Favourites

Everyone has certain exercises that they love doing and ones that they don't love doing quite as much. Some of the ones that fall into the later category we keep on doing because they are exceptionally great exercises for us and others we stop because the gains we get from them don't outweigh the discomfort we feel doing them. I decided to record my 2-3 favourite exercises per body-part and some of my least favourites, if I still do them or not, and why.

Favourites:

Chest:

• Incline dumbbell press
• Machine Flyes

Back:

• Deadlifts (also counts in glutes)
• Hyperextensions

Biceps:

• One arm alternating hammer curls
• One arm alternating dumbbell curls

Triceps:

• V-bar cable pushdown
• Triceps extension (machine)

Shoulders:

• Shoulder Press on Smith Machine
• Dumbbell Flyes

Calves:

• Seated Calf Raise
• Calf Raise with Dumbbells

Quads:

• Squats!
• Lunges

Hamstrings:

• Lunges
• Kickback (Machine)

Glutes:

• Squats
• Glute bridge with weighed bar
• Deadlifts

Least Favourites:

1. Bench press (Chest) -- puts weird tension on my shoulder, don't like being inverted, hits hand nerve. Still try them every week, but I don't push it
2. Cable curl with any bar (Biceps) -- mechanics feel terrible. Don't do them anymore
3. Seated cable row (Back) -- tears up my hands. Still do them because I got lifting gloves and because they are a great exercise!
4. One arm triceps extensions (Triceps) -- how I dislocated my shoulder. Don't do them anymore!
5. Triceps dips (Triceps) -- too much pressure on shoulder. Don't do them anymore.
6. Machine curl (Biceps) -- my body never fits this machine correctly. Don't do them anymore. Replace with dumbbell curls and rope curls
7. Seated leg curl (Hamstrings) -- knee cracks and puts too much torsion on single leg. I do these with double legs on a different machine now.
8. Rowing machine (Cardio) -- I don't know why I hate this so much, but I do. I avoid it.

There aren't a ton of exercises I really detest doing, but I have learned that if I really don't like one, or feel like my biomechanics aren't suited for it, then I stop doing it. There are so many ways to hit muscles and stimulate growth without having to do some specific exercise you dread. And at least for me, I don't want to dread anything in the gym. It's one of the few places I'm usually content and I will continue to do the exercises I love (or at least like) to keep it that way. 

:-)