by Ben Bruno

So what moves do you really need to do? How do you figure out the best ways to build the size, strength, and muscle you crave? If youre not sure, youre likely not alone. And answering this question is key to your fitness success.

And the keys to that fitness success havent changed as much as you may think. While plenty of exercises have value and can improve your overall fitness, you dont need to include all of them in your training. A host of exercises have been around for eons, and, very often, theyre the ones that should be in your routines, one way or another. Those venerable moves are often the backbone of any good routine.

What are those moves? Weve listed them right here, in our 25 best exercises of all-time. Save, bookmark, and share this link, because whenever youre not sure what to do in the gym, this is a good, strong, starting point.

Overhead presses arent easy, and if you have shoulder mobility issues, this is a move you might want to sit out. But learn to overhead press, and youll help build a rock-solid core and general upper body strength. This isnt just a shoulder move; your back gets more work than you think, too.

Technically, deadlifts are a lower-body move, but they really hammer your entire posterior chain, even attacking your lats, rhomboids, and traps. But the barbell is an overrated implement for this lift. Instead, check out the trap bar, which can save your lower back while still letting you squeeze your glutes and build hip extension, critical to good posture and overall athletic ability. Bonus: A ton of calorie-burning bang for your buck here too.

If you want a developed V-taper, you want chinups and pullups in your training. This move is all about building up your lats, and itll challenge your core more than you think, too. Vertical pulling isnt easy, though, so make sure you master your rowing first.

The bent-over row builds your upper back, but itll hit your lower back more than you think, forcing your posterior chain to work overtime to stabilize you. Its full-body muscle.

The seated cable row is one of the smartest ways to start learning to pull with your back. Its easier on the lower body than bent-over and dumbbell rows, too.

This is one of the most functional core exercises out there, training plenty of anti-extension (your cores ability to provide stability as you extend your hands and legs farther, and it teaches the abdominals to protect your spine.

The hanging leg raise teaches you how to flex your trunk, and builds a ton of ab strength. And get this: Its better than a situp while never presenting the postural issues that situps can in terms of rounding your lower back. Just take your time with these and dont try rushing and swinging wildly.

This is the best overall way to train your chest, but notice that were not recommending the barbell version. The dumbbell press is superior, giving you more freedom to move and play with shoulder, elbow, and wrist position. Your rotator cuffs will thank you for choosing this bench press.

Yes, another row, because you can never row enough. The single-arm dumbbell row lets you move heavy weight, and it lets you get a great stretch on your lats. Focus on higher reps with heavy weights and youll build a strong, powerful back.

The side plank will build every part of your core, and it does so in a very integrated way. Youre not just using your abs, but abs, lower back, glutes, and obliques (and many other muscles) work in concert to keep you stable.

The oldest exercise known to man remains one of the best, building your chest, tris, and shoulders, and attacking your core more than you may expect.

This pushup variation gives you a chance to really pummel your triceps using only your bodyweight, and it still hits your chest and shoulders. In fact, the angle of the close-grip pushup may actually make it more shoulder-friendly, too.

If youre tight for time and need a conditioning workout for the ages, then these cant be beat. Pushing and pulling the prowler along turf or even hard concrete works the upper and lower body and has endless metabolic benefits that will leave you burning fat for the rest of the week. Using sleds as a finisher to any workout, or as their own individual workout will deliver the goods.

If you struggle to get a great looking squat with a barbell, grabbing a kettlebell or dumbbell for goblet squats can be your answer to set the tone. The front-sided load and low elbows allow you to stay tall with the upper body and achieve a great, deep depth with the legs and hips. As a bonus, you can train them for higher reps since the load will rarely match the weight you usually put on a barbell. Pay attention to how your upper body feels after a set of heavy goblet squats too; dont think its not involved.

A great intro to speed and power training, swings tap into the hamstrings and glutes muscles that are typically jam-packed with fast-twitch muscle fibers. But this isn't just a lower-body move. To dominate the kettlebell swing, your core must be super-stiff and strong throughout the movement, and your rhomboids and lats must be active. Sign us up.

Setting up a pair of ropes on a pulley (or bands around a post) and pulling to the face sounds simple enough. The benefits that this movement delivers to intrinsic postural muscles make it invaluable. Plus, you can use it as a prehab or warm up tool, or incorporate it into a workout without a hitch. Youll feel the burn and the benefits with high rep sets.

Whether you want great lat development or youre not strong enough to do pull ups with good form, honing in on things with pulldowns would be a smart choice. Setting the shoulders properly under load can be tricky if youre using your entire body weight from the hang, and not a controllable load while seated. Pulldowns can also be a good option for lifters with bad shoulders since the pulling angle isnt quite vertical.

A ny loaded carry will be worth its weight in gold for your conditioning, grip strength, trap development, and body composition. We chose farmers walks since its got the simplest instructions: Grab the heaviest dumbbells you can get your hands on, and walk briskly with good posture until you cant. Sounds easy? Throw them in for 15 minutes at the end of your workout.

The bear crawl position is very underrated, and removing a base of support from the picture makes it even more badass as an anti-rotation stability exercise that will leave the abs and obliques working overtime. The key is to avoid letting the body shift or rock its harder than it looks and makes for a core thats truly and functionally athletic and strong.

This one is a great way to warm up your entire body, and its more challenging than you think, forcing a ton of core stability and challenging the way you move your hips.

The 20 Best Upper-Body Exercises of All-Time

The fitness world has never been more overwhelming than it is now. From isolation exercises to full-body exercises to flows to exercises that help you perfect those other exercises, the moves at your disposal are as vast as ever.

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by Ben Bruno

Articles written by the author

The 20 Best Upper-Body Exercises of All-Time