six Go-to exercises

BARBELL SQUAT

POSITION Bar rests between traps and upper back, chest is high, feet are shoulder-width apart. Focus on a spot on the ceiling.

HOW To hinge from your hips, not your legs, push your bum out on a 90-degree angle as you squat, then push the floor away from you.

LAT PULLDOWN

POSITION Knee above heel, seat padding rests on knee.

HOW Back at a 90-degree angle, pull the bar toward your collar bone. Lift weight back up at a controlled pace.

BENCH PRESS

POSITION Lie on flat bench, bar at 90 degrees to arms and eye level. HOW Push yourself into the bench, which will activate your chest, not your shoulders.

LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISE

POSITION Retract shoulder blades, ensuring weight sits on shoulders, and you don’t recruit back muscles.

HOW Lift arms at a 90-degree angle, imagining you’re trying to touch the walls of the gym, then lower dumbells to hips at a controlled pace.

BICEP DUMBBELL CURLS

POSITION Retracted shoulder blades, feet shoulder-width apart, pinky facing ceiling.

HOW Lift dumbbell towards shoulder, lower at a controlled pace. Alternate between left and right, as opposed to lifting at the same time.

TRICEP EXTENSIONS

POSITION Retracted shoulder blades, feet shoulder-width apart.

HOW Drive the machine from the top. Elbows shouldn’t move, just triceps from the 90-degree mark to your hips and back.