Only 5 Exercises EVERY Man Must Be Doing for Optimal Strength and Health

I’m always weary of articles that promise amazing results in less time. After all, as a personal trainer with over 30 years of experience, I know that there are no shortcuts to fitness, strength, and health.

Getting and staying in shape is a lifetime undertaking, requiring year-round dedication, motivation, and commitment. That said, there are ways you can make your workouts more efficient and make better use of your training time.

For example, you can do high-intensity interval training instead of long cardio workouts, potentially saving you hours of unnecessary exercise each week. Alternatively, you can use supersets, drop sets, and myo-reps, which are three science-backed time-saving strength training strategies (1).

Knowing how valuable my client’s time and energy are, I combine many of these methods with what I believe are the best exercises for building strength, fitness, and health. Usually compound in nature, these basic but essential exercises deliver a lot of bang for your buck and should be the cornerstone of every man’s (and most women’s) workouts.

In this article, I share what I believe are the five exercises that every man needs to master to be strong and healthy.

Five Essential Exercises for Strength and Health

While there are very few “bad” exercises, some are definitely better than others. After nearly four decades of experience, these are the five exercises I consider essential and that every man should do. Build your workouts around these movements to get strong, fit, and healthy.

1. Deadlifts

Primary Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, quadriceps, erector spinae, core latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, biceps, forearms.

The deadlift should be the cornerstone of every man’s workout program. They teach you how to safely lift heavy objects from the floor, saving you from the back pain and strain that affects such a large proportion of the adult population.

In addition, very few exercises stimulate as many muscles as deadlifts, making it one of the most time-efficient exercises you can do. Pair them with something like push-ups, dips, or overhead presses and you have a full-body workout in just two moves.

Related: Two-Exercise Workouts for Time-Pressed Bodybuilders

And if those benefits aren’t enough, deadlifting is one of the most satisfying exercises you can do. Slap some plates on the bar, stand behind it, and “grip and rip” that weight off the floor. Talk about primal!

So, long story short, if you could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, the deadlift would be a great choice. But, don’t take my word for it – make deadlifts a mainstay of your workouts and experience the transformative effect of this exercise for yourself.

How to Do It:

1. Place your barbell on the floor. Ideally, it should be about nine inches above the ground or roughly mid-shin height.
2. Stand with your toes under the bar, feet shoulder to hip-width apart.
3. Bend down and hold the bar with a shoulder-width overhand or mixed grip.
4. Pull your shoulders down and back and brace your core. Your arms should be straight.
5. Drop your hips, lift your chest, and look straight ahead.
6. Drive your feet into the floor and stand up, ensuring your hips don’t rise faster than your shoulders.
7. Stand up straight but do not lean back.
8. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower the bar back to the floor.
9. Reset your grip and core and repeat.

Learn more about Mastering the Deadlift in this in-depth guide.

Deadlift Variations and Alternatives:

• Sumo deadlift
• Romanian deadlift
• Single-leg Romanian deadlift
• Trap bar deadlift
• Zercher good morning

2. Barbell Back Squat

Primary Muscles Worked: Quadriceps, gluteus maximus, hip abductors and adductors, hamstrings, core.

Squats are often called the king of exercises and that’s a royal title they truly deserve. Like deadlifts, squats involve several important muscles, so they make great use of your training time. They’re also very functional as they closely replicate many of the activities of daily living.

Weighted squats work your core and also strengthen your upper body, which explains their reputation for building full-body strength, despite “only” being a leg exercise! In fact, squats are such a revered exercise that entire workouts have been built around them, such as the legendary old-school 20-rep squat program.

There are several ways to do weighted squats but, in my experience, the barbell back variation is arguably the best because it’s the easiest to learn and allows you to lift plenty of weight.

How to Do It:

1. Rest and hold a barbell across your upper back. Make sure it’s on the “shelf” of your upper traps, and not on your neck. Hold the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward. Brace your core, lift your chest, and pull your shoulders down and back.
3. Bend your knees, let your hips drift backward, and squat down until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Take care not to round your lower back.
4. Drive your feet into the floor and stand back up.
5. That’s one rep – keep going!

Learn how to do the barbell squat correctly with this informative guide.

Barbell Back Squat Variations and Alternatives:

• Barbell front squat
• Goblet squat
• Dumbbell squat
• Barbell overhead squat
• Zercher squat

3. Push-Ups

Primary Muscles Worked: Pectoralis major, triceps, deltoids, core.

Where many trainers build their upper body workouts around bench presses, I tend to favor the push-up. My reasons are many, but in my experience, push-ups are more functional and joint-friendly than bench presses but can be every bit as effective for building muscle size and strength (2).

As an added benefit, you can also do them anywhere and anytime, making them potentially more accessible and convenient for home exercisers.

There are plenty of great push-up variations so your push-up workouts never need to be repetitive or boring. Of course, you’ll get better results if you do your push-ups with perfect form, so it’s critical to master this exercise early in your fitness journey.

How to Do It:

1. Squat down and place your palms flat on the floor, fingers pointing forward and hands roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Walk your feet out and back until your legs and body are straight.
3. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
4. Keeping your body perfectly straight, bend your arms and lower your chest to within an inch of the floor. Keep your neck neutral, and do not reach for the floor with your head.
5. Extend your arms and push yourself back up.
6. Reset your core and repeat.

Check out this guide to mastering the push-up to get even more from this classic exercise. 

Push-Up Variations and Alternatives:

• Incline push-ups
• Decline push-ups
• Deficit push-ups
• Single-arm push-ups
• Weighted push-ups

4. Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups

Primary Muscles Worked: latissimus dorsi, biceps, forearms, core.

While deadlifts are an excellent back-builder, if you are serious about beefing up your lats and biceps, you must also add pull-ups/chin-ups to your list of essential exercises.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are different exercises but are largely interchangeable as they work all of the same muscles. The main difference between them is that pull-ups are done with a pronated or overhand grip while chin-ups are done using a supinated or underhand grip.

Which one is best for you depends on your preferences, needs, and goals, but in summary, chin-ups are slightly better for building your biceps, while pull-ups are marginally better for your lats. That said, most exercisers do both and enjoy the benefits of these two awesome exercises.

How to Do It:

1. Hang from an overhead bar using a slightly wider-than-shoulder-width overhand grip (pull-ups), or a slightly narrower-than-shoulder-width underhand grip (chin-ups).
2. Bend your legs so your feet are clear of the floor, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your core.
3. Without swinging or kicking your legs, bend your arms and pull your chin up and over the bar.
4. Descend smoothly and under control, and then repeat.
5. Continue until you are unable to get your chin to the bar.

Learn how to master pull-ups and chin-ups in these detailed guides.

Pull-Up/Chin-Up Variations and Alternatives:

• Weighted pull-ups/chin-ups
• Band-assisted pull-ups/chin-ups
• Machine-assisted pull-ups/chin-ups
• Neutral grip pull-ups
• Inverted rows

5. Barbell Overhead Press

Primary Muscles Worked: Deltoids, triceps, core.

Before the bench press became the world’s favorite barbell exercise, most lifters built and tested their upper body strength with overhead presses. Usually done standing and with a barbell, this exercise was often called the military press, and performed with the heels close together and legs straight.

Nowadays, overhead presses are often viewed as unnecessary and even dangerous. However, when done correctly, they’re one of the best exercises for developing wide, muscular shoulders and triceps and building functional strength.

This exercise can be both humbling and tricky to master, so don’t go too heavy too soon. But, with perseverance, your strength will soon increase, and you’ll be on your way to overhead pressing loads approaching your body weight.

How to Do It:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
2. Hold a barbell across the front of your neck with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. Your elbows should be close to your ribs, and your forearms should be vertical.
3. Brace your core and lift your chest.
4. Without using your legs for assistance, press the bar above your head to arm’s length.
5. Smoothly and under control, lower the bar back to the starting position and repeat.

Become an overhead press expert with this in-depth guide.

Barbell Overhead Press Variations and Alternatives:

• Dumbbell overhead press
• Javelin press
• Push-press
• Shoulder press machine
• Handstand push-up

Sample Programs

While simply doing these exercises could help you get stronger, you’ll get better results if you follow a more structured routine. You could write your own but, to save you the bother, here are the five exercises outlined above presented as a full-body training program. There is also a two-way split version for those who prefer a shorter, more divided training routine.

All the programs are purposely short to make them suitable for time-pressed exercisers. Feel free to add a few more exercises if you have time for them, e.g., direct arm or core exercises. Finally, adjust the sets and reps to match your current training goal.

Full-Body Program

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Squat	3-4	6-8	2 minutes
2	Deadlift	3-4	4-6	3 minutes
3	Overhead press	3-4	6-8	2 minutes
4	Pull-Up/Chin-Up	3-4	AMRAP*	90 seconds
5	Push-up	3-4	AMRAP*	90 seconds

*As Many Reps as Possible – rep out to failure, rest, and repeat!

Split Program

Workout 1

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Squat	3-4	6-8	2 minutes
2	Deadlift	3-4	4-6	3 minutes
3	Overhead press	3-4	6-8	2 minutes

Workout 2

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Pull-Up/Chin-Up	3-4	AMRAP*	90 seconds
2	Push-up	3-4	AMRAP*	90 seconds
3	Barbell curl	3-4	8-10	90 seconds

*As Many Reps as Possible – rep out to failure, rest, and repeat!

Closing Thoughts

Contrary to what many people think, strength training does not have to be complicated to be effective. You don’t need convoluted exercises or a sophisticated, time-consuming program. In fact, most people can achieve amazing results without ever using so-called advanced training methods.

Make deadlifts, squats, push-ups, pull-ups/chin-ups, and overhand presses the cornerstones of your workouts, and you’ll enjoy more progress in a year than many people make in a lifetime.

Every man should master these exercises if he wants to be strong, fit, and healthy!

References:

1. Iversen VM, Norum M, Schoenfeld BJ, Fimland MS. No Time to Lift? Designing Time-Efficient Training Programs for Strength and Hypertrophy: A Narrative Review. Sports Med. 2021 Oct;51(10):2079-2095. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01490-1. Epub 2021 Jun 14. PMID: 34125411; PMCID: PMC8449772.
2. Calatayud J, Borreani S, Colado JC, Martin F, Tella V, Andersen LL. Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity results in similar strength gains. J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Jan;29(1):246-53. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000589. PMID: 24983847.

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