Front delts
Anterior shoulder. Already heavily trained by chest pressing.
Exercises
Ranked by directness on front delts.
Plate Front Raise
Front delt and a bit of upper chest, depending on grip.
Machine Shoulder Press
Pure shoulder work with no balance cost.
Dumbbell Front Raise
Direct hit on the front of the shoulder.
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Front of shoulder loaded the whole time, with a bit of side delt at lockout.
Landmine Shoulder Press
Front delt work without overhead joint stress.
Arnold Press
Front delt at the bottom, side delt as you rotate, hard squeeze overhead.
Pike Push-up
Front and side delts doing the work; tight contraction overhead.
Overhead Press
Front shoulder pumps; abs and glutes firing as the body's stabilizer.
- Front delts
Also involves this muscle
Lifts that pull this muscle in as a supporter.
Chest
Push-up
Chest and triceps. If lower back fires, brace harder.
Chest
Machine Chest Press
Pure chest, with the stability cost removed.
Chest
Pec Deck
The cleanest pec squeeze you'll get.
Chest
Svend Press
Pure inner-chest contraction.
Triceps
Bench Dip
Lockout burn in the triceps; if the front of the shoulder is what's burning, shorten the range.
Triceps
Diamond Push-up
Triceps screaming by rep 6. Inner chest gets some too.
Chest
Flat Dumbbell Press
Even pec stretch at the bottom, hard squeeze across the sternum at the top.
Chest
Cable Crossover (High-to-Low)
Hard squeeze across the lower-middle chest; total isolation.
Chest
Cable Crossover (Low-to-High)
Upper-chest contraction that you don't really get from any pressing movement.
Chest
Landmine Chest Press
Upper-chest + front-delt blend, with the shoulder happy because the angle is naturally diagonal.
Obliques
Cable Woodchop
A diagonal rotational force through the trunk — obliques contracting on the pull and resisting on the return.
Triceps
Close-grip Bench Press
Triceps lockout work - chest is along for the ride.
Chest
Incline Dumbbell Press
Stretch on the upper chest at the bottom; squeeze across the collarbone area at the top.
Chest
Dumbbell Fly
Pure pec stretch. If you feel it in the front of the shoulder, stop and reduce range.
Chest
Floor Press
Brutal lockout work; chest taps out before the triceps do.
Obliques
Landmine Rotation
A large, smooth rotational arc powered by the hips and obliques — like swinging a heavy club through a clean arc.
Chest
Dip
Lower chest at the bottom; triceps at lockout.
Chest
Incline Barbell Press
Stretch and squeeze concentrated above the nipple line.
Chest
Barbell Bench Press
Stretch through the middle chest at the bottom; press should feel like spreading the floor with your back.
Triceps
JM Press
A weird half-press-half-skullcrusher hybrid; triceps absolutely toast after 5 reps.
Chest
Archer Push-up
Most of your bodyweight on one pec; closest thing to a one-arm push-up without the joint risk.
Abs
Ab Wheel Rollout
Abs working harder than any crunch - and the lats and lower back joining the party.