Do you search social media for workout tips? 

Or, use fitness magazines for ideas for your next training session? 

The problem is that there is 5% of good quality material out there and 95% BS.

Have you noticed that the workouts on social media are getting more and more elaborate, using fancy kit and bizarre exercises? It seems that everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel. 

Social media plays a big part in this. I guess it’s just not sexy to video yourself squatting, military pressing and lunging with great form and taking an appropriate rest period between sets. It’s better to make it a one-legged squat with a jump at the end, superset with some made-up thing for your rear delts. I’m exaggerating, but you get my point!

One thing that really does annoy me (and I don’t get annoyed easily) is trainer’s doing exercises for the sake of doing exercises. 

Picture the scene…

Someone joins the gym and is relatively new to fitness so they ask for a PT session. A good programme in the early stages of training would be simple and teaching basic movement patterns for example; squatting, pressing and encouraging the client to get progressively stronger over time. But instead the trainer gets the client doing some balancing act on a Bosu Ball, trying to preach something about core strength and super-setting that with some weird and wonderful abdominal crunch variation.

This is where the problem lies, the trainer is trying to over sell themselves to the client and brainwashing them with the illusion that all of these weird and wonderful movements are good for them. In the meantime the client knows no better and is thinking “Bob” is a good trainer and it was a great session. In reality, the simple basic exercises would have worked better and got the client much better results.

Simple beats sexy….  

You don’t need an exercise portfolio of 50 different exercises, my approach is always to keep things simple and master the basics. 

Everyday in the gym I will see a someone trying 7 different variations on a bicep curl, twisting it, curling on an incline, decline, you name it. But you know would what would have been better? 5 sets of 5 reps of weighted chin-ups. 

But that’s not as “sexy” is it…

You see my point?

So the next time you’re scrolling through social media for some new “fitspiration” be mindful of these “sexy” exercises for the sake of exercise workout routines.

My motto, if you didn’t already know, is stick to the basics. Master the basics and when you have done that (which not many can do) then start progressing.

These training principles have worked for years and years, it’s only recently that trainers are trying to brand their new way of training to cash in on some quick sales. 

Below are my top 18 exercises for building an impressive physique, whether you are male or female, mastering these exercises would benefit you massively.

Chest:

• Press ups 
• Incline dumbbell press
• Dips

Back:

• Pull ups
• Deadlifts
• Single arm dumbbell row

Shoulders:

• Military press
• Seated dumbbell press
• Lateral raises

Quads:

• Leg press
• Lunges
• Squats

Hamstrings:

• Straight leg deadlifts
• Lying hamstring curls

Biceps:

• Chip ups
• Barbell curls

Triceps:

• Dips
• Narrow grip bench press

Hope you have found this useful and you have learnt a bit more into my thoughts behind programme design.

If you do want more help knowing what’s the best programme for you, please get in contact today adam@adamjamesparr.com and I will help you get going in the right direction.