If I could go back in time and speedrun these gains, which 10 exercises would I pick? That’s what I’ll be covering today – a topic brought to you by Bald Omni Man. Now as a quick disclaimer, I will point out that I’d personally never stick to only doing 10 exercises. I believe in higher exercise selection for minimizing overuse, and being the jack of all trades. So this following list is excluding many fundamental motions that literally got me to where I am today. I didn’t leave them out because they’re “bad” ,“overrated”, or “less effective”, I’m simply working with a limited framework that should cover most of your bases. Of course, my lifting documentation and training videos may tell a different story, so if you want to see another list, let me know.
#10 Seated/Laying Leg Curls
I used to be one of those lifters who believed hip hinges were enough for hamstrings. “Just get stronger at deadlifts and you’ll have some serious meat back there!” was common advice, and I treated that very seriously, working up to elite numbers despite having terrible leverages. Which did WONDERS for my glutes, spinal erectors, and yoke development, but unfortunately, failed miserably for my hamstrings. It didn’t matter if I was doing straight-legged deadlifts or RDLs, without progressing on leg curls, my hamstrings remained flat as a pancake. Specifically, the short head right around the knee, which makes perfect logical sense since its sole function is knee flexion, and I was only doing band leg curls at home which didn’t work for growth given the lack of mechanical tension. Kept my knees healthy but that’s about it, and GHR strength was decent but nothing to brag home about. Performance-wise, I had failed Louie Simmons’ 60/40 hamstring-to-quad ratio prescription. Which taught me a painful lesson, you can never have too much hamstrings! And by the way, I’m not alone here. Justin Lee, another elite natural whom I collaborated with, deadlifts 750lbs yet can you guess what his #1 lagging muscle is? You guessed it, hamstrings! When he first revealed this, I was blown away that we both had the exact same problem. t’s enlightening, but sadly proves that hip Hinges are not sufficient. I cannot even begin to express how much I regret not isolating, and I know that Justin feels the same way. So please, I beg you, to at least hit one leg curl per workout. The best is the seated version since it emphasizes the lengthened position with fully straight legs, but laying is great too if you want to complement your stretch-based leg motions. Plus on average, those machines tend to be better made, but again, it depends what you’re working with. In my case, I do laying leg curls in the ghetto cable station, on my back. It’s the best home leg curl I’ve found, and I like loading it in the 8-20 rep range. Far more efficient than Nordics for progression. One more thing, if you also have this weakness, consider starting your leg workouts with leg curls. It’ll warm up your knees and won’t take away from compound exercises, especially squats, which also don’t work your hamstrings. Isolation work is mandatory, okay? Hamstrings are similar to biceps in this way, hence the name.. biceps femoris. They’re the biceps of your legs, so do your leg curls.
#9 Expander Pull-Aparts
I used to be a big face pull fan, but after getting a Chest Expander.. there’s no competition. Heavy pull-aparts are the best thing I ever did for my rear delts. My shoulders feel infinitely better and my posture is finally amazing now. Even my upper traps exploded, and in general, I see muscles in my back that I didn’t even know existed. There’s this clearly defined, separated look that I struggle to put into words. It’s dense, and sinewy as the old-school greats pointed out. So I want to thank Golden Era Bookworm for introducing me to the chest expander, it’s revolutionized my training and I firmly believe that anyone who works out at home should own one. Whether in isolation, to complement lifting, or even combine with calisthenics! Max out your pullaparts for reps in the 5-7 spring range and see what happens to your yoke. Like I’m known for this area but just compare me to Fred Rollon. A jack of all trades lifter vs an expander only athlete, yet our physiques are strikingly similar. That thought alone is mind blowing, and mind you, this photo was taken in 1905. That’s why I even bought an expander to begin with, I knew there had to be something to it. And I’m so glad I went took that step, like I only wish I knew about this sooner. No doubt my shoulders and traps would’ve been even bigger by now, which is perfect for my Naturally Enhanced Philosophy. So if interested, do check out my expander workout to see how programming is done. I incorporate vertical and horizontal pull-aparts using overhand grips, underhand grips, and mechanical dropsets. This way the whole yoke is trashed to the max, leaving nothing left behind.
#8 Dual Rope Pushdowns
I learned about this exercise from the great John Meadows, but never really implemented it until I learned about biomechanics. That’s when I further understood how advanced his Bodybuilding knowledge truly was. So for the last year and a half, it’s been my go-to pushdown 90% of the time, and it’s done more for my triceps than any other isolator. I’m never going back to a single rope unless it’s single armed. Not only is this variation super elbow-friendly and acts as the best warmup for extensions or JM Presses, but it also biases the important long head. This is the meat hanging off the bottom of your arm- the sweep that equates to a massive size without flexing. See, when performing traditional fixed pushdowns, typically with a v-bar but this applies to most…Long head activation is inhibited. Since you’re internally rotated and cannot extend the shoulder. This makes it more lateral/medial head focused, which is still great since you can go heavier and compliment pressing, but for getting a proper long head contraction with optimal leverages, you need the opposite to occur. External rotation, such that the resistance is coming straight out through the elbows and produces the best leverages, with the ability to maximally contract the triceps like in a kickback. Not being locked in front. So I typically favor mechanical dropsets. I’ll stand far away from the cable to make the squeeze harder since we’re weakest there, go to failure, then get closer, fail again, closer, fail once more, then hit overhead extensions in which even getting 5 reps will be challenging. This way I exhausted all the joint angles without having to lift that heavy or kill my elbows. My normal working weights vary between 50-80lbs and trust me it’s more than enough. You don’t have to ego lift and press your whole body into these weights or wear a dip belt. Switch to this exercise or if you have a gym with an empty cable station, consider cross-body pushdowns which have a slight advantage since there’s no lateral forces to overcome. But either way, it’s about the principles. Maximize your range of motion, and ensure your arms are coming out and slightly behind your sides.
#7 Seated Dumbbell Curls
I love barbell curls, and they’re often in my program given the progressive overload potential. However, I have noticed that over the years, they’ve become more problematic for my joints. I’m rather wide and can’t seem to align my elbows that well with a fixed bar, same for EZ, which can sometimes lead to golfer’s elbow or a chicken flapping effect when curling heavy. Whereas with dumbbells, I never have to fight my mechanics. My arms come out as they should, with much cleaner form overall irrespective of load selection. Now in truth, much of my recent gains came from incline dumbbell curls, but I’ve stopped doing those in favor of setting the seat one stop higher. Although we have data demonstrating muscles grow best from longer muscle lengths, this may not hold for the biceps given their length-to-tension relationship. And the current studies on preacher curls are obviously flawed thus I cannot trust the conclusions. With free weight gravity, it doesn’t take a genius to realize the top-end joint angles barely have any tension, whereas the bottom and mid-range are still on point. So comparing those partials is not apples to apples, and we cannot affirm the superior bottom gains are due to stretch-mediated hypertrophy. We need more data with the correct resistance profiles. So until then, I’m skeptical and favor mid-range curls which have not only stood the test of time but might provide the same gains as at training longer lengths without compromising recovery. Many lifters don’t realize this, but the biceps have a poor recovery threshold. Just because they’re a small muscle, doesn’t mean you can abuse them with extreme weighted stretching. That’s why I favor an upright dumbbell curl, rather than an angle. You gain a good 5-10lbs and retain all the stability and strictness benefits of the bench, but now you’re prioritizing the most productive 90-degree mid-range. And one of my secrets which I learned through using Olympic dumbbells, is externally rotating the arms.. such that you’re curling in a T-Formation. This biases the long head without having to extend the shoulder. Meaning you get the same emphasis effect as incline curls, with enhanced recovery! That’s why it’s my #1. From a progression, alignment, and resistance profile perspective, you can’t go wrong.
#6 Cable Rows
Rows are essential for upper back thickness and injury prevention, and after experimenting with barbells, dumbbells, cables, and machines for years, I’ve come to realize that cables consistency feels best. Doesn’t matter if it’s seated or laying on my back, you get the best of all worlds. See, your spinal erectors are still being loaded, but it’s not to the point where they’ll ever become a limiting factor so they universally blend into any program. There’s no need for chest support though you can include is, point is you’re stable enough with the back or legs thus being able to produce maximum force, and you can round and extend for even more loaded ROM. You can also modify the angles to perfectly bias different segments of the back, while properly being aligned for your build. The cable or cables can be slightly up, down, to the sides, etc, and given the choice of hundreds of handles, you never run out of variations. Overuse is always kept to a minimum, and there’s a right attachment for everybody. Whether it be mag grips, prime fitness handles, neutral handles, old school handles, etc, something will connect and you don’t need fancy equipment. Because here’s the thing, in an optimal world, we would select one solid diverging machine and call it a day. Problem is, most of the ones that I’ve tried have felt like absolute garbage. Like there’s only ONE in my gym that rows well, and that’s because it biases the lengthened position and allows me to wrap around the body with rotating handles. The others are not worth my time! But I can always trust cables because I’M IN CONTROL. Otherwise the closest runner-up would be a chest-supported t-bar row since you do get more stretch emphasis and have excellent room for progression. But for me, I always go back to cable rows and I got a lot of gains last year with the low ghetto version. Now once I eventually install my Bells of Steel power rack cable attachment, you best believe that’s going to be go to once more.
#5 Good Mornings
This was a tough choice to make and might not be applicable for you now, but I know it’s what I would have needed years ago. And that is the Good Morning. I have to pick it above the Romanian Deadlift because I value stimulus to fatigue above all else, and no other hip hinge has benefitted me this much, as proven by my documented history. Like I got to a 600lb deadlift without even deadlifting. By training with half the weight yet experiencing 1:1 carryover. Not only for every pulling variation off the floor, but including RDLs which are very similar. The RDL is a hip hinge with an implement in your hands, the Good Morning is a hip hinge with a bar on your back. Both are non dead-top with comparable torso angles and movement patterns, so what changes are the leverages due to load magnification. For a lot more information, please watch this video to learn all the fundamental differences. So I’ve said this many times before, but Good Mornings took my RDL from 405×5 to 405×15, then 455×9 despite not even doing the exercise for months. And my working weights on Good Mornings were in the 185-275 range depending on the variation. If that’s not getting more out of less weight for the posterior chain, then I don’t know what is. To me, it’s the ultimate humbling exercise and at this point, I despise going heavy on hip hinges when I know there’s no need to. It psychologically and physically wrecks me, especially since I have t-rex arms aka the worst leverages you can imagine. I used to always have recovery problems and could never hit decent volumes until I started emphasizing Good Mornings. I was doing at least 6×10 a week and I felt 10/10 after each session, fatigue never crept up to the point of feeling completely ruined. So although I do love RDLs feature them in my serious programs, if I’m only going to pick one hip hinge, it’s going to be the one that unlocked my smoothest gains yet. My glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors blew up. It’s not even close, I wish I dropped my ego earlier on and strayed away from the fearmongers. I also wish I would have done less conventional deadlifts, because that’s by far the most overrated hip hinge of all time, and in a hypertrophy program, I would never do them again. I should have stopped doing that exercise 10 years ago, real talk.
#4 Heel Elevated SSB Squat
This is hands down the best free weighted squat for quads. It’s easy on the shoulders and provides all the benefits of high bar and front squats without needing pristine technique or mobility. Heel elevation equals more knee flexion thus biasing the quadriceps since the ankles can better flex and the tibia is less vertical. The SSB forces you to stay somewhat upright, even more so when you flip the camber upside down, now that’s hard more and will drop another 15% weight. You won’t be low-barring SSB Squats so the leverages are poor yet surprisingly comfortable. Incredibly challenging and best of all, allows you to get more out of less weight. Just to say, my best is 460 at RPE 10, which is 47lbs less than my easier 507 low bar squat. And during my entire squat journey, I favored the SSB 7/10 times. Almost all my volume work was done with it, and most max effort attempts were with it. Which led to the best quad gains of my entire life, ended up with 27 inches cold at only 5’5 in height. My legs got massive because of this exercise, and although I did mix in belt squats, that was only complimentary. You do have to factor in axial loading, like I’m not just going to do endlessly load my spine when there’s smarter ways to train for recovery. That said, the major growth stimulus was indeed, from ABUSING the SSB, and I still favor it to this day. If you’re not going to do hack squats or pendulum squats, then this is your #1 alternative. Use squat shoes or squat wedges, both are better than being 100% flat. Truly an unbeatable exercise, no doubt Tom Platz would approve, and if you control that negative and pause at the bottom, your quads will burn even more. Just try it and I promise you’ll favor these over Power Squats, provided that your ego can handle it.
#3 Barbell Anterior Delt Press
For vertical pressing, we have the AD Press also known as the Anterior Delt Press or Alpha Destiny Press! For the longest time, I was the biggest advocate of standing barbell OHP and acquired 90% of my gains with it, alongside variations. But after switching to the seated version around 80 degrees with back support, I can confirm it’s a superior exercise for hypertrophy. I got faster progress as an elite lifter and ended up pressing 242lbs while weighing under 200lbs. I’ve never had freaky strength like that, so this simple adjustment resurrected intermediate-like progress which never actually stopped. Zero plateaus for months, smooth progressive overload, and shoulders responded more since I was now able to fully dummy press without my core, upper back, or technique being a problem. With this precise angle, force production was maximized not to mention better lengthening the delts. Heck, even my lagging upper chest improved which is a huge bonus if you ask me. Like in what world would a serious natural not want this combination? Super general strength with an optimal blend of major muscles, this even compliments incline pressing. I regret being a “vertical purist” and not using an adjustable bench sooner. I sincerely believe I’d be overhead pressing at least 275lbs by now, had I deviated from ONLY standing. I love going heavy on the AD Press, I love the grinds, and I love the feel. It’s the exact solution that I needed a long time ago, especially with my hypermobile elbows.
#2 Larsen Press
I’m a flat benching man, and I love barbells. This is how I built a lot of my chest gains, and specialized for years, eventually working up to my greatest accomplishment yet, a 405 bench press. That said, not all benching variations are created equal. After hitting my goal, I needed something else to focus on, and that’s when Bald Omni Man introduced me to Larsen Pressing. Where I gave it an honest shot for the entirety of 2022. And you what happened? I acquired some of the best chest gains of my life, gained an inch and reclaimed all my pressing strength without having to overload or use leg drive. Larsen Pressing was a GODSEND for stimulus to fatigue, many can’t relate yet but constantly bench pressing in the 300s is so exhausting. So the fact that I was back to the 200s without hurting my gains was the greatest gift I could have asked for. The max I ever Larsen Pressed was 315 for 6 without scapula retraction, 355×1, and 280 for 3×10. Then using specialty bars with tempo, even the lower to mid 200s became challenging. The Larsen Press allowed me to experience disadvantaged leverages like taller lifters, getting more ROM in the bottom, teaching me how to press the right way with a natural scapulohumeral rhythm, how to grind even more in the mid range, and totally leave my ego aside. So the benefits are both physical and mental, and perfectly suited my general strength and hypertrophy needs. A game changer, and now I know why over 500lbs benching natural Legends like Freakied were so big on it. You get strong at Larsen Pressing, and you’ll have watermelon pecs. It’s that simple.
#1 Weighted Pullup
Coming in at first place, we have… the Weighted Pullup. This is not only the best back exercise of all time but also, THE greatest of all time. Biomechanics gurus can suck my juicy wings, alongside other calisthenics athletes + old school greats that put them to complete shame. Just to say, back is my best area, and I credit this 1000% to my years of doing pullups. In older workout videos I used to find 70lbs difficult, now I’m up to 180lbs. I’ve more than doubled my strength and specialized for so long, like some years I didn’t barely even did rows. Pullups were always the main driver of growth, especially when I got my home gym. The result? I have an elite Bodybuilder level back, some would even say it beats many drug users. I’m super wide/thick, and pullups have made me tough as nails for every other pull. Nothing else compares, when you can rep out more than your bodyweight or exceed a 300lb total, you can’t have a small back. You don’t need fancy pulldowns, and pullups offer so many variations that you’re fully covered. Instant skills, instant one arm pullups, high stimulus to fatigue ratio, crazy work capacity, maximum hypertrophy including for the lower lats, time-proven, what more can you ask for? Old school wisdom was right, there’s nothing like pullups. Pullups are the greatest in the world, and the gains are only limited to how far you’re willing to push it and be creative. So I recommend all the grips because technically you just need one multi-grip bar, right? But seriously, if I could only choose one pullup which I wouldn’t because mess minimalism… it would probably be a weighted ring pullup since it’s easiest on the joints. You can adjust the straps and freely rotate the handles for a more tucked or flared arm path. Now if too lazy to set up, a medium neutral grip pullup is ideal since it’s easiest on the shoulders, and allows for heavy weights to be used. The last runner up is the super wide grip pullup, which can technically be first from a pure muscle gaining standpoint, but because it can be rougher on the joints, I have to deduct points. But this one is Godly and was a favorite among Silver Era GOATS. I love that you can get the same back gains while using a fraction of the load. That’s insanity, and I’ve proven the carryover to be 1:1 to normal pullups so you won’t be losing any strength, it’s just like with Good Mornings since you’re training with disadvantaged leverages. I can surpass my peak pullup strength with a quick little peak, and it’s all because of this exercise. I wish I would have listened to my mentor Leroy Colbert much sooner. His teachings continue to be accurate to this day, and as he said so long ago… there’s no price on experience. And I can tell you that my incredible experiences with pullups are not uncommon. Treat them as a serious long term mass builder, and I promise you’ll be immensely satisfied with the gains.
That’s wraps up my top ten list! Again, I want to thank Bald Omni Man for bringing the community together and creating such an amazing topic. It’s great hearing other perspectives and seeing where we line up in beliefs. If you have more suggestions where we can all go back and forth, post them down below and I’ll see you next time.
