How do you choose your exercises.

[DrWahoo]

How do you choose your exercises for each body part, especially when they are similar ?

For example do you choose close grip bench pressses or skull crushers ?

Squats, Hack Squats or Leg presses ?

Rope pressdown or bar pressdown

[Gohan]

Trial and error. When i started out i tried every kind of exercise and every machine for any given muscle, but narrowed them down over time to the regimine i have now. Find out what works for you.

[TommyD]

Originally Posted by Gohan316

Trial and error. When i started out i tried every kind of exercise and every machine for any given muscle, but narrowed them down over time to the regimine i have now. Find out what works for you.

I agree with Gohan... trial and error are good for a lot of exercises when it comes to variations. But as far as hitting each body part, there are usually good compound exercises for every body part. Most people prefer compound exercises over isolation because they get the most bang for their buck with them.

Squats are the best leg exercise, bench is the best chest exercise... usually whatever you can put the most weight on will benefit you the best. I'd recommend basing your entire workout around these three exercises: Bench, Squat, Deadlift. From there on out, you'll only get a fraction of the benefit you get from those Big 3. Olympic lifts are also great exercises to put into your workout because they work a lot of the body at once. I'd actually recommend alternating deadlifts and powercleans every week for your workout b/c they're just that good.

From there on out, it's all trial and error.

[Cort]

I like to do a little of everything. If I've been doing one for a few weeks I change up to another.

[DrWahoo]

Just for the record I think I figured out for me the deadlifts are more of a back exercise than a hamstring exercise.

You see have this split

Monday Legs/Shoulders
Tues Back/tris/bicep/ cardio

Friday Legs/chest

(Cardio on all other days except Sunday)

On Monday I wanted to try something different with the hams so I tried stiff-leg deadlifts, after that my back was so sore, that I felt that I would overtrain my back the next day.

I think in general deadlifts are good if you have a strong back, because it seems like if you have a weak back you cannot work your hamstrings as hard as you would like. Has anyone else noticed this ?

Oh and with my triceps, it doesn't feel like I am working them that hard with compound movements like skull-crushers and close-grip bench press. It may have been because I did shoulders the day before though. In any case would it be wrong to limit tricep workouts to just cable presses and dips ?

[wanabe200]

Originally Posted by Gohan316

Trial and error. When i started out i tried every kind of exercise and every machine for any given muscle, but narrowed them down over time to the regimine i have now. Find out what works for you.

agreed 100% but dont just do what you enjoy or whats easiest either.....

[TommyD]

Originally Posted by DrWahoo

I think in general deadlifts are good if you have a strong back, because it seems like if you have a weak back you cannot work your hamstrings as hard as you would like. Has anyone else noticed this ?

Try leg curls... they'll tear up your hammy's! :thumbup:

[Chain]

Like they've said above, trial and error. Plus advice from knowledgeable experts, EMG studies, and the application of anatomy classes. It's always good to switch up exercises once in a while though.

[Symzie]

I listen to people who know more than me, I can't see the point in trying to reinvent the wheel, I don't think we're all as different as a lot of people think.

I could use the trial and error way but I can't see the point when someone else has already done it for me