List which exercises IMPROVED each bodypart the most

[9muscle9]

Back: seated machine row
Chest: incline dumbbell press
Quads: Squats
Hammstrings: Lying leg curl
Calves: Calve press
Biceps: Nothing... they refuse to grow
Triceps: Rope pushdown
Shoulders: Side raises

 

[Kaladryn]

always see these recommended but do they work for anyone?

surely the ROM is too short/ its actually all teres major?

Exactly my conclusion. For me, my teres major and arms seem dominate when doing them wide, bring them in a little and my lats get hit much better.

Don't get me wrong, I still like wide grip, but not necessarily for lats so much. Narrow also gives more ROM like you said.

 

[TrinityD]

My compare and contrast between you and I is in bold.

How about best and worst for each body part? I think will show how different we all are, this is why you have to find your own path to growth.

Chest:

best- decline smith all pressing sucks for me,especially bb/smith
worst- anything with cables I'm the opposite,best growth from these

Lats:

best- barbell rows agreed
worst- wide grip pullups (close grip work well for me though)
agreed

Quads:

best- squats squats are awful for quads. they don't work at all
worst- leg extensions once again, opposite. lextensions blew up my quads

Shoulders:

best- not training them at all (seriously, they get overtrained just doing chest/back) agreed . my entire delt workout is 1x15 side raises
worst- overhead presses agreed

Triceps:

best- lying french press (skull crushers) agreed, but they hurt too much and nothing I have done allows me to do them
worst- close grip bench bench blows up my triceps. my triceps became very dominant from even normal grip bench .

Hamstrings:

best- romanian deadlifts this doesn't work for me at all
worst- leg curls once again...opposites. leg curls are my #1 best ham exercise for growth

Love seeing the similarities and differences

 

[TrinityD]

Exactly my conclusion. For me, my teres major and arms seem dominate when doing them wide, bring them in a little and my lats get hit much better.

Don't get me wrong, I still like wide grip, but not necessarily for lats so much. Narrow also gives more ROM like you said.

:yeahthat:
Yep. Biomechanics wise, wide grip should technically be an "upper back" exercise for everybody. I really don't think this is an 'individual' thing.

Wide=Upper Back
Narrow=Lats

The degree of efficacy may vary person to person, but the target muscle groups shouldn't IMO.

Wide Grip is a staple in my routine because I use it for upper back.
Close Grip wrecks my lats hard if I do them.

 

[little slice]

you two seriously don't train your shoulders at all, and they grow?



maybe that's what im doing wrong.. lol.



I just don't get how these IFBB pros all have shoulder days yet yours grow without any real direct work :/

 

[TrinityD]

yep. entire shoulder workout is an optional 1set of side raises.

i'll tell you why...
it's a blessing and a curse.

any kind of press I do ...
I don't care WHAT IT IS...
decline bb,incline bb,flat bb,decline db,incline db,flat db,incline hs,decline hs,flat hs,even most flyes,chest press machines...
IT ALL GOES STRAIGHT TO DELTS

so now I stopped doing ANY kind of pressing for chest. well, I do Incline Dumbbell Bench, but that's really a shoulder exercise for me LOL.most people hearing that would think I'm completely crazy. However, I believe it was Dexter Jackson(if I'm correct) who also did all flyes and only 1 press at the end of the workout for chest. I almost do the same thing... I just dropped all pressing.

my entire shoulder workout now is 1 set of side raises and they have always been extremely dominant. i seriously can not fathom having a "shoulder day". if I had a shoulder day, I have a feeling I would just turn into one giant deltoid.

don't get me wrong...in the past I used to do barbell benching and incline barbell benching up to 3x a week when I was powerlifting alongside 2 sets of raises here and there . that's probably why they came so dominant because everything went straight to my stupid delts despite using very wide grip( index finger on the outer rings) that should emphasize more chest.

I have seen it though....guys that are like 5'7-5'8 with really subarpar deltoids and gigantic chests. honestly I wish I had that problem instead of the opposite.

 

[little slice]

I wish I was a giant deltoid..

 

[dot8905]

I wish I was a giant deltoid..

Lolz I don't even know why but I got a kick outta that one Hahahaha

 

[TrinityD]

LOL same.

 

[Kaladryn]

you two seriously don't train your shoulders at all, and they grow?



maybe that's what im doing wrong.. lol.



I just don't get how these IFBB pros all have shoulder days yet yours grow without any real direct work :/

I am chest and triceps dominate in my pressing, my theory is that my delts are the weak link, and they get trashed on chest and maybe even a bit from back.

Also consider that I have been training delts hard for 25 years, so at this point it may have helped to back off them. I wouldn't expect the same results for everyone.

 

[CHAPS]

For back width I know their is another thread that mentions reeves deadlifts, I highly suggest you guys try snatch grip deadlifts, even better do them from a deficit if you have the mobility to trash your entire body, these really seem to widen your back.

 

[TrinityD]

If things like Reeves deadlifts actually did anything,I promise you every single serious bodybuilder would have figured it out by now and it would have spread like wildfire.

The reality is there is a repeated and successful recipe as demonstrated by the best backs in the history of bodybuilding: Row some heavy ass iron

 

[CHAPS]

yep. entire shoulder workout is an optional 1set of side raises.

i'll tell you why...
it's a blessing and a curse.

any kind of press I do ...
I don't care WHAT IT IS...
decline bb,incline bb,flat bb,decline db,incline db,flat db,incline hs,decline hs,flat hs,even most flyes,chest press machines...
IT ALL GOES STRAIGHT TO DELTS

so now I stopped doing ANY kind of pressing for chest. well, I do Incline Dumbbell Bench, but that's really a shoulder exercise for me LOL.most people hearing that would think I'm completely crazy. However, I believe it was Dexter Jackson(if I'm correct) who also did all flyes and only 1 press at the end of the workout for chest. I almost do the same thing... I just dropped all pressing.

my entire shoulder workout now is 1 set of side raises and they have always been extremely dominant. i seriously can not fathom having a "shoulder day". if I had a shoulder day, I have a feeling I would just turn into one giant deltoid.

don't get me wrong...in the past I used to do barbell benching and incline barbell benching up to 3x a week when I was powerlifting alongside 2 sets of raises here and there . that's probably why they came so dominant because everything went straight to my stupid delts despite using very wide grip( index finger on the outer rings) that should emphasize more chest.

I have seen it though....guys that are like 5'7-5'8 with really subarpar deltoids and gigantic chests. honestly I wish I had that problem instead of the opposite.

What type of side lateral? For whatever reason a standard side lateral with db's never felt good to me, when I did them with a cable or a 45 degree lean with a db that's when I really noticed a difference. Facepulls were actually shown to activate the medial delts MORE then side laterals interestingly enough, something to toy with.

Have you ever done and scapular stabilization exercises? y's t's w's etc? Incline or overhead shrugs? Batwing rows? Humour me and try some of those along with this stretch daily:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7SeOmS4AdQ"]Chest opener stretch with foam roller - YouTube[/ame]

The above stretch is suggested by strength coach Charles Poliquin to be done 20 minutes daily, your pec minor is probably short and stiff as well as stiff lats etc. I've had a lot of friends try this stretch and they seem to get up and naturally have their shoulders sit back a good inch or more from when they started.

T NATION | Push-Ups, Face Pulls, and Shrugs

Consider trying push ups on rings/trx as well

 

[TrinityD]

Cable laterals are great.
you probably need form tweak on db laterals.
face pulls are cool too. I can't do them because I tore my proximal bicep tendon a while back and those cause severe pain.

It really doesn't matter,just do a side raise lolz.
I just stick to 1 extremely intense set of side raises with partials and pain

 

[KTT]

-Quad: squat/leg press
-Ham: SLDL/seated curl
-inner leg: abductor
-calves: leg press/seated
-Back width: weighted pullups/rack chins
-back thickness: DLs/yates row/2 hand db row
-Chest: Decline barbell/weighted dips/smith incline
-Delts: wide grip upright rows/seated db laterals/smith machine mil press
-rear delt: reverse pec deck leaning forward
-Tris: cgbp/weighted dips/2 hand behind neck db raise
-BIs: regular arm positioning doesnt work for me, my forearms do all the work..
so lately i have been using wide grip attachment cable curls w my elbows very far in front of me... or cable curls with my elbows way behind me... had to "get weird w it", thanks Dante...

Abs- crunches
Traps- DB raises holding at top 5 seconds, stretch bottom 2-3 secs

abductor =Outer Thigh , not inner thigh.

 

[Jeremy24]

Chest- low incline db press
delts- side laterals
triceps - close grip pushdowns with elbows kept pushed back
biceps- rope hammer curl, squuezing at top/barbell curl with elbows back\
quads - high rep squats
hammies- glute ham raises
calves - toe press standing, with long stretch and explosive contraction
back thick- rack deads, squuezing back at top
back width- rack chins
abs- planks/hanging leg raises
glutes - sldl

 

[Pbfanatic321]

I'm gonna give russian leg curls/hyper extension things on the lat pull down a shot for my hamstrings. They arent BAD but they could be MUCH BETTER.

 

[Pbfanatic321]

What do you guys do for your teardrop? I need to build more size on that towards the inner part of my leg.

 

[TrinityD]

Hacks and leg extensions do it for me

 

[19incharms]

weighted pull ups , side laterals, cables pulls downs, biceps curls
closed grip bench, (heavy) side laterals, cables pulls downs, biceps curls
squats, (heavy) hamstrings, squats etc..
a combination of power lifting with bodybuilding. works for me