Exercise library

Step-by-step technique, coaching cues, common mistakes and sets and reps for the 16 exercises that build most of a good programme.

Woman performing a barbell back squat in a rack

Legs · Intermediate Barbell Back Squat Barbell, squat rack

Lifter gripping a barbell on the gym floor for a deadlift

Back · Intermediate Deadlift Barbell, plates

Man bench pressing a barbell with a spotter behind him

Chest · Beginner Bench Press Barbell, flat bench, rack

Loaded barbell in a power rack in front of a city view

Shoulders · Intermediate Overhead Press Barbell, rack

Woman doing a single-arm dumbbell row on a bench

Back · Intermediate Barbell Row Barbell, plates

Back · Intermediate Pull-Up Pull-up bar

Chest · Beginner Push-Up None (bodyweight)

Barbell loaded with weight plates in a rack

Legs · Intermediate Romanian Deadlift Barbell or dumbbells

Woman holding a barbell across her shoulders in a rack

Glutes · Beginner Hip Thrust Barbell, bench, bar pad

Legs · Beginner Walking Lunge Dumbbells or bodyweight

Back · Beginner Lat Pulldown Cable pulldown machine

Arms · Beginner Dumbbell Curl Dumbbells

Muscular man in a sleeveless top in a gym

Arms · Intermediate Tricep Dip Parallel bars or dip station

Core · Beginner Plank None (bodyweight)

Lifter chalking up beside a loaded barbell

Legs · Beginner Leg Press Leg press machine

Chest · Beginner Incline Dumbbell Press Dumbbells, adjustable bench

How to use the library

Most well-built programmes are made of a handful of compound lifts (a squat, a hinge, a horizontal and vertical push, a horizontal and vertical pull) plus a few accessories. Learn those patterns first. Each page shows how to set up, the cues coaches use, and the mistakes that cost lifters the most progress.

If you want the exercises arranged into a weekly routine, every one of them appears in at least one of our workout plans.