There are no “best” exercises to build muscle

August 25th, 2014 by

There are no “best” exercises to build muscle.

When it comes to legs, sure squats and deadlifts are staples for most people. And when it comes to lats, some kind of chin up or pull up variation is going to be popular. But when it comes right down to it, whether you want to build glutes, shoulders, or arms, there is no single “best” exercise for anything. 

Rather, a good program contains a variety of exercises selected for the right person, at the right time, in the right order, with the right rep range, tempo, and rest interval for that specific person. And, in addition to that, their nutrition program should compliment their training and vice versa.

So when people ask me for the best exercise for (insert muscle group here) I generally respond with the exercises I might prefer to program the most, but that doesn’t inherently make them the “best”. What is best for anyone at any time depends on the context in which they are programmed.

There are no magic exercises.