The 5 Best Exercises at the Gym, According to Personal Trainers

Don’t hit the weight room again until these are on your to-do list.
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Maybe you're new to working out. Maybe you've been working out for so long that you just realized you've been doing the same six exercises for the last three years. Or perhaps you were recently engaged in some next-level TRX workout when you—while inverted, naturally—noticed that the much more in-shape guy next to you was just doing...basic push-ups.

Whatever your reason for brushing up on weight-room fundamentals, it's a good one. No matter how experienced (or inexperienced) or strong (or, uh, not) you might be, no workout routine should be without certain time-honored foundational exercises that optimize your body's movement. And although we couldn't get a hold of the super-ripped basic push-up guy from your gym, we did find four personal trainers willing to share what they believe to be the gym staples that matter most.

Ben Booker, Second Chance Fitness
1. Burpee

In Booker's words: "The burpee is simply getting down on the ground and getting back up, and we should be able to do this when we are beginning to walk as toddlers, and when we are healthy grandparents." We assume he means humans of all ages should be able to get down and get back up, not that infants and octogenarians should actually be doing burpees. That being said, shout-out to any infants or octogenarians who make burpees part of their daily routine.

2. Squat

"I hear a lot of people say that they have knee problems or joint issues and 'can't' squat," says Booker. "Then I explain to them that they squat every time they use the restroom or sit down to eat." It's a fair point. "The more time we give to proper mechanics in the squat, the healthier our knees, hips, and other muscles and joints become."

3. Push-up

The great thing about push-ups? Anyone can do them because there are so many variations. If you can't do a "regular" push-up, do one on a box. If you can't do one on a box, do one on your knees or on the wall. (Can do a push-up? Do one upside down on a bench, tough guy.) Booker says he has his young clients and his senior fitness classes do push-ups: "Everyone needs to be adding strength up top, balancing out the posture and creating healthy shoulders."

4. Pull-up

If you're going to push—and if you want a balanced upper body—you also need to pull. And if the word brings back haunting memories of a middle-school gym class in which you couldn't lift your chin past the bar, that doesn't mean you can't do a pull-up. It just means you had a shitty gym teacher. Because as with the push-up, variations are the key to success. You can use the assisted pull-up machine, or recruit bands to help, or use a barbell and a rack.

5. Box jump

"This is a plyometric move that can serve as a great tissue tensile strength-builder, helping to prevent injury," says Booker. "Beginners can start with step-ups on a ledge and work up in height, varying it for intensity, skill-building, power, and conditioning." You'll be dunking in no time.


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Patrick Frost, Nike Master Trainer

It's simple: All full-body workouts should include a push, a pull, a hinge, a squat, and an abdominal component. Add an extra metabolic push—a short, explosive movement to finish a workout—just to ensure that the pain is real. For example:

1. Push-up (that's the push)
2. Pull-up (you get it)
3. Deadlift (the hinge)
4. Lunges (the squat—no, it doesn't have to literally be a squat)
5. Burpees with a jumping knee tuck (abs and the extra metabolic push rolled into one)

Treat it like a superset, doing one activity after the other with no rest, in this order: push-ups, deadlifts, pull-ups, lunges, and knee-tuck burpees. Complete the circuit between three and five times, doing 10 reps of each exercise. Then go home and cry tears of joy about how in shape you'll soon be.

Mike Dewar, J2FIT Strength and Conditioning
1. Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best exercises when you're looking to build muscle and practical strength—so, basically, the two main reasons you work out. More than that, though, developing the ability to handle heavy loads has been shown to boost anabolic hormone levels and increase muscle synthesis, which is a science-y way of saying that it helps your body reach its peak performance levels. Just don't do them like Don Jr., okay?

2. Squat

This is the corollary to the deadlift. "If you have these two in your program, generally speaking, you'd be pretty well-balanced in terms of the front and back of the lower body."

3. Push press

"It's like a shoulder overhead press, but you get to use your legs to gain momentum," says Dewar. "It's kind of like if you were playing basketball and you were going to jump up for a rebound, you wouldn't squat—you'd dip a couple inches and recoil out of it. It's the same idea, except you'd have weight on your chest or shoulders." And you can do it with anything: kettlebells, dumbbells, even your baby. [Ed. note: Please don't use your baby.]

4. Pull-up

Have you come to appreciate the importance of the pull-up yet?

5. Clean

Don't do the clean without proper instruction. (In fact, don't do any moves, ever, without proper instruction.) But once you've got the technique down, this front squat-deadlift combination is one of the best exercises out there for achieving that perma-toned sprinter's physique. Dewar says that when he debates with trainers about which exercise they'd choose if they could only do one for the rest of their lives, he picks the clean.

Ridge Davis, Ridgid Fitness
1. Side Planks

Davis says that while side planks are known for strengthening your obliques, they actually activate your entire body: "You work your shoulder stabilizers, lower back, upper glutes, and outer thighs." If you want to make it easier, rest on bended knees instead of the outside of your foot. If you want to make it harder, hold a weight over your head.

2. Bottoms-up kettlebell hold and press

These work the big muscles that everyone sees, giving you the shoulders of your dreams. They also target the smaller, injury-prone muscles in the wrist and the rotator cuff that, when injured, prevent you from achieving the shoulders of your dreams.

3. Mini-band lateral walks

Do them like this, but fair warning: Your. Glutes. Are. Going. To. Burn. Which is great for getting an ass, and even better for preventing knee injuries.

4. Cable face-pull

A great exercise for correcting rounded shoulders and poor upper-body posture, says Davis. If you spend long hours looking at your phone or sitting at your computer, don't skip these.

5. Medicine-ball slams

If you think this appears to be closer to a child's idea of playtime than it does a workout, you probably haven't tried them. "It looks like you just slam it down and that’s it," says Davis. "But they enhance every aspect of your workout: strength, power, endurance, and speed." They're also great for your abs. So yes, in a way, this is a playtime activity for kids. Kids with eight-packs.