This is a short article to set in stone the 7 most important weight lifting/weight training exercises. I’ve mentioned them several times in various posts, and also in several of my ebooks, but let’s get this defined once and for all.
Note – these are not necessarily in order. We’ll save the debate about which “one” is the most important for later…
The Big 7
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Chest Press (Bench Press)
- Rows
- Chin-up/Pull-up
- Military/Standing Pres
- Dips
There are many variations to each of these. Dumbbell versions, barbell versions, seated vs. standing, different grips, different angles, etc.
But the key things about this list:
a) they are all compound movements, not isolation exercises
b) together, they hit every major muscle in the body (yes, they even work your abs for you fitness-models out there!)
c) they produce RESULTS
d) they should form the basis of any good program/routine; if your routine doesn’t include each of these at least once a week, even if you are a beginner, get a new program
e) with the variations, you could do just these 7 exercises for years and never get bored
Anyone disagree? Anyone want to debate which one is the most important?
Looking to burn fat with weight training? Tired of typical routines?
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Related posts:
- Fat Burning Weight Training
- The 19 Weight Training Must-Dos For Beginners – Part 1 of 2
- The 19 Weight Training Must-Dos For Beginners – Part 2 of 2
Tags: the big 7
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July 14th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I’m still working on those chin-ups, Darrin!
I am new enough at all of this to be very open to suggestions. I am a firm believer that something is better than nothing, provided you can avoid injury. Nevertheless, anything that can help me do more with what I have, get better results and have better health – that’s wonderful. I say, Bring it on!
July 14th, 2009 at 9:13 am
It’s tough to figure out which is most important (they’re all pretty good). I would guess that the Deadlift is the most important because it works so many different muscles. I would also guess that out of the whole list, the deadlift is probably the exercise most people are not doing (only a guess..I don’t know because I workout in my small home gym in my basement). What does everyone else think?
July 14th, 2009 at 10:01 am
I’d say the #1 lift period would be a clean. The one that probably the least people do, partially because it’s hard to teach right. Even if you disagree with the fact that it’s the #1 lift, it’s easily on the top 7…
July 14th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Pretty much all the ones in rippetoes starting strength :D
July 14th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
what about pushups?
July 14th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
@ Stan: Shhhh. Darrin gives us enough to do already!
Seriously, I wondered the same thing, mostly because pushups are another exercise that I find hard to do. My body sends me clear signals that pushups are working more than one muscle/ muscle group. So, shouldn’t they be considered “compound exercises” even if not “compound MOVEMENTS”?
Darrin?
July 14th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
But the bench press is pretty much the same as the push up isn’t it? Just a difference in weight and reps.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I’d have to agree with Cameron on the power clean, specifically I would replace the bench with the clean. Also, when did military presses become the standard? I’ve even seen people saying “you can perform the military press without heels touching”. The base movement is the overhead press and is, again in my opinion, the superior exercise.
July 14th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hi everyone – I’ll tackle these in reverse order:
@Dave – yes, strict military press originates with feet together, but let’s face it – there is a lot of confusion about terms and synonyms. Whether you call it overhead press or military is generally debatable but what’s not debatable is: a) done standing, not sitting; b) done with a barbell, in front of the head (not behind the neck!); c) torso moves forward slightly as bar passes your eyes; d) not an isolation movement – a compound movement.
@Jon, Gene, Stan – pushups are indeed a great exercise, but my emphasis here is on weight training; pushups would be near the top of any bodyweight exercise list. Pushups can be done with weight or extra resistance (bands, or as I do, actually putting weight plates on your back) but not traditionally. However, pushups are NOT the same as bench press. The position of the scapula is different and actually pushups recruit more muscle groups (for example, your lats are involved more). If they were easy to do with the same total resistance as bench press, they’d be the superior exercise. By the way, pushups are in all 4 of my programs, meaning that I (and people on my programs) do pushups and variations year round.
@Gene – I’ve considered “compound exercise” and “compound movement” synonymous (and I’d say pushups qualify). Do you have a meaning here I’m missing?
@Cameron, Dave – the clean is a great exercise, but extremely hard to do. I include it in one of my programs, but given it’s difficulty (technique-wise) I left it out on purpose. If the average person is doing the Big 7, they’ll be fine without it. Sure is fun though!
July 14th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Well, Darrin, you’ve got the comments running on this one!
Re: Pushups and chinups These are both “body weight” exercises, aren’t they? That is probably why some of us were wondering why one was included and not the other.
Re: Compound Exercise and Compound Movement I think we both think alike on this. I was just a little confused, I think.
Thanks for the motivational and informative articles. They have been very helpful.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:46 am
@Gene – ahh, you’re totally right! It’s funny that I don’t consider chins/pull ups “bodyweight” yet I consider pushups bodyweight. Obviously inconsistent, but let me see if I can rationalize (weasel) my way out of this one… a) pushups are endurance exercises, whereas chins are strength exercises [to explain: most people, after a few months, can do sets of 20 or 30 pushups (endurance) but still can only do a handful of chins (strength)] and b) it’s far easier to add weight to chins [I almost always use weights, so I guess psychologically I classified them as weighted]. I’m a huge fan of pushups, but I think I’ll keep my Big 7 as-is, despite the inconsistency.
Anyone else see holes in my theory/list/ideas/head???? [Thanks Gene!]
July 15th, 2009 at 10:09 am
YES! YES! YES! i could not agree more! I used stronglift 5×5 for 6 months and i put on alot ov weight on, my shoulders was much wider, my chest got bigger, i found the squat hard to get good form, and still do due to the lack ov mobility i have in the hips. Foget isolated excerses if your a begginer. You will see visable results with JUST these excersises, in a small amount ov time, im talking 1 month to see visable results, seriously! (Making sure your diet is correct). I have two freinds that have a really small frame, and i keep telling them to do these but there too bothered about taking advice off steroid heads who are doing low weight isolated excersises. Without places like this blog there isnt many people who actually know what there talking about, people go to gym and look at what the big guys are doing. I tell them that they have either been training for years and have already got the frame to start training single muscles or on steriods!
I enjoy reading this blog and always keep an open mind when i read something new, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Eddie
July 15th, 2009 at 11:53 am
@Darrin, fair enough re the military/overhead, sorry for the little rant, I don’t know why that annoys me so much hehheh.
As for pull-ups vs push-ups as weightlifting exercises, I think there’s a distinction in how far you can practically take the loading. With a belt, you can just keep adding plates on pull-ups, chins and dips. After the first 45 lbs, it becomes very hard to add weight to push-ups.
July 15th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
“Without places like this blog there isnt many people who actually know what there talking about, people go to gym and look at what the big guys are doing.”
You’re right, personally I only know of one other group that does. If any1 wants me to post a link to the forum I will. But, if no1 asks I won’t bother wasting the time to get it.
July 15th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Thanks for all the feedback so far. I wonder, not to get too mushy, but I think there might be some value to changing the wording of the list, just a hair. For example “chest press” instead of “bench press”. And “overhead press” instead of “military”. But that might be too general. I want avoid the debates about which versions of each are best – for example “back squats” vs. “front squats” vs. “sumo squats” vs. etc. etc.
I’ll keep the comments open on this post for a while to get more views.
Of course, I could certainly kick up quite a bit of controversy, I’m sure, if I told you each exactly what variation of each is the “best”… that could be fun…
July 15th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
It all depends on your reason for lifting. The term “best” can mean either “most muscle groups used,” “biggest muscles targeted,” or “most functional.” Functionality can only be discerned when you know WHY you are lifting.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Couldn’t have said it better! They really are the rock bottom truth!
Curls? Well, once you’ve the foundation, you can fool around with them, until then this is the RECIPE!
July 17th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
hello everyone,
this is a quite important discussion here.
because in my first year of permanent body working, i almost done none of them because of the guy in the gym did not tell me to do, and i was new and had no knowledge.
the funny thing is at the end of the year i was able to work with quite heavier weights for me, but could do only 3 chin ups !!!
and it was not only me, many huge guys around the dumbelss were not so succesful with chin ups or dips.
thats weird,
because when we do lots of isolations we get shaped (of course), but that look is so easy to understand, you can really get if a man is doing the workouts above permanently, or rather curls, by just looking at him on the streets.
and the men who went on these compound movements always seemed to me as they have far better looking, uniqe bodies.
with the others, you just see a unity of pomped parts of body, but not a fully acting strong one.
July 21st, 2009 at 11:43 am
It’s got to do with more than look. If you watch the guys who do compound movements and the guys who don’t you’ll notice that even though most often the guys who don’t isolate everything APPEAR smaller, they usually lift heavier. Compound movements are much more functional, an in the end that’s what matters. What’s the point of working out if you never notice it? Compare a row to a curl. A real live example would be picking something…maybe a 2×4… off the ground to set it somewhere else. When in life are you actually going to get something in curl position and just curl it? Although not isolation, back squats are the same way. Don’t get e wrong, I love squats, but when in life are you actually going to be able to put something on your shoulders to carry it?
August 12th, 2009 at 10:23 am
What about those of us who are just getting started (or restarted) in trying to live healthier and be healthier?
I can barely do one chinup. I have a barbell and free weights in my basement so I can do all the exercises on the Big 7 list. I also swim and do intervals in the pool (great cardio for me as I have foot trouble for running and I push real hard in the pool when I am doing sprint intervals.. 2 laps all out, 2 laps moderate, 3 all out, 2 moderate, 1 easy, 2 all out, etc)… So I am thinking of doing swimming most mornings and doing a 2 on/2 off routine with just the Big 7 (and maybe pushups/core strenghteners unless the big 7 do enough core strength by virtue of the compound movements?) I’ll divy them up to try and do opposites or lower/upper.
But what is a good way to actively train to do the chinups? Would starting up high from a chair or jump and holding over time train towards them or is that just going to cheat me? What about going as high as I can for a few sets of as many (which won’t be a lot) reps as I can do?
August 12th, 2009 at 10:52 am
H Mike – check out today’s article: http://worldfitnessnetwork.com.....d-chinups/
September 13th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I found this web that explains Bruce lee’s strength workout and some comments are sayin that its based on genetics so I just wanted to show you Darrin and explain to me that I can do this workout
Contact me:
September 13th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
@ Shayne – I removed your personal contact info from your comment, because otherwise you’d get spammed! Go ahead and post the link here – it’s ok. And then ask any specific question you like; I’ll try to answer.
September 13th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Thanks but do add me on facebook tho and email lol
Heres the web I found bruce lee’s strenght workout
http://www.motleyhealth.com/fi.....ee-workout
September 14th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Hi Shayne,
That site looks interesting, though I have no way of knowing how legit the info is – did Lee really train that way? I have no idea. If your question is about genetics, then absolutely they play a role. How much does that matter? Well for the elite (elite bodybuilders, elite athletes, etc.) it matters a ton. But for the rest of us, it’s not worth worrying about. I hate it when people say “well, my genetics keep me small” or “my whole family is fat so I guess I will be”. That’s all hogwash. If you’re skinny, you can get lots of muscle even if you don’t have “the genetics” – do compound movements and eat a ton of food. You’ll gain muscle.
In terms of the workout posted at that site (again, not knowing if Lee really trained that way), I would say that would only be a good routine for people who are doing some other high-intensity exercise (e.g. MMA, track and field sports, soccer, etc.). That workout by itself probably would only be productive for beginners (who respond to anything). After a few months, you’d need to add some volume and variety (incorporating The Big 7). I’d also cut out the curls!
September 14th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
But my workout is harder than this because I do chest/bicep and tricep on mondays, wednesday, and friday and and I do more sets but when do curls I do dumbbell curls, why do you need to cut out the curls for, don’t they contract the muscle to get bigger muscle
September 15th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
@ Shayne – Don’t train your arms separately. Read this. And be careful of regularly doing chest 3x a week unless you are a beginner. Read this.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
The ideal routine is: Squat 5×5 bench 5×5 barbellrowing 2 sets 12reps.
Day 2: Deadlift5x5, overheadpress5x5,closegrip benchpress 2 sets 8 reps
Then maybe some chinups or curls if you think your biceps need more work.
December 7th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Why do you include dips in your top 7?
As a trainer I dont dislike any exercises but I wouldnt include these in workouts now for a couple of reasons. Ill list them below.
(A) Most people (the general population) are weak in the middle traps/rhomboids & this exercise reinforces the upper trap dominance
(B) Most upper body ‘injuries’ are located at the shoulder girth (Bodybuilders will know about this), generally feeding off an impinged AC joint. Dips are great for damaging this.
Im not being dismissive of the exercise, just giving my view on it.
Constructive critism most welcome.
Byron
December 7th, 2009 at 11:10 am
@breezy909 – Excellent comments Byron! You are correct, though for (A) the other big7 exercises do improve “middle” traps and rhomboids. And I find that form plays a huge factor in both A and B. For example, if your legs are essentially in front or even straight below you, then are more likely to see negative side effects. This is similar to the (horrible) bench dips for some reason popular with women. Bench dips are bad news because they are less effective and they are more likely to cause shoulder problems.
But if you do proper dips, with your legs bent and arced behind you, you kind of lean forward when doing them and they are much safer.
Do you have any suggested variations or alternatives to Dips?
December 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Hi Darrin,
Sry this is only a quick reply but I get in depth reply later. I want to start by saying that for a long time i performed/proscribed dips and totally swore by them as a great exercise. I just think that there are other ways to achieve what is wanted by this exercise, but with less risk.
For alternatives/variations I look at what the dip is. Vertical Press.
I just work through vertical press progressions that dont place the shoulder/elbows under too much stress.
Byron
December 7th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
@Darrin. HI there, just getting round to answering your question now,lol.
Some Variations I use would that would tick the same boxes as dip(Upper body strength/stability/engaged core
D/B Tricep Extension on Ball (horizontal press,lol)
Split stance D/B shoulder press
Kneeling/split kneeling/standing kettlebell press
The press up variations(trx & weighted vests are great to work to :P) work brilliantly for the’push’ movement.
Youve covered all these great exercises in your 7. Maybe a plank variation could be dips replacement,,lol..just kidding
I probably sway more towards risk vs rewards view now,lol.
For any guys that are reading the thread & are still dipping,dont stop cos i just say so. Some of the best use it, but i just give my reasons why I dont. The decision is always yours.
Again, constructive critism to my thoughts are welcomed
P.s. Really liking the site Darrin, nice and refreshing. Some really good stuff and keep up the good work.
Byron
December 9th, 2009 at 8:32 am
@breezy – good suggestions – essentially you are saying that some variations on vertical or horizontal presses (shoulder press and bench press in the Big 7) would suffice and you are right – with variations you can target different muscles. For example, Yates rows and my “power db rows” involve the traps more than regular rows and I like dips because of the traps involvement. So it would be possible to come up with alternate routines. But I’m still confident that these are indeed The BIG 7! Rather than disagree, I’ll add one more compliment to your alternates – they are mostly compound movements, which is really key for 80% of anyone’s lifting program.
Everyone else (especially new readers) – keep the ideas flowing! This is a pretty popular topic so we could talk about this for years!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:44 am
darrin,
i am new with body building world. although i took body building when i was just 18yrs. now, again i try to come back in the gym world.i like to have loose me belly which is not good to the eyes of the women’s taste. can you give me a complete program for free, which i could use develop my intire muscle of my body? second question is what are the difference between isolation training/exersice and compound movement. a couple of days ago, i had this program whic took in the internet,, and when i perform with this program fellow builder told me that i used the isolation movements. what is wrong with that? help me
to inhance my knowledge with all the program.in body building.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Hi Willie,
Read this to start with: http://worldfitnessnetwork.com.....-dynamite/ . For a simple, free workout check out the free ebook you get when you sign up here (3 Months To A New You). For a better beginner workout, go to http://worldfitnessnetwork.com.....ttack.html .
If you have more questions on The Big 7, post them to http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/forum/the-big-7/ .
March 13th, 2010 at 4:45 am
Where can we place the pull-overs,Sit ups and Dumb bell splits. are they not major exercises.
March 13th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
@Fred – don’t do situps (at least not traditional situps) and don’t even bother with “ab exercises” if you aren’t pretty lean already. The Big 7 work your core plenty. As for other exercises like you mention, do them at the end of your workouts. Generally I suggest people pick 2 to 4 of the Big 7 per workout as their main lifts.
March 24th, 2010 at 2:13 am
I read that Walter Jones (pro-football offensive tackle) pushed an SUV around as a big part of his workout. If you’ve ever pushed a jalopy by yourself you know it’s a serious work out. They have all sorts of training sleds that would give you a similar workout, I bet this movement is one of the best for leg strength. The problem is what gym has a sled.
Here’s a link to Walter Jones workout.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....jones0808/
March 31st, 2010 at 8:38 am
Good article.I will discuss all this with my trainer. Surely it will help me a lot to back in shape.
May 16th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I’m a big advocate of pushups. I think they are far better than chess press and dips. As mentioned though the biggest problem is a limitation on weight. There are a couple ways to get around this.
1) Use a weight vest. You can get 100+ lb weight vests. A pushup is about 70% of your weight. So if you’re 200 lbs a pushup is around 140lbs, add in a 100 lb weight vest and you’re hitting 240 lbs. For beginners and novice this is a perfectly acceptable if not high weight. The benefit is that you do not require a spotter like you do bench press.
2) Change your grip. You can do wide grip, extra wide, regular, hip pushups, feet elevated and triangle pushups. These will all add in an extra challenge without having to add a lot more weight.
3) For the masochists out there do 1 arm or 1 arm weighted pushups. I’d argue it’s a more compound movement than a squat or a clean. When you do a 1 armed pushup every core muscle in your body will be aching as well as your entire upper body and much of your lower body. (NOTE: These are a very difficult exercise though and if you have any shoulder problems you’re better off trying the first two suggestions.
Cheers,
Wade
May 21st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hi there, I liked your Big 7 list a lot, mostly because it is actually my workout program exactly! :)
I used to do a lot of isolation workouts in the 90s and was quite into bodybuilding, 4 days a week split program etc. Then I got into law enforcement and rotating shift work and that rapidly went out the window.
After hitting 40 and lurching into fat lazy bastard territory I realised I needed to get back into shape and stay there for life. This was in October last year. Fortunately I had a very workout orientated best friend who relentlessly researches these things and he put me onto full body compound workouts.
I did my own research and after getting a gym membership in October I played around with what worked – my goal was 2 workouts a week for just under an hour each with maximum efficiency. This allowed me to work round my rotating shift schedule and other life commitments. I realised that I had to be realistic about what I can fit in for the rest of my life but still gain the most out of.
After pairing out what I considered useless or at least time inefficient exercises – isolation mostly – I was left with compound work, I reluctantly added squats and deadlifts to my routine because it was clear that they are the ultimate compounds and like most guys from the 90s bodybuilding era I was all curls and no legs (oh do I have to squat? I whined to my buddy).
Result – in the last few months I have stayed exactly the same weight (235) but lost 7 inches off my waist and gained a significant amount of muscle mass across my whole body.
My workout is – bench currently 245 in sets of 3-4, weighted pullups – 8 sets of 4 with 65lb dumbell full extension, cable or dumbell row, weighted dips – 45lb plate 3×5, 2 x4 at 90% 1rm deadlifts 1rm 325 so far but my form needs work, squats 205 for 5 x 5, standing military press or dumbell press 55lb dumbbells currently. Thats it, usually Im fried afterwards but I keep the weight heavy, reps in the 4-6 range, rest a minute or less between sets (trying to drop it to 45secs). I sweat heavily through the whole workout and my heart and cardio ability has rocketed. Last October I could only manage 3 bodyweight pull ups and was shaky afterward. The only supplement I take is whey isolate and fruit shake after my workout.
Basically I would wholeheartedly recommend this approach to anyone, it can be done and the gains are huge for very little time invested. You just have to bust your ass and get of the whole – I must curl to wow the girls kick – that I see some many guys (and me in the past) do, had to chase a guy out of the squat rack the other day who wanted to curl in it – sheesh.
Great article, thank you.
Martin
May 21st, 2010 at 5:57 pm
@Martin – very cool. And as a side note, thank you for being in law enforcement. We never thank you guys enough.
August 14th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Good compilation of very good exercises! If I could only do two exercises it would be the squat and the deadlift. Three exercises? Squat, DL and Muscle-Up. I wouldn’t want an asymmetric upper body so I can’t just pick the big three and go with them :P. 4 exercises? Easy one: Squat, DL, chin-up, bench. Ahhh I love these topics! There are always some powerlifters or oly lifters who shout “clean!”, “snatch!” or something similar, but not everyone has the opportunity to learn these lifts. I’m certainly not going to learn to snatch at home by myself without a personal coach. This is why I prefer squats and deadlifts over any oly lift any time, any day :). Wow that was a long and weird reply. Hope you don’t mind, Darrin! ;)