Jeff Cavaliere’s 8 Most Effective Muscle-Building Exercises 

[Related: 4 Studies to Determine the Best Biceps Exercise]

1. Barbell Curl

Two form tricks for faster gains: 

1. Lift the bar straight up instead of “curling.” Think of it like a waiter carrying a tray. Allow the wrists to bend back to shift tension away from the forearms and onto the biceps. 
2. Perform slower eccentrics, lowering the weight for at least three seconds.

Slowing the descent increases time under tension and muscle damage. Faster concentrics may recruit more motor units, resulting in greater strength gains. These factors are believed to optimize hypertrophy. (1)(2)

Additionally, decreasing training loads and increasing time under tension offer comparable growth stimulus to lifting heavier weights.

2. Dips 

“Dips are more effective than bench presses for building chest, triceps, and shoulders,” Cavaliere says, considering the arms are neutrally positioned for better contractions.

Furthermore, dipping stretches the pecs deeper than bench presses. Maintaining an upright posture is key: “Lift your sternum as high as you can and pull your shoulders down,” Cavaliere cued. Then, imagine flexing as you push up.

3. Face Pull 

Pro tip: Attach two ropes to allow external rotation through a full range of motion. Maintain a neutral grip, keeping the forearms vertical while flaring the elbows at a 90-degree angle, mimicking a front double biceps pose. After pulling back, raise the arms overhead to include the lower back muscles.

A familiar face pull mistake is not controlling the negatives, and just letting the weight pull the arms toward the weight stack. Control eccentrics to maximize growth stimuli.

4. Deadlift 

Avoid engaging the lats first or taking slack out of the bar to prevent hip drop. Instead, open the chest, which naturally positions the lats, and keep the hips high. Control the descent; don’t drop the bar.

5. Squat 

Squats, whether weighted or bodyweight, are an accessible way to overload and build the legs. Cavaliere explained technique nuances to maximize leg tension and minimize lower back pain: “Think about hinging back, not just sticking your butt out.”

When performing a good morning, bend the knees and visualize moving the torso and hips in unison to stand up.

6. Overhead Press 

Overhead presses build the front delts. Standing, narrow your grip to involve more triceps and boost your pressing power. Squeezing the glutes plugs energy leaks, resulting in better stability and strength.

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Overhead presses aren’t unlikely to build the medial delts as directly as lateral raises since the front delts are more active at higher pressing angles. Lateral delts perform abduction at lower angles. (3)

7. Lat Pulldown 

Adopt a narrow grip. Cue lat engagement by pulling the elbows into your front pockets. Lean back for an upper back focus.

8. Overhead Triceps Extension 

As a name, skull crushers are misleading regarding how to perform lying triceps extensions. Bringing the bar to the nose or forehead is a safety risk and limits the stretch in the triceps’ long head. Minimizing the triceps stretch is costly for growth. (4)

Maintain locked elbows at an angle behind your head. Drop the bar low to lengthen the long triceps head. Extend the arms and repeat. To overload the stretch after reaching failure, shift the elbows forward during the concentric, then slowly lower the weight. 

Knowledge Nuggets

• Dips over bench presses for big pecs, front delts, and triceps.
• Open the chest to set the lats when deadlifting. 
• Narrow grip for overhead presses.
• Angle the arms during lying triceps extensions.

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References 

1. Wilk M, Zajac A, Tufano JJ. The Influence of Movement Tempo During Resistance Training on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy Responses: A Review. Sports Med. 2021 Aug;51(8):1629-1650. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01465-2. Epub 2021 May 27. PMID: 34043184; PMCID: PMC8310485.
2. Azevedo PHSM, Oliveira MGD, Schoenfeld BJ. Effect of different eccentric tempos on hypertrophy and strength of the lower limbs. Biol Sport. 2022 Mar;39(2):443-449. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2022.105335. Epub 2021 Jun 1. PMID: 35309524; PMCID: PMC8919893.
3. Campos YAC, Vianna JM, Guimarães MP, Oliveira JLD, Hernández-Mosqueira C, da Silva SF, Marchetti PH. Different Shoulder Exercises Affect the Activation of Deltoid Portions in Resistance-Trained Individuals. J Hum Kinet. 2020 Oct 31;75:5-14. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2020-0033. PMID: 33312291; PMCID: PMC7706677.
4. Maeo S, Wu Y, Huang M, Sakurai H, Kusagawa Y, Sugiyama T, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position. Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Jul;23(7):1240-1250. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2100279. Epub 2022 Aug 11. PMID: 35819335.

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