your chest, your biceps stop working.  To keep continuous tension in your biceps you might want to stop a few inches short of your chest.  At the bottom, don't bounce the bar of your thighs.  You can do this with dumbbells as well, but why?  They are more uncomfortable, and its more difficult to raise them evenly than if you perform this exercise with a bar.

Alternate Dumbbell Curls can be done standing or seated.  This is an exercise best suited for supination.  Its a good mass builder as well.  From having your arms resting on the sides of your body with wrists neutral and facing each other.  As you bring one dumbbell up to your shoulder, start rotating your wrist inward.  By the time the dumbbell approaches your shoulder, the dumbbell should be facing up.  You can squeeze out a peak contraction at the top and then reverse the movement so that at the bottom your wrist is neutral again.  Next, perform the same exact movement with the other arm.  Keep alternating in this manner for the duration of the set.                 *It might be a good idea to switch the order in which your arms go first from workout to a workout, but not from set to set.

Preacher Curls can be done with a straight bar or a cambered bar and they work the brachialis.  For this exercise I prefer a cambered bar because of how it feels in my hands.  The position of hands on a slightly angled bar is more comfortable for the wrists.  You can also use dumbbells in this exercise.  If you do, don't alternate every rep, first, do a set for one arm, then for another.  To do preacher curls, sit down so that majority of your triceps touches the pads.  Keep your feet planted and your back straight as you curl until your forearms are nearly perpendicular to the floor.  Then lower the weight without releasing the tension in your biceps.  You can also do this exercise on a machine.  If you do, don't use cables, use a hammer strength machine.

Concentrated Curls bring up the peak on the biceps. Seated concentration curls should be done with a dumbbell and you may or may not supinate during this exercise. The palm should always be facing up at the top of the movement, but at the bottom, it can either face up or be neutral. Lean forward from your waist and hold a dumbbell so that your elbow rests against the inner thigh on the same side of your body. The palm faces the opposing thigh if you want to supinate or faces upward if you don't. Extend your arm so that the dumbbell almost touches the floor, then begin curling the weight up toward your chest. Squeeze out a peak contraction and then lower the dumbbell back to where you started. If you can, try to touch your chest or shoulder at the top.

Hammer Curls can be done standingor seated and should be done with alternation of arms.  They can also be done with a bar, but you are better off using dumbbells.  In this exercise your wrists stay neutral throughout.  In addition to working the biceps, hammer curls work your forearms.  For the sake of the argument, lets pretend you are doing seated alternate hammer curls (I prefer standing).  Sit on the end of the bench holding two dumbbells at arms' length, palms facing each other.  Keeping your back straight, flex one elbow to begin curling that dumbbell up toward your shoulder, maintaining your neutral wrist position throughout.  Once your forearm is at roughly a 45-degree angle relative to your upper arm, reverse the movement and lower the weight back down.  Repeat the process with the other arm and continue in alternating fashion until the set is completed.

Cable Curls can be done with one or two arms.  They will give you definition rather than mass and will work your peak.  You can do them either facing the weight stack or facing in the opposite direction, its up to you.  If you are doing two arm cable curls, do it as if you were doing barbell curls.  If you are doing one arm curls, do it as if you were doing concentrated curls.  Those are the exercises that they imitate.                                                              Calves: Seated Calve Raises A seated calve raise machine is a standard in any gym. Sit on the machine with your knees underneath the pads and your feet on the platform. The trick to all calve exercises is to concentrate on flexing the muscle on the way up. Go all the way up on your toes and come as far down as you can with your feet still on the platform. Feet positioning determines which part of the calve muscle you work. Pointing your feet straight ahead will work the over all body of your calve, feet pointed inward will work the outer calve and feet pointed outward works the inner calve muscle. Alternate feet positioning throughout calve training. Standing Calve Raises Most gyms carry a standard standing calve machine but if they don't improvise by using a Smith Machine that has a bar and a small platform for you to stand on. The platform allows for a better stretch of the muscle. As with all calve exercises, flex the muscle at the midpoint and go all the way up and all the way down and be sure to always be in control of the weight. Donkey Calve Raises This movement involves bending at the waist while keeping your legs straight and resting the weight on top of your upper butt/lower back. You really should use a machine to do this exercise but if you want to improvise have a person sit on you lower back. It is fun just to watch someone straddles another to get more weight on his or her back. The same rules apply to this movement as the other two. Toe Press Using the leg press machine put your feet all the way at the bottom of the carriage so that your heels hang over the edge. Push the weight up until the carriage is on the balls of your feet. Lower it down all the way and repeat. Keep a very slight bend in your legs for this exercise you do not want your knees to lock because you run the risk of having your legs buckle. For your protection put the safety peg in the highest position for this movement so that if your feet should slip off the platform the carriage will not fall all the way down. At the end of a good calve workout walking sitting and standing should be difficult. Chest: Chest (Latin name – pectoralis) is by far the most popular muscle to train by most beginners and is a very impressive part of a more advanced bodybuilder's physique.  The chest consists of pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.  Pectoralis major consists of two heads – clavicular head is the top part and is more commonly called upper chest. Sternal head is the rest of the chest including middle and bottom of the muscle.  You should do about four exercises per training session for your chest; two basic compound movements for the middle part of your chest (flat presses), one for inner chest, and one for upper chest. Flat Bench Press (barbell/dumbbell) – by far the best exercise for chest. Its a great mass builder, easy to do, and allows you to work with some really heavy weights (which is what I like about it). It works your entire sternal head which is most of your chest.  I prefer to work with a barbell, not so much with dumbbells.  With a barbell I can handle more weight and perform the movement with stricter form.  Take the bar wider than shoulder width, lower the bar at moderate speed all the way down and touch your chest, DON'T BOUNCE THE BAR OF YOUR CHEST.  Lowering the bar to two inches above your chest is also acceptable, that will keep constant tension in your muscles.  With dumbbells you have the advantage of lowering the weight on the sides of your body below the level of your chest and that will stretch and stress your chest a little more.  Amount of weight and lack of balance are some of the culprits that will prevent you from getting the most out of this exercise.  (Can be done on hammer strength machines with an almost equal effect, can also be done on a smith machine with less benefit (restricted range of motion)  Incline Bench Press (barbell/dumbbell) (barbell/dumbbell) (barbell/dumbbell) works the clavicular head of pectoralis major.  Perform it the same way as flat bench press the only difference being the incline.  The incline should not be more than 30%, if you're at 45%, its too much.  This exercise can also be done very effectively on a hammer strength machine and less effectively on a smith machine.  BEST DONE ON FREE WEIGHTS. Decline Bench Press (barbell/dumbbell). The only difference from flat and incline bench press is the negative angle of the bench.  It works the bottom of your chest.  Read Flat Bench Press for instructions. Dumbbell Fly can be done on a flat or incline bench (I don't advise you do decline, its pretty useless).  With arms slightly bent at the elbows, lying supine on the bench, in a circular motion, bring the weight down below a line going through your chest and parallel to the ground.  Actually, bring the weight as low as you can without compromising your form. Try to pull/push the weight up until the dumbbells meet.  Don't try to cheat by going too low on your way down to build up momentum on your way up to pass through the sticking point.  Flies are good for both inner and outer pecs.  Close Grip Bench Press works the inner part of your chest.  Do not take the bar too close however, leave at least two fists worth of space in between your hands.  Lower the weight (barbell only) to the spot where your abs meet your chest.  If you lower the bar closer to your neck, that will work the triceps.  Then lift all the way up and repeat.  Pull Over is a great all around exercise.  To work your chest with it (also hits the triceps), follow the instructions of pull over for lats except for two minor changes.  Bend your arms at the elbows more and make it more of a push/press than a pull.  Dips can be done weighted once you can handle your weight for twenty or more reps. To hit the bottom of your chest with it, dip with elbows in.  By that I mean; have your elbows tucked close to your body and not pointing outward.  Outward pointing elbows will work your triceps more.  Forearms: Forearms are made up of the long and relatively large muscle - Brachioradialis and two clusters of many small muscles called the Wrist Extensors and Wrist Flexors.  If you lift weights regularly and do a lot of exercises where you handle a lot of heavy weights, especially pulling exercises and ones in which the weights are held against gravity by the strength of your grip (deadlifts,  curls, rows, pulls and shrugs), then your forearms should be getting a sufficient workout as it is.  However, if you insist on training your forearms separately as well, here is a short list of exercises that should work:   Wrist Curlswork Wrist Flexors  They can be done with either a barbell or dumbbells, but either way you should curl with both wrists at the same time. Sit and grasp the bar with narrow to shoulder width underhand grip.  Rest forearms on your thighs with wrists just beyond the knees.  Allow the barbell to roll out of the palms down to the fingers. Grip the barbell back up and flex wrists.  Lower and repeat.  Reverse Wrist Curls work the Wrist Extensors. Sit and grasp the bar with narrow to shoulder width overhand grip. Rest forearms on thighs with wrists just beyond the knees. Hyperextend the wrists and return until wrists are fully flexed. Reverse forearms Curls work the Brachioradialis.  You can do these standing or seated, with a straight or a cambered bar, and doing either standard or preacher curls. Grasp bar with a shoulder width overhand grip. With the elbows to the side, raise the bar until forearms are vertical (if you are doing standing reverse barbell curls). Lower until the arms are fully extended. When the elbow is fully flexed, the elbow should only travel forward a few inches allowing the forearm to be no more than perpendicular to the floor to allow for a relative release of tension in the muscles between repetitions.  If you are doing preacher reverse curls, sit on a preacher bench placing back of arms on the pad. The seat should be adjusted to allow the arm pit to rest near the top of the pad. Grasp curl bar with shoulder width overhand grip and raise the bar until forearms are perpendicular to the floor with the back of the upper arm remaining on the pad. Lower the barbell until arm is fully extended. Hammer Curls are described nicely on the Biceps page and work the Bracioradialis. Gluts: Deep Bucket Squats: You can do these on a Smith Machine or under a regular squat rack. The deeper you go, the more you will work your gluts. Keep your heels planted and push off when you come up, breathing out as you do. You want to start light and work your way up to heavier weights. Two warm-up sets of 15 reps each and four sets of 12-15 reps. This totals six reps. Lunges: You can do these on the Smith Machine, under a squat rack or with dumbbells. Lunges work your gluts and hamstrings and front of the thigh. Lunges are essential to having full hard glutes. You can do six alternating reps on each leg. This is so that neither leg gets too tired or stressed. When doing lunges, make sure that the lead foot is lunging out heel flat, knee bent in front of you so that you can't see your toes. The back leg meanwhile, is almost straight and as you come down it should almost touch the floor. While lunging forward, your back foot should be resting on the ball of your foot. One warm-up set, ten reps for each leg and three sets of 8-10 reps per leg. This totals four sets  Leg Curls: You can do these on the lying leg curl or standing leg curl machine. This exercise helps develop the hamstrings, which is very important for having a nice butt. Remember to contract the hamstring muscle at the completion of each rep. Do not rest your feet on your butt after each rep! One warm-up set of 15 reps and three sets of 10-12 reps. This totals four sets. You can also do Straight Leg Dead lifts to work the hamstrings as an occasional alternative.  Leg Extensions: Done on a leg extension machine to define and shape the frontal thighs. There is no need to go heavy when doing leg extensions, but you must remember to squeeze or contract your quads when they are locked out. Make sure you don't rise off the seat while doing this exercise. Once you have contracted the quads, lower the weight until your feet are further back than your knees and your thighs are fully stretched. One warm-up set of 15 reps and three sets of 10-12 reps. This totals four sets. Hamstrings: Hamstrings (leg hamstrings, hams) are very large muscles in the back of the leg.  Hamstrings consist of four heads; hamstrings Femoris - long head, hamstrings Femoris - short head, Semitendinosus, and Semimembranosus.  A lot of the exercises that work the hamstrings also might work the quads, the glutes and lower back and vice versa.  For that reason, it might be a good idea to do all these muscle groups on the same day.  Because the exercises listed here may be used for more than one muscle (one that's already described someplace else), this page may not explain how to do all the exercises mentioned, but instead, will give reference to where else on this site you could find them.  The general formula for Quad to Hamstring development ratio is that your hamstrings should be at least 50% as strong as your quads. Stiff-Leg Deadlifts (Straight-Leg Deadlifts) are a core exercise for hamstring development.  The name is misleading.  The legs should never be perfectly stiff or straight on any pulling exercise.  Locking the knees is an invitation to injury and is not at all necessary.  You can work the hamstrings, glutes and lower back very effectively with a slight break in the knees.  Don't let the bar stray away from the body when doing this exercise.  Place the bar very close to your body, against the shins.  It should move up and down so close that it will leave red marks on your thighs.  From a position right over your shoe tops pull it up only to mid thigh.  You don't need to bring it to a full locked-out position at the top, but you can if you want to (I do).  Locking your shoulder blades during the exercise will help you maintain a flat back. Good-mornings are a long forgotten exercise, very rarely will you see someone do it.  However, this is an invaluable technique if you want to develop strong, muscular hams.  You must do this difficult exercise very carefully, following the directions precisely.  Otherwise, you are risking a very serious injury.  Don't get scared out of doing it though, nothing good is easy to achieve (especially good hamstrings) and this is definitely worth your while.  The good morning comes in several variations.  You can do them with a flat back, a rounded back or while sitting on a bench.  The easiest and the safest is probably flat back, but you should experiment and find the style which serves you best.  Position the bar on your back exactly the way you do when you squat.  Lock it securely in place because the most uncomfortable part of this lift for many is the bar moving around on their backs.  As in the stiff-leg deadlift, lock your shoulder blades tightly together.  Your stance should be narrower than shoulder width with your toes pointed slightly inward.  Bend your knees and hold that same bend throughout the exercise.  Once you start going down with the bar, you don't want your hips to drop any lower.  The sensation is like having a hinge in your hips, below your hips no movement should occur (even though it will).  If you are using the rounded-back version, try to place your chest on your thighs.  If you prefer the flat-back version, go below parallel position with your back.  Do the motion rhythmically, more slow than fast.  Avoid any herky-jerky movements.  Reset after each rep. Deep Squat (Full Squat) is a squat where your upper leg breaks the parallel to the ground plane and you drop as low as possible, going all the way down.  Go to squat on the quadriceps page and look at the first and third picture as top and bottom of the movement.  Read the directions for proper squatting technique. Leg Press works the quads very effectively, but what people don't realize is that it also stresses the hamstrings.  To hit the hamstrings you gotta use a wide stance.  Wider than conventional stance will reduce undue stress on your knees.  In addition to that, wider stance allows for an increased range of motion, and the lower you go, the more your hamstrings get involved.  Except for that, the rest of the exercise is performed exactly as described on the quad page.            Lunges develop the whole leg and the glutes.  However, to shift the emphasis from quad to hamstring development, use this variation of the lunge.  The key to hamstring involvement is to keep the trailing leg as straight as possible.  Merely dipping the rear knee to the floor is less effective because this easier action does not activate the hamstring nearly as much.  This is the only change from the lunges as described in the quad section.  You should go there and read the proper lunge technique.  Leg Curls - finally an exercise that doesn't work the quads, only hamstrings.  They can be done seated, or lying face down on a machine.  Both, hammer strength machine and cables, are equally effective.  If you are doing these on a machine, it is important not to restrict your range of motion.  Extend to lock out on the negative part of the movement.  When lifting the weight, try to reach your buttocks with your feet, come as close to it as possible.  This exercise should never be used as a core exercise for the hamstrings.  It's a good warm up exercise and a good finishing movement to overload already fatigued hams. Lats: LatsLatissimus Dorsi) include Teres major and Teres minor.  Lats are a very important part of a person's physique.  They add width to the body and give it that “V” look.  It's a very big muscle and it can handle a lot of weight and resistance training.  Lats tie in with all the other muscles in the back, especially the rhomboids which are in the middle of the back.  A lot of exercises that primarily hit the lats, will work either the traps or the rhomboids as well.  There is a wide variety of exercise you can do for your “wings” but try not to go for more than four, three should be enough.  A lot of exercise for back can be done on machines because it is not a particularly easy muscle to reach without them.   Pull Ups (Chin ups) are most definitely the best possible exercise for your lats if done properly.  First of all, always use the widest overhand grip possible that will not restrict your range of motion.  If you do pull ups reaching the bar behind your neck, then you will involve your traps as well.  That's why I prefer this version of pull ups to the one where the bar is in front of your face.  When you do front pull ups, the bar should touch the top of your chest and you should go all the way down, into the darkness.  Then pull yourself all the way up, reaching to save your life.  If you do it the other way, make sure the bar touches the top of your traps or at least the bottom of your neck.  Never swing or jerk your legs, that will just take the emphasis of your lats.  However if you don't have a spotter, you might have to resort to cheating to complete the last few reps to squeeze out just a little bit more intensity (don't make a habit of it though).  Pull ups are best done first in your regular back routine.  They are a good warm up and finish up exercise.  You can do these with weight after a sufficient warm up, but I don't recommend you add any weight until you can do at least 12 pull ups.  Use a slow to moderate speed when doing these.   *You can also use monkey grip to involve your lats (thumbs on top of the bar, not under).  Lat Pull Down.  If pull ups aren't the best exercise for lats then this is.  Most gyms are equipped with a lat pull down machine that will allow you to work with weight heavier than your own.  It's a lot like pull ups, the only difference being you pull the weight to yourself as opposed to being pulled.  The best way to do this exercise is using the same grip as pull ups.  However you can also do pull downs with a close underhand grip, that will include your rhomboids more, but you will no longer grow your lats outward, they will just get thicker.  I suggest doing 3 sets of close grip after doing 4 or 5 of wide grip.  This is one of the very few exercises that I do on a machine, free weights are always superior. Seated Cable Rows. Works your lats in much the same way as close underhand grip lat pull down.  To get as much of your lats involved as possible, pull the weight toward you stomach or even your crotch (basically just keep it low).  In this exercise its easy to let your arms and shoulders do the work, but don't.  Concentrate on your back, and make sure not to swing back and forth, that will work your lower back.  Stay upright, you may tilt back slightly.  Bent Over Barbell Rows. Works not only your lats, but almost your entire back.  Should be done with legs bent, about ¼ squat, back straight, almost arched and leaning forward a lot, almost parallel to the ground.  If you pull the bar into the middle of your stomach or lower you will develop the lower part of your lats.  If you pull the bar into the upper part of your stomach or close to your chest, you will train the upper part of your lats.  That's the way I do them (upper), I feel it adds much needed width to my back.  You must go all the way down and feel the stretch.  At the top you should touch your body with the bar.  This is a basic compound movement and its one of the basics for building a strong muscular back. Bent Over Dumbbell Rows.  Most of the time, when an exercise can be done with either a barbell or a dumbbell it is listed here under one exercise and the differences are explained in the paragraph.  This exercise is so different from bent over barbell rows that it has to be discussed separately.  It isolates the lat very nicely from the rest of the muscles in your back.  Your best bet is to do this exercise with one knee and one arm on the bench.  The other leg is supporting your body against the ground and the same side arm is holding the dumbbell.  Without swinging, at any pace, bring the dumbbell up and pull it in close to your body at shoulder/chest or chest/stomach level, slowly lower and repeat.  Make sure lats are doing the work, not shoulders and arms.  This exercise should not be done in the same work out as Barbell Rows.  The two are interchangeable and should be switched from work out to work out.  Iso-Lateral Low Row.  Another machine exercise that works your lats.  It isolates them pretty well.  Use any grip and just row your ass off. Pull Over.  Last but not least we have this exercise.  Most use it for chest and triceps, but here is how to isolate your lats with it.  Lie on a bench but perpendicular to it.  Only the upper part of your back and your shoulders should touch it.  Legs on the floor with a dumbbell standing upright on the opposing side.  For the first rep, your spotter could help you get the dumbbell up, or he could just hand it to you.  Arching your back slightly, lower the weight as far as it will go, trying to reach the floor.  With arms as straight as possible (almost at lockout).  Bring the weight up above your head. Don't go much further in that direction, this will lower intensity since no muscle work is done if you move the weight back and forth above your chest.  You should concentrate on your lats throughout the entire set.  A bonus of this exercise is that it also works the hard to develop Serratus muscle (a muscle on the sides of your ribcage, a part of the midsection).  Also your ribcage volume increases.  This is a very important exercise, but much neglected.  When was the last time you saw someone do it in the gym? Lower Back: Lower Back (Erector Spinae) is a group of muscles responsible for overall power of your body.  It consists of three heads; Iliocastalis, Longissimus, and Spinalis.  A well developed lower back is very important in many sports such as football, wrestling, and, of course, power lifting.   Deadlifts have many variations, all of them work lower back as a target muscle and quads, hamstrings, and glutes as synergists or stabilizers.  Here they will be discussed in detail and minor variations will be pointed out.  All deadlifts are basic compound movements. Regular Deadlift is the original deadlift in which your legs bend at the knees pretty liberally.  Its almost half a squat.  With feet flat beneath the bar, squat down and grasp the barbell with a shoulder width or slightly wider overhand or mixed grip.  For better quality of the movement use overhand grip, but if you choose to use a mixed grip (if your forearms aren’t strong enough for overhand) that’s fine too, just remember to alternate mixed grip from hand to hand.  Lift the bar by extending hips and knees to full extension.  Pull shoulders back at the top of the lift if rounded.  Return, through the flexion of your lower back (which you must feel) and repeat.  Throughout the lift, keep hips low, shoulders high, arms and back straight.  Keep the bar close to body to improve mechanical leverage. Straight-Leg Deadlift In this variation of the deadlift, your legs should remain nearly perfectly straight (almost), but not immobile, throughout the entirety of the movement.  You can do this on a platform, but you will need good lower back and leg flexibility.  Your back should be more rounded than if you were performing regular deadlifts.  Your legs and hips should move back and forth as you are lifting the weight accordingly, but no vertical movement of the legs should occur through the bending of the knees.  Stiff Leg Deadlifts this variation is much like the straight-leg deadlifts except your legs bend at the knees.  But unlike the regular deadlifts the whole leg isn’t moving, only the upper part, above the knees.  From knee to ankle, there should be no significant movement, it should remain as stationary as possible.  You can do this on a platform as well (8” should be enough).  With knees bent, lift the bar by extending at hips until standing upright.  Pull shoulders back at to of lift if rounded.  Extend knees at the top if desired.  Lower bar to the top of the feet by bending the hips.  Bend the knees slightly during the descent and keep waist straight, flexing only slightly at the bottom.  Lower back may bend slightly during full hip flexion. Hyper Extension (Back Extension) is an exercise that can be done with or without weights.   First, position thighs prone on the padding and hook heels on platform.  Hold the weight close to your chest or behind the neck (don’t press on the neck).  Lower body by bending the waist until it is fully flexed.  Raise, or extend your waist until the torso is parallel to legs or in other words, your body is completely straight.  You may go further up if you want.  Although articulation of the waist is emphasized, some hip extension may accommodate the movement. Midsection: Midsection. Everyone loves a good one.  Midsection consists of three components – abdominals (abs), obliques(located outside of abs, on the ribs), and Serratus (it's a small muscle located between chest and obliques).  I used to posses an excellent stomach back in my wrestling days. A way to a great stomach is pretty simple – a lot of stomach work and very little rest (about 20 sec. between sets). You can work your stomach every day and it will only get better. If you really over train it, then you should take a day or two off just to let it heal up.  Picture you will see here are all from past month (excuse my physique), I haven't worked out in five months. To get a really incredible stomach you got to keep you sets high (about 10-15 sets) of as many reps as you can do. Go until you have to stop, take a short breather, just enough to regain consciousness, and proceed with the next set. Intensity is the main key in working out you midsection.  And for all you fat bastards, if you don't want to do the work you will not see any results.*  A lot of people ask me why they don't see any results even though they work their abs like maniacs and the abs feel  steel hard. This can easily be attributed to the fact that even a slight layer of fat will hide your abs.  It could literally take days to gain or lose that amount of fat. Sit Ups are the best exercise for upper and middle abdominals (top 6 out of 8 cubes).  You can hook your feet under something if you want, or you can have someone  hold you feet for you.  From having your back flat on the floor mat, quickly raise your body all the way up until your chest hits your knees.  You can also do this for half reps very effectively.  Don't try to lift yourself up with momentum or inertia of your body, let the muscles do the work.  Hand position is very important in this exercise, you should keep your hands on your ears, not pressing against them, but just holding your hands there.  You can accomplish this by pointing your elbows outwardly.  Do not grab the back of your head, that puts too much strain on your neck and could cause injury.  Crunches are halfway sit ups that work your upper and middle abs. You should do these with your legs in the air (or have your feet flat on the floor), bent at the knees, don't cross them if you can.  That will get your abs to grow unevenly like most bodybuilders. Hand position is the same as for sit ups. Once again, try to reach your knees, but you probably won't be able to do that.    Leg Raises can be done hanging from a bar or on that special leg-raise stand.  This exercise works the bottom of your abs (the bottom 4 cubes).  If your abs are weak, to these with your legs bent at the knees.  If your abs are pretty strong, do them with straight legs.   And don't just stop at a right angle, go as high as you can.  Try not to rock back and forth.  Also, you can do this flat on the floor.  Place your hands under your buttocks for some support and leverage.  Then lift your legs almost up to a right angle, then bring them down.   Side Crunches work the obliques.  Your back should still be on the floor, but now your legs should be lying on one side of your body, bent at the knees.  After doing this exercise the same way as described in “sit ups,” flip your legs to the other side and do the same number of reps.   Pull Over  You can do this exercise either the way it is done for chest or lats, it doesn't matter.  Either way serratus will get a work out.  Pull over also strengthens your abs and obliques.  Don't do pull over for stomach, just know that when you do it for your chest or lats, your midsection is working too.  Incline/Decline Sit Ups  Get on the bench and do sit ups or leg raises depending on which way your head is facing.  That's it.  Works abdominal.  Abdominal Wheel  First want to grab a pillow to put under your knees. If you don't have one, the skin will wear right off your knees, see, the exercise is performed with your knees on the ground. One hand on each side of the ab-wheel, keeping your arms locked straight out, eyes looking at the wheel, push the wheel out from you, keeping your lower back from sagging towards the floor. Just when your abs are about to graze the floor, simply pull yourself back upright using your abs (you have no choice but to use your abs to do it). Someone just beginning to train their abs won't be able to go clear down like that-they should go as far as they can and still be able to come back up. For advanced folks, try doing some from your toes instead of knees. ( thanks to Nathan )   Neck: Neck consists of many small muscles that connect the bottom of the skull to your upper back. The muscles of the neck that connect to the spinal cord are Cervicis Splenius and Capitis Splenius.  Because the upper fibers of the trapezius go high along the spinal column into the neck, your neck gets a lot of work when you do trap work.  There are many exercises that can work your neck, but many of them involve a harness and are way more complicated and intricate than they should be.  For this reason, I will give you just one exercise that will get your neck to grow better than a football player's. Try this and tell me this is not the best your neck has ever felt: Bridges can, and should, be done in two ways.  To do this exercise properly you should follow these instructions.  Get on all fours, facing down, and plant your forehead on the floor.  Now you have five points of support, with time, once your neck gets stronger, you will subtract your arms and have only three points.  With your legs spread far apart and your arms at comfortable distance (you can stay on your forearms if you want), slowly rock back and forth, from your forehead to the back of your head.  After several minutes of this, start rocking side to side, ear to ear, and in any direction your neck will allow.  Doesn't matter what order you do them in, you can mix it up any way you like.  For the next part of this exercise you have to flip over, with your stomach up.  Just like before start rocking back and forth, this time trying to go from the back or your head all the way to your nose.  You can also rock diagonally and in any desired direction. *Be very careful with this exercise, its very easy to injure yourself.  If you feel a lot of discomfort, stop and try to get more support.  You could also restrict your range of motion until your neck gets stronger and more flexible. Quads: Quadriceps (quads) is the largest muscle in the leg.  The best way to grow heaps of muscle is to do lots of squats with it's many variations (do only one or two types of squats per training session).  Squats are good because they hit all four heads of the quadriceps; adductor brevis, vastus intermedius, rectus femoris, and vastus lateralis.  There are many other very good exercises that work the quads.   Squat  (High Bar Squat) is the standard squat. By far the best exercise for legs, no exceptions. If performed properly (and even if not), squatting will add pounds onto your legs. Read the following paragraph very carefully because all other squat movements on this list require only minor variations from the standard squat. Place your legs about shoulder width apart, maybe a little wider, flat on the floor (don't get used to blocks or lifts) If your toes are pointing out you will work your inner thigh, if they're pointing in you will work the outer thigh. Keep your head, neck and chin level or slightly up, and fix your eyes on a specific point at about eye level in front of you. Grip the bar as close to your body as comfortably possible. Wrap your thumbs around the bar for added control. Place the bar on your back at a point below your seventh cervical vertebra, making sure that it never rests on the bone itself. Padding is not necessary, try to get used to the naked bar. Keep your shoulders down, lats flexed and chest pushed up and out. Arch your upper back; pinch your shoulder blades together. Your elbows should point downward. Keep your lower back flexed and locked into its natural arch. It is very important that you concentrate and think about every muscle involved for the entire duration of the set. Once the bar is on your back, stand upright by pushing with your legs, take a breath and slowly and carefully back out of the rack. Take one small step back with each foot. Try not to compromise the position by taking awkward steps or looking down. Use as comfortable stance as possible (slightly wider than shoulder width for most of you) to create the most stable and powerful base. This spreads the stress over the entire thighs and glutes and will enable you to squat deeply without excessive forward lean, rounding your back or having your knees move too far forward. Flex every muscle in your body and take one or more deep breaths. Hold that last full inhalation until you complete the rep – this is crucial to maintaining intra-abdominal and intrathoracic pressure, a stable spine and torso, and to exerting more force while doing it safely. Unlock your hips and move your glutes back and down as if you're going to sit in a chair. Keep your head level and eyes locked on a spot you picked throughout the lift. Sink back slowly, keeping the weight on your heels, feeling your hamstrings stretch and keeping maximum tension in the top of your thighs (never in the knees, Can you say “Injury”?). Note that torso will automatically incline forward as your hips move back and your lower legs remain vertical or move only slightly forward. Lower yourself at least to the point where the tops of your thighs are parallel to the floor. Squat depth is extremely important and makes a huge difference in your development. Going deeper is more uncomfortable and difficult, but by far more beneficial. Not only does greater depth require greater muscle fiber recruitment, which means greater overall training benefits, but the degree of squat depth strongly influences the loading of the different hip and torso extensor muscles and stabilizers. Never bounce at the bottom regardless of depth; in fact, consider stopping at the bottom of each rep to develop additional strength, power and control. As you begin the ascent, keep your chest high and focus your attention and muscular tension on your hips and the top of your thighs. Think of pressing the ground away. *If you tend to push with the balls of your feet, curl your toes slightly as you begin to drive out of the bottom position. Until you become very experienced, move slowly. Once you do this with good form, your goal will be to explode out of the whole as if you're going to jump. *You can do this exercise less effectively on a smith machine.   Hack Squat is performed without a bar but instead on an incline sort of a machine.  Almost every gym has one, but it is more dangerous than squatting in respect to putting too much stress on your knees.  However, your hips are well stabilized which allows your quads to be maximally stressed without much hamstring and hip involvement.  To protect your knees, be sure  that the force comes down through your heels and not your toes.  You should place your feet in front of your body/hips.  Front Squat  In this variation of the squat the bar is being held in front of your body and is supported by your upper chest and front delts.  This reduces hip involvement while increasing the knee-extension component and involvement of the spinal erectors.  Besides providing the most control over the bar, racking the bar in this manner also allows you to squeeze out more weight and more reps.   Leg Press is one of my personal favorites for quads.  I like it because it is very comfortable, and it pretty much isolates the quads in the sense that you can feel them work better than during squatting. It also works glutes and hamstrings to some degree.  It is easier to leg press a lot more weight than you can squat.  For leg press, your feet can be placed a little closer together, but use any width you like.  A key point to remember is to keep your hands off your knees, otherwise you will involuntarily help yourself push the weight up, thus taking away from your quad development.  This is a good exercise to follow a squat.  Leg Extension is a better exercise for definition than for mass gains.  Its best placed last in a sequence of three exercises (if you are doing 3), after the squat and the leg press.  It can be done with equal effectiveness on both, a cable machine, and a hammer strength machine.  When you do this exercise try not to rock your upper torso back and forth, but instead remain locked in a vertical position.  Your legs should extend all the way to lock out.  Overhead Squat is an extremely difficult and athletic variant of the basic squat.  Overhead squats stress your erectors, traps and delts maximally.  Your objective is to press the bar overhead just like you would in a military press. Once the bar is overhead, go into a deep squat and stand back up.  The stress on your supportive and assistive muscles is tremendous.  Because you can't handle much weight in this manner, this exercise is a little less effective for quads.  It might be a good idea to do this exercise on a smith machine  Lunge (split squat).  In addition to working quads, lunges also accelerate and emphasize glute and hamstring development.  You can do this with a bar or, more comfortably, with dumbbells, where the dumbbells just hang off to your sides.  Standing at a fixed point, step as far as you can with one leg so that your knee is approximately over your ankle, but definitely not past your toes.  Then come back and go with the other leg.  You can alternate every 1, 3, 5 reps, if you want, or do the whole set for one leg, then for the other.  Rhomboids Rhomboids (middle back) are the unsung hero of the back.  They add thickness to a back.  You never hear of anyone working them out.  However everyone does when they do most of lat and trap work.  Wide grip pull ups to the front work this muscle very well, so do Bent Over Rows and Seated Cable Rows.  There are only a few exercises that target this muscle primarily.    And here they are: Bent Over Barbell Rows.  Do these the same way as Bent Over Barbell Rows for upper back, the only difference being a slightly wider grip.  Your really have to try to feel your shoulder blades coming together due to rhomboid contraction.  Doing this exercise for upper back though, should be good enough. Seated Cable Rows.  Execute this exercise exactly the same way as Seated Cable Rows done for lats with one major difference.  Instead of pulling the weight to your stomach area, pull it to where your abs meet your chest. Rhomboid Shrugs are done either with a low pulley or on one of the Cybex or Stairmaster type Rowing Machines (this said in full recognition of your preference for free weights!!)  Begin as if you are going to do regular rows but rather than bending the arms, keep then (relatively) straight and try to pull the shoulders back - can use a rotating motion but recall your caution about rolling the shoulders while doing shrugs. This is rather like a seated, horizontal shrug. Really gets to the middle of the back - involves the trapezius also. Could be done with a barbell or dumbells in the bent over rowing positionbut you might not be able to focus on the proper movement. ( thanks to Mike Nix ) *If anyone can come up with another exercise for rhomboids I would be happy to hear about it. Shoulders: Shoulders (deltoids).  This muscle consists of three heads; anterior (front), lateral (medial), and posterior (rear).  No one exercise can hit all three heads well at the same time, however there are many excellent exercises that can hit one of the heads very well.   The good thing about shoulders is that even if you don't work them out, they can get a sufficient amount of work by secondary involvement in exercises such as bench presses (work the front head), rows (work the rear delts), behind neck press (medial and rear heads), almost any back exercise and all pushing exercises.  This is why I work shoulders the least out of all the muscle groups I train. Seated Press (a.k.a. shoulder press, military press) one of the best exercises for shoulders, it's a basic compound movement that trains your front and medial heads.  Barbell shoulder press puts more emphasis on your front head, while dumbbell shoulder press shifts the emphasis on your medial head.  This is actually one of the few exercises where I prefer dumbbells to a barbell.  This is due to the fact that dumbbells force you to use your traps because the weights are not connected and force has to be exerted to keep the dumbbells together at the top of the movement.  Also, stabilizer muscles are much more involved with dumbbell rather than a barbell because each arm/shoulder is more independent (you can not help your weaker shoulder with the driving force of the stronger one).  Dumbbells are the more difficult one of the two alternatives, however you can go a little faster with them, with a barbell you should lift at a slower pace. Lateral Raises (a.k.a. side raises, side laterals), if done properly, this exercise will add width to you shoulders in no time. It works, you guessed it, the medial (lateral) head, although that's not why the exercise is called that. This is one of the most difficult exercises to perform correctly, mainly because it's so easy to cheat.  All kinds of secondary muscle groups readily come into play.  You can perform this exercise seated or standing, seated is more difficult. Hold the dumbbells in front of your body at crotch level with arms slightly bent at the elbows, the outer plates of the dumbbells may be resting on the front of your thighs. Without swinging or tilting back, bring the dumbbells up at a slow or moderate pace (never fast) to your sides just above shoulder level.  You should be marking off a quarter circle with each of your arms.  At the top of the movement, and this is very important, your elbows should be slightly higher than your wrists, or at least just as high. Tilt your wrists slightly forward to get the “pouring coke bottles” effect. This exercise is very difficult and if you don't feel the burn after 3, max 4 sets, then you are doing it wrong.  Two more important notes, never sacrifice weight for form in this exercise, and always do it 2-4 more reps than seated press, following it. Bent Over Dumbbell Rows  Aren't rows for back?!  Not in this case.  There is one way to do this exercise to target therear deltoids instead of the lats.  Here is how you do it.  First, get in the same position you get to do this is exercise for lats.  I prefer the bench, although I've seen some people do it without one.  You should use less weight than you would for your back simply because rear delts are so much smaller.  Instead of rowing close to your body and toward your stomach, you should move (not so much pull) the weight parallel to your shoulders and out away from you body (not too far away).  Make sure you don't swing the weight, but pull it with your posterior delts.  You should feel the burn almost immediately.    *If you ever decide to try this exercise, please e-mail me with your results or questions.    Upright Rows  Is this a back page?!  Once again, NO.  To target your front delts instead of your traps all you have to do is just take the bar wider.  Grip the bar with an overhand grip, wider than shoulder width, stand straight, and… row.  Very simple.  Try to reach your chin.  I dare you. Front Raises are a good exercise for front delt heads. You can do them with a barbell or dumbbells, they're equally effective.  Simply hold the barbell (or dumbbells) in front of yourself and slowly, without jerking them or swinging them, bring it up to just above shoulder level.  The good thing about using dumbbells for this exercise is that you can alternate (do one at a time). This is one of those exercises that if you do them fast, you are still going to get much of the benefit as long as you don't swing the weight and don't squat down just when the weight is passing through the sticking point. Traps: Traps (Trapezius) give you that football player look.  There is nothing more pathetic than a thick muscular chest and a pencil neck on top of it where volcanic traps should be.  That's the mistake I made in the beginning of my training and now I'm trying to fight my way back and build some traps.  Unlike lats, which can only be trained by pulling exercises, traps can also be trained by pushing exercises.  If you do two or more exercises for traps in your work out, it might be a good idea to include both for fuller development. Shoulder Shrugs are a must if you are trying to grow thick, high traps.  They can be done with either a barbell ordumbbells.  I prefer a barbell because the movement is more controlled and I can handle more weight.  But dumbbells are fine too, you will need very strong and enduring forearms if you plan to handle hundreds of pounds in separate arms for 4 to 6 sets (don't do both types in the same work out). You must stay erect through the entirety of the exercise, with your legs slightly bent at the knees.  Lower the weight as low as possible without compromising the integrity of your lower back.  On the upward part of the movement try to reach your ears with your shoulders, even though its impossible. Use a shoulder width or slightly wider grip, overhand or mixed (I use overhand grip for lighter weight and mixed for heavier, where I alternate each hand between overhand and underhand grip from set to set).  Rolling out your shoulders is not necessary, it doesn't add to trap development, but it becomes easy to injure yourself by pinching a nerve in your shoulder.  (can effectively be done on a Smith Machine by allowing you to use even more weight) Behind Neck Press should be done the same way as Seated Press the only differences being a wider grip and lowering the weight behind the neck.  Along with shoulder shrugs, this is one of the best exercises for strength and mass in the trapezius.  Wide grip is what shifts the emphasis from shoulders to traps, so try to grip the bar as wide as you can without sacrificing range of motion. (can be done on a Smith Machine but some effect will be lost, better use free weights). Upright Rows are a tried and true way for most to build and add definition to their traps.  Personally, I am not a big fan because it causes pain in my shoulders.  But it is an effective exercise.  Gripping the bar with a close grip, but no less than six inches apart pull the bar from your crotch up to your chin, if you can.  No jerking, this is a very smooth movement not meant for a lot of weight. (also can be done on a Smith Machine without losing any quality)           Side Raises can also be done for traps and not just for deltoids.  To include the traps, you have to go higher than if you were working your shoulders.  Hold the dumbbells in front of yourself, resting them on your thighs if you so desire.  Turn your palms outward so that you have a slightly underhand grip.  As you mark off a half circle with each arm in an upward motion, make sure your wrists rotate slightly in so that your fists are parallel to each other at the top of the movement where the dumbbells meet.  You can touch them together and slowly begin descent.  If you want, you can have your fists in a straight line at the top instead of being parallel to each other. Triceps: Triceps Brachii is a muscle located in the back of the arm and makes up about two thirds of an arm's volume.  Many people who want big arms make a mistake of working their triceps exclusively.  The triceps are made up of three heads; long, medial, and lateral.  You should always include an overhead triceps movement in your training program to target the long head, its the only way to work that head.  In doing triceps exercises one must always remember not to let any part of the arm above the elbow move.  Shoulder joint remains stationary at all times. Dips can be done weighted or regular.  To hit your triceps and not your chest with this exercise, elbow position is crucial.  Elbows should not be close to your body but instead pointing outwardly.  You should go as low as possible and the slower you go the more effective it becomes. Skull Crushers (French Press) are a good exercise for triceps.  Lying supine on a flat bench, take a cambered bar with your hands about 10 inches apart (overhand of course).  Lower the bar all the way down until the back of your hand touches your forehead and push it back up.  This is a very difficult exercise and your triceps can easily give out so you should try to do this with a spotter.  Triceps Pushdown (sometimes called “press down”) is my favorite exercise for the triceps.  Use as close a grip as you want.  Never stand more than two feet away from the weight stack when you do it.  Leverage is important in this exercise, so you should take a shoulder-width stance and bend your knees.  You can lean forward a little bit.  This is a 90-degree range of motion exercise.  Your forearms should be parallel to the ground at the top of the movement, don't let the weight pull you higher.  At the bottom, your arms should be perpendicular to the floor.  Its ok to lock out.  You can do this with legs parallel to each other or have one leg in front for more leverage (that's the way I do it).  Overhead Cable Extensions  I am not a big fan of this exercise for one simple reason - it can be done with free weights (Overhead Dumbbell Extension).  And a free weight exercise is always superior to an equivalent machine exercise. You can use a rope or a bar.  A rope can be too uncomfortable and you waste more energy trying to stay balanced than you do performing the exercise.  You should keep one leg back for stability.  Push the weight with only your triceps, don't let shoulders or lats do it.  Go as far back as you can without moving your arm at the shoulder.  Your elbows are the only joints involved in this exercise.  Push forward to lockout. Pullover should be done the same way it is done for chest.  It works both, chest and triceps at the same time.  To put more emphasis on the triceps, point your elbows slightly more outward.   One-Arm Cable Extensions  This exercise tones your muscle more than grows it.  Unused hand on the hip, feet in a shoulder-width stance, knees bent for stability.  Try to keep your trunk stationary, as with all cable movements.  Keep your upper arm locked against your side.  Use full range of motion.  Once again your forearm should not go higher than parallel to the ground.  Lockout at the bottom.   Overhead Dumbbell Extensions  Finally a heavy triceps exercise with free weights.  You can also do this with a cambered bar, but you might find a dumbbell more comfortable.  From the position of having your arms extended over your head, slowly bring the weight down, all the way behind your head, remembering not to move your upper arm at the shoulder.  Your upper arm stays vertical at all times, while the rest of your arm is moving. Close Grip Bench Press Once again, do this exactly the same way as it is described to be done for chest, with one difference; bring the bar to your upper pectorals not to your lower chest/ upper abs area. Kickbacks  Now, you don't see many people do this for one simple reason; you can't use heavy weights.  And you know how guys' egos are: ”if its not heavy, I will not be seen lifting it.”  However, if you choose to swallow your pride, here is how to do this great exercise.  Standing in the same position as if you were doing bent over dumbbell rows, bring the arm holding the dumbbell back so that its parallel to the ground and just a smidgen higher than your back.  Bending the arm at the elbow, lower the weight so that your arm makes a right angle.  Then “kick” the arm back to its original position.