Picking one exercise per muscle group

With hundreds of exercises and new ones people come up with, it’s easy to understand why someone who is beginning to workout can get confused and not know what exercise to utilize for a specific muscle group. Don’t get me started on machines, it seems every time you go to the gym you see a new piece of equipment. Some work and some are useless. If I had to chose one and only one exercise per body part these would be the ones I would highly recommend you to incorporate.

Legs:

Leg Press

Back:

Bent over Barbell Rows or One Arm Dumbbell Rows

Chest:

Dumbbell Chest Press (flat version)

Shoulders:

Dumbbell Military Press

Traps:

Barbell Shrugs

Biceps: Barbell Biceps Curls

Triceps:

Weighted Triceps Dips

Calves:

Seated Leg Raises

Abs:

Abdominal Roller

Do you notice a pattern with 90% of these exercises? They are not machines and they are all free weight exercises. Why free weights if I had to chose one and only one exercise per body part? Because they will recruit more overall muscle to push or pull. If you are confused and don’t know where to start your routine then I advice you start with these.