BACK EXERCISES

One of the hardest movements to perform but great for overall back development. Considered as a vertical pulling movement. The different Pull up variations changes depending on hand grip (prone, neutral, or supinated), and hand positioning (hands close, hands Shoulder width, hands wider than shoulder width). 

Any Row variation would target the back. With Barbell Rows offering the largest bang for your buck for back development. You can also use them with Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Cables, and Machines. Rows are considered as a horizontal pulling motion. You can change variations based off where the line of Pull is, hand grips, and hand placements. 

The deadlift is predominantly a Leg exercise BUT the back muscles are very involved. Serving has muscles for stability during the movement. The deadlift trains the back isometrically. All variations of the Deadlift targets the back. 

Shrugs are ideal for Trap (trapezius)development. Having well developed traps would make you look odee brolic. You can do Shrugs with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and machines. 

Rear delts or posterior delts are 1 of the 3 deltoid heads located in the rear part of the shoulders. Rear delts and Rhomboids always work together to pull your shoulder blades back and to stabilize the shoulders. They're not large muscles so they dont require heavy lifts (heavy as far as you cant do more than 6reps). They're slow twitch muscles so they favor higher reps for development (12-30reps per set). Rear delts help give your shoulders that complete round capsule look. 

The next best thing to Pull Ups. If you're currently unable to perform Pull ups, this is your go to. Gotta develop your vertical pulling mechanics. The reason why Pull Ups are so hard because there's not many things that you do in your everyday life that requires you to do a vertical pull. So give yourself some patience. Do some Lat Pull downs and keep practicing your Pull Ups. I promise you'll get it. The best part is you can improve on Lat Pull Down pretty quickly. That confidence gonna go up 😈. Use that confidence towards your Pull Ups. 

Aah, Squat, the powerhouse of movement. The squat offers the biggest bang for your buck as far as leg development and overall body development. The Quads are highly active during a squat. Be aware though, there are 2 ways to do a squat: a Knee dominant Squat (which is ideal) and Hip dominant Squat which is good for loading as much weight as possible due to the fact that Hip dominant squat puts more emphasis on your posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, lower back).  This includes more muscles to help. The quads are way more active on a Knee dominant squat than a Hip dominant squat. Both are great, as long as you know what you're training for. 

Squat comes in many variations which the Barbell Squat being HNIC, then dumbbells, kettlebells, Machines, and Cables. The squat has high potential for Progressive overload, meaning it's easy to progress in this exercise. Squats are great within the 6-12 rep range for development. 

The Leg Press, the machine that everyone loves to load a lot of heavy weight with the shittiest of range of motion. I'm guilty of doing this once upon a time 😅🤷🏿‍♂️. The Leg Press is not meant to see how much weight you can load and do partial reps, that's one. Two, most people do use this machine incorrectly. Once again, I'm guilty of this in my past life. How? By not bending my knees enough to get full range of motion.  

If done correctly, you'll notice you will not be able to do anywhere as much weight as before. Emotional damage. It is what it is. Your quads will thank you later. 12-20reps is optimal for Quad development. 

Lunges and all their variations suck, BUT are very necessary. A Lunge is pretty much a single leg squat, and like the squat, can be done in 2 ways. Knee dominant and hip dominant Lunges are a shit. Knee dominant Lunges targets more quads and hip dominant targets more glutes and Posterior Chain but the quads are still getting work, just not as much as a knee dominant Lunges. 

For Knee dominant lunges, make sure to allow your knees to go over your toes. This helps optimize quad development and helps with ankle mobility. I hate this exercise but I still do them cause the leg pump you get from this is top tier.. 

Knee Extension, the icing on the cake for Leg (quad) day. Save this exercise towards the end of your workout OR use it as a warm up to pre exhaust the quads for a better mind-muscle connection. 

To be more specific on which quad head gets the most work, then play with your foot position. Toes pointing outward targets the inner head (vastus medialis) more, while toes pointing outward targets the outer head more (vastus lateralis). Neutral toes position hits pretty much everything. Whichever works best for you. This exercise works best within the 10-30 rep range for optimal results. 

Basically an Elevated Lunge 🤷🏿‍♂️. Great quad (especially the outer head) activation and a good amount of glute work too. You can do this with a barbell, dumbbells in different positions (rack, suitcase, even overhead), kettlebells, and if you're crazy/creative enough, even cables. Get it down how you get it done. 

The Knee Raise is mostly a Hip dominant movement, but because a particular quad head crosses both the hip and knee joint, it also gets some love. Meet Rectus Femoris, or the top beefy muscle on your thigh. That's where you probably feel a lot of when you do ab exercises. This also helps shape the quad as well.