Time has definitely changed how we view and execute our workouts for strength, hypertrophy, or both. On July 7, 2025, via YouTube, Dr. Mike Israetel broke down his top six forgotten exercises of the 1980s that will help you achieve a jacked physique.
As a competitive bodybuilder and YouTube educator, Dr. Israetel has become a trusted resource in the fitness community. Whether he’s critiquing the workouts of legendary bodybuilders or providing in-depth analysis of a particular exercise, he always packs his content with value, logic, and easy-to-apply tips.
Some of the best bodybuilders to ever compete made their name in the 1980s. Titans of the sport like Lee Haney, Frank Zane, and Rich Gaspari all competed during this decade, showing the world what was possible in a gym filled with iron.
Dr. Mike Israetel’s Top 6 Forgotten 80s Exercises
Find the exercises featured in his YouTube video below:
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- Behind the Neck Pulldown
- Straight Arm Dumbbell Chest Flye
- Super ROM Lateral Raise w/ Momentum
- Behind the Neck Press
- Arm Blaster Curls
- Guillotine Press
Behind the Neck Pulldown
On the behind-the-neck pulldown, Dr. Israetel said it’s a solid variation that hits the lats and serratus muscles effectively.
“It’s just variation. If you’re pulling to the front, it’s amazing. It’s totally cool. If you pull to behind the neck, sometimes you can get a little bit even more serratus activation, get them riblet muscles going when you’re really lean, those are really cool to look at. It does hit your lats really well.”
However, he warns that lifters should make sure the movement feels okay on the shoulder joints, as some have mentioned it strains them.
“There’s only two caveats, rather, caveat number one: make sure that this exercise feels okay on your joints,” he shared. “Even if it feels okay on your shoulder joints, make sure you’re chasing a bit of a pump, mind-muscle connection, and a bit of tension.”
Straight Arm Dumbbell Chest Flye
He explained that the straight arm dumbbell chest fly not only hits the pecs but biceps quite well. For safety, ease into the movement with light or moderate weight in a 10-15 rep range.
“This exercise also hits your biceps a ton because they are at their fully stretched position across two joints,” explains Israetel. “Very much you want to ease into this exercise. Don’t do anything crazy. Make sure your shoulders feel okay, your elbows feel okay, don’t get insane with the weight, start with sets of 10 or 15.”
Super ROM Lateral Raise w/ Momentum
For momentum side lateral raises, Dr. Israetel recommends bending at the hips before firing off reps.
“The thing about lateral raises if you do them strict is that as soon as you can’t get anymore concentric reps, the set is over but your eccentric strength is much higher than your concentric.
So if you were able to get these dumbbells up to the beginning of the eccentric, you could ride them out nice and slow, contracting those side delts and really getting some nasty growth.”
Behind the Neck Press
Similar to the behind-the-neck pulldown, Israetel sees merit in the behind-the-neck press, just as long as you can complete the full range of motion without shoulder strain.
“Will you get enormous strength and delt size with a behind-the-neck press? You can, as long as you keep your shoulder safe. If you can do the full range of motion with limited weight and you have no pain, you’re good to increase the weight slowly, and it’s a great exercise.”
Arm Blaster Curls
Dr. Israetel likes the versatility of the arm blaster, especially the way in which it lets lifters position their elbows.
“The one and only arm blaster. The big advantage with the arm blaster comes in two forms: the first form of the advantage is that it really lets you push your elbows forward and doesn’t let you pull your elbows back. That means every single time this turns into a gnarly very-much bicep-isolater exercise, which is super valuable.”
“It pushes your triceps forward and out which makes your arms look enormous,” he adds.
Guillotine Press
Lastly, he examined the guillotine press, revealing that the wide grip and bar touching the clavicle allow for an extremely deep pec stretch.
“Like many exercises from the 80s, not for the faint of heart,” he shared. “If you have strong, sturdy shoulders, this is an exercise that is awesome. Its wide grip annihilates your pecs in two ways. One, is the wide grip, angles most of the force into your pecs.”
“Two, the guillotine component means your touching just on your clavicle, which stretches your pecs in a very wide angle.”
It’s not just training mechanics that Dr. Israetel has a handle on. He’s also tackled bodybuilding nutrition and recently laid out an optimal pre-workout meal that sets the groundwork for lifters to enjoy more gains inside the gym.
Plenty of top-tier physiques came from the 1980s. Dr. Israetel is adamant that these exercise options can help build a jacked physique, but emphasizes that safety should always be considered.
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