RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Strength training for men: the main lifts and how to program them

Published October 29, 2026

Strength training for men is built on five barbell lifts: the back squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press and barbell row, with pull-ups for the back. Around them, the Romanian deadlift, leg press, incline dumbbell press and lat pulldown add volume, and curls, pressdowns and hanging knee raises cover arms and abs. Beginners train full body three days a week with 3 sets of 5 to 8 on the main lifts; after six months or so, a four-day upper/lower split keeps progress going. Stop most sets 1 to 2 reps short of failure and add weight every time you hit the top of the rep range.

  1. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  2. Barbell Bench Press Chest
  3. Barbell Deadlift Glutes, Lower Back
  4. Barbell Overhead Press Shoulders
  5. Barbell Row Upper Back, Lats
  6. Pull-Up Lats
  7. Romanian Deadlift Hamstrings, Glutes

Squat and leg press

The back squat is the main leg lift and the one that lets you load the most total muscle. The leg press adds leg volume without more back fatigue.

Thighs, glutes and back, squat

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The back squat loads the thighs, glutes and back together and keeps progressing in 5-pound steps for months. It is the first lift of every lower-body day here.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar across your upper back below the neck, hands just outside your shoulders, and unrack it.
  2. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little.
  3. Breathe in, tighten your stomach as if bracing for a punch, and sit down between your heels.
  4. Stand back up keeping your chest and hips rising together.

Cues

  • Breathe and brace
  • Chest and hips rise together
  • Whole-foot pressure

Common mistakes

  • Hips shooting up first out of the bottom: lighten the bar and keep your chest rising with them.
  • Letting the stomach go soft between reps: re-brace at the top of each one.

Swap for: Front Squat, Box Squat

Build a session with Barbell Back Squat
Log it in RIRLift

Thighs and glutes, machine

Leg Press

Quads, Glutes

The leg press piles on leg work after squats without tiring your back further. Use it for sets of 10 to 15.

How to do it

  1. Sit in the machine with your whole back against the pad and your feet hip-width on the platform.
  2. Release the safety handles and bend your knees, bringing the platform toward you under control.
  3. Lower until your knees are bent to about 90 degrees or a little deeper, without your lower back curling off the pad.
  4. Press the platform away until your legs are nearly straight, and repeat.

Cues

  • Lower back stays on the pad
  • Whole foot pushes
  • Stop just short of locking out

Common mistakes

  • Going so deep that your hips roll up off the seat: stop where your back stays flat.
  • Snapping the knees straight at the top: keep a soft bend.

Swap for: 45-Degree Leg Press, Hack Squat, Barbell Back Squat

Build a session with Leg Press
Log it in RIRLift

Deadlift and Romanian deadlift

The deadlift builds the entire back of the body and grip. The Romanian deadlift is the lighter, higher-rep partner that targets the hamstrings.

Back, glutes and hamstrings, deadlift

Barbell Deadlift

Glutes, Lower Back

The deadlift is the heaviest lift you will do and builds the back, hips and grip together. One heavy session a week is plenty.

How to do it

  1. Stand with the bar over your mid-foot and grip it just outside your legs.
  2. Drop your hips until your shins touch the bar, flatten your back, and pull the slack out.
  3. Push the floor away and stand up tall, then lower the bar the same way.

Cues

  • Bar against the legs
  • Push the floor away

Common mistakes

  • Jerking the bar off the floor: take the slack out first on every set.

Swap for: Trap Bar Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Rack Pull

Build a session with Barbell Deadlift
Log it in RIRLift

Hamstrings and glutes, hinge

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

The Romanian deadlift loads the hamstrings in a long stretch with moderate weight and teaches the hip hinge that the deadlift depends on.

How to do it

  1. Stand with a barbell at your thighs, hands just outside your legs, feet under your hips.
  2. Soften your knees and push your hips back, sliding the bar down your thighs.
  3. Stop when your hamstrings are fully stretched, usually just below the knee, with your back flat.
  4. Push your hips forward to stand up, glutes tight at the top.

Cues

  • Hips back
  • Bar stays on your legs
  • Back flat

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat: keep them soft and still.
  • Reaching for the floor: stop where your back would round.

Swap for: Weighted Back Extension

Build a session with Romanian Deadlift
Log it in RIRLift

Bench, overhead and incline presses

Two barbell presses build the chest, shoulders and triceps, and the incline dumbbell press adds upper-chest volume one dumbbell per arm.

Chest, shoulders and triceps, press

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

The bench press is the main upper-body strength lift for most men, and progress on it is easy to track week to week. Use a spotter or safety arms on heavy sets.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, and squeeze your shoulder blades back and down into the pad.
  2. Grip the bar a little wider than shoulder width, unrack it, and hold it over your shoulders with locked elbows.
  3. Lower the bar to your lower chest, around nipple height, with your elbows angled roughly 45 to 70 degrees from your sides.
  4. Touch your chest without bouncing, then press the bar up and slightly back until it is over your shoulders again.

Cues

  • Shoulder blades stay pinned
  • Bar to the nipple line
  • Drive your feet into the floor

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: let them sit a bit closer to your ribs so your shoulders stay comfortable.
  • Lifting your hips off the bench to finish a rep: keep your glutes down and count that rep as your last.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

Build a session with Barbell Bench Press
Log it in RIRLift

Shoulders and triceps, standing press

Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders

Pressing a bar overhead while standing builds the shoulders and trains the whole body to brace. It moves slower than the bench, so expect smaller jumps.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar in a rack at collarbone height and grip it just outside your shoulders, wrists stacked over your elbows.
  2. Unrack it onto your upper chest, take one step back and set your feet about hip width apart.
  3. Squeeze your glutes, brace your abs so your ribs stay down, and take a big breath.
  4. Press straight up, pulling your chin back so the bar clears your face.
  5. Once the bar passes your forehead, push your head through until the bar sits over the middle of your foot with your arms locked.
  6. Lower it along the same line to your upper chest and re-brace before the next rep.

Cues

  • Glutes tight, ribs down
  • Chin back, bar straight up
  • Head through at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish reps, which turns the lift into an incline press: lower the weight until your torso stays vertical for the whole set.
  • Pressing the bar forward around your face: pull your chin back and keep the bar close enough to brush your nose.
  • Stopping short of lockout: finish every rep with the bar over your mid-foot and your arms straight, or the rep doesn't count in your log.

Swap for: Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Seated Barbell Overhead Press, Landmine Press

Build a session with Barbell Overhead Press
Log it in RIRLift

Upper chest and shoulders, press

Incline Dumbbell Press

Chest

The incline dumbbell press adds upper-chest volume after the bench, and each arm has to carry its own load, so a weaker side cannot hide.

How to do it

  1. Set the backrest to about 30 to 45 degrees and sit with the dumbbells on your thighs.
  2. Lean back and bring the weights to the outside of your shoulders as your back meets the pad.
  3. Squeeze your shoulder blades back and keep your hips on the seat.
  4. Press up and slightly in until your arms are straight over your upper chest.
  5. Lower under control until your elbows are just below the bench line.

Cues

  • Low incline, not a shoulder press
  • Wrists stacked over elbows
  • Touch the stretch, then press

Common mistakes

  • Setting the bench steeper than about 45 degrees: the front delts take over. Drop it a notch if you mostly feel your shoulders.
  • Lifting your hips off the seat to finish a rep: that turns it back into a flat press.

Swap for: Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Press, Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press, Incline Barbell Bench Press

Build a session with Incline Dumbbell Press
Log it in RIRLift

Rows, pull-ups and pulldowns

A heavy row, a body-weight pull and a pulldown for volume cover the back from every angle. Match your pressing sets with pulling sets.

Upper back and lats, row

Barbell Row

Upper Back, Lats

The bent-over row loads the whole back heavily and trains you to hold a hinge under load. It is the heavy pull in the beginner plan.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bar at your thighs, hinge forward until your torso is near 45 degrees, back flat.
  2. Row the bar to your lower ribs with the elbows tucked near your sides.
  3. Lower to straight arms and keep the torso angle.

Cues

  • Brace before every rep
  • Bar to the belly button

Common mistakes

  • Standing taller each rep as it gets heavier: if the hinge goes, the set is over.

Swap for: Pendlay Row, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, T-Bar Row

Build a session with Barbell Row
Log it in RIRLift

Lats and biceps, body-weight pull

Pull-Up

Lats

Pull-ups build a wide back and strong grip. Once you reach 10 clean reps, add weight with a belt or a dumbbell between your feet.

How to do it

  1. Grab the bar overhand, hands a little wider than your shoulders, and hang from fully straight arms.
  2. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears before your elbows start to bend.
  3. Drive the elbows toward your ribs until your chin passes over the bar.
  4. Lower slowly to a dead hang and pull again.

Cues

  • Shoulders down, then pull
  • Legs still and together
  • Two seconds on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the legs to cheat reps: cross your ankles and brace the abs.
  • Half reps from a bent-arm start: finish each rep at a full hang.

Swap for: Lat Pulldown, Chin-Up, Assisted Pull-Up

Build a session with Pull-Up
Log it in RIRLift

Lats and biceps, pulldown

Lat Pulldown

Lats

The pulldown adds back volume at a weight you choose and is the stand-in for pull-ups until you can do 5 clean reps.

How to do it

  1. Set the thigh pad so your legs are locked under it, then stand up and take the bar a little wider than your shoulders, palms forward.
  2. Sit down with your arms fully stretched overhead and lean back only slightly.
  3. Pull the bar to your upper chest by driving your elbows down toward your hips.
  4. Let the bar rise until your arms are straight and your shoulders lift toward your ears, then pull again.

Cues

  • Elbows to your back pockets
  • Bar to the top of the chest
  • Let the stack lift you at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning far back and rowing the bar to your stomach: stay nearly upright so it remains a vertical pull.
  • Stopping with the arms still bent at the top: the stretch overhead is half of what makes the pulldown work.

Swap for: Pull-Up, Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown, Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

Build a session with Lat Pulldown
Log it in RIRLift

Arms and abs

The big lifts train the arms and trunk already, so two arm exercises and one ab exercise at the end of a session are enough.

Biceps and forearms, curl

Hammer Curl

Biceps, Forearms

The hammer curl trains the biceps, brachialis and forearms together and lets you curl heavier than a supinated curl. One curl is enough next to all the rowing.

How to do it

  1. Hold the dumbbells at your sides with your palms facing your thighs.
  2. Bend one elbow to bring that dumbbell up, thumb leading.
  3. Keep the dumbbell vertical the whole way, then lower it slowly to the start.
  4. Curl the other arm, and keep alternating until the set is done.

Cues

  • Thumbs lead
  • Dumbbells vertical
  • Elbows by your sides

Common mistakes

  • Swinging heavier weight with your back: keep your torso still.
  • Curling across your body: keep each dumbbell in line with its shoulder.

Swap for: Band Hammer Curl, Alternating Hammer Curl

Build a session with Hammer Curl
Log it in RIRLift

Triceps, cable

Cable Triceps Pressdown

Triceps

The pressdown adds triceps volume without loading the shoulders, which already work hard from the bench and overhead press.

How to do it

  1. Attach a bar or rope to a high pulley and grip it with your elbows at your sides.
  2. Push down until your elbows are straight.
  3. Let the handle rise until your forearms are just past parallel, then push again.

Cues

  • Elbows stay pinned
  • Lock out at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbows rise and flare: keep them glued to your sides.

Swap for: Cable Cross Pushdown, Overhead Cable Triceps Extension, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Cable Triceps Pressdown
Log it in RIRLift

Abs, hanging

Hanging Knee Raise

Abs

Hanging knee raises train the abs through a big range and build grip. Straighten the legs when 15 reps get easy.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with straight arms and your legs together.
  2. Draw your knees up toward your chest and curl your pelvis up at the top.
  3. Lower your legs slowly until they hang straight and still.

Cues

  • Curl the pelvis
  • Stop the swing
  • Slow down

Common mistakes

  • Swinging into each rep: pause at the bottom until you are still.
  • Lifting the knees only to hip height, which works the hip flexors more than the abs.

Swap for: Captain's Chair Knee Raise, Reverse Crunch

Build a session with Hanging Knee Raise
Log it in RIRLift

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in.

Session 1

Beginner: three full-body days

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets39 a week
  • Per workout~45 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, Dumbbells, Pull-Up Bar +2

You are new to the barbell lifts or have never followed a plan, and you can train three days a week.

Beginners recover fast and gain strength from practicing the lifts often, so each main lift gets 3 heavy sets three times every two weeks. Each session has 13 working sets and takes about 60 minutes.

A: Squat, bench, row
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Back Squat3 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 3 min
Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 3 min
Barbell Row 3 × 6–10 2 2 min
Hammer Curl 2 × 8–12 1 1 min
Hanging Knee Raise 2 × 8–15 1 1 min

Open A: Squat, bench, row in the session builder

B: Deadlift, press, pull-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Deadlift3 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3:30 min
Barbell Overhead Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
Pull-Up 3 × 5–10 1 2 min
Leg Press 2 × 10–15 2 2 min
Cable Triceps Pressdown 2 × 10–15 1 1 min

Open B: Deadlift, press, pull-up in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate A and B on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or any three non-consecutive days.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds to the squat, bench, row and press, and 10 to the deadlift, once every set reaches the top of the rep range with 2 reps left. Start the new weight at the bottom of the range and build the reps back up.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Intermediate: four days, upper and lower

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets48 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Leg Press, Pull-Up Bar, Flat Bench +4

You have trained for six months or more, the beginner plan has slowed, and you can lift four days a week.

Four sessions give the chest, back, quads and hamstrings 8 to 11 direct sets each a week, plus the overlap from the big lifts. Each day opens with one main barbell lift at 3 to 6 reps for strength, and the lifts after it work in the 8 to 15 range for muscle.

Lower 1: Squat
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Back Squat3 warm-up sets first 4 × 3–6 2 3:30 min
Romanian Deadlift 3 × 6–10 2 2:30 min
Leg Press 3 × 10–15 1 2 min
Hanging Knee Raise 3 × 10–15 1 1 min

Open Lower 1: Squat in the session builder

Upper 1: Bench
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Bench Press3 warm-up sets first 4 × 3–6 2 3:30 min
Barbell Row 4 × 6–8 2 2:30 min
Barbell Overhead Press 3 × 6–8 2 2:30 min
Hammer Curl 2 × 8–12 1 1 min

Open Upper 1: Bench in the session builder

Lower 2: Deadlift
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Barbell Deadlift3 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3:30 min
Leg Press 3 × 10–15 1 2 min
Romanian Deadlift 2 × 8–12 2 2 min

Open Lower 2: Deadlift in the session builder

Upper 2: Incline and pull-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Incline Dumbbell Press 4 × 8–12 1 2 min
Pull-Up 4 × 6–12 1 2 min
Lat Pulldown 3 × 10–12 1 90 s
Cable Triceps Pressdown 3 × 10–15 0 1 min

Open Upper 2: Incline and pull-up in the session builder

How to run it
Train Lower 1, Upper 1, rest, Lower 2, Upper 2, then two rest days.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds to the opening barbell lift when you hit the top of its range at 2 reps in reserve, and use double progression on everything after it. Every 6 to 8 weeks, take a lighter week.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Thirty minutes, three days a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets36 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Pull-Up Bar, Dumbbells, Incline Bench +2

Your gym time is capped at half an hour, before work or at lunch, and you still want to get stronger.

Supersets of non-competing lifts let one muscle group rest while the other works, so 12 working sets fit in 30 minutes. Across an A, B, A week the chest and back get 9 sets each and the legs 9, enough for steady strength gains.

A: Squat and press
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Barbell Back Squat2 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 90 s
A2 Pull-Up 3 × 5–10 1 90 s
B1 Incline Dumbbell Press 3 × 8–12 1 1 min
B2 Hanging Knee Raise 3 × 8–15 1 1 min

Open A: Squat and press in the session builder

B: Hinge and bench
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Romanian Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–10 2 90 s
A2 Barbell Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 90 s
B1 Lat Pulldown 3 × 8–12 1 1 min
B2 Hammer Curl 3 × 8–12 1 1 min

Open B: Hinge and bench in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate A and B on three days. Warm up only the two barbell lifts, and rest only after the second exercise of each pair.
How to progress
Use double progression on each lift. If a session runs over, drop the last set of the second superset rather than rushing rest on the first.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are the 5 basic strength training exercises?

They are the squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press and barbell row. Together they train every major muscle, and almost every strength program is built on them or close variations.

How many days a week should men strength train?

Three full-body days a week for beginners, four upper/lower days once progress slows. More than that helps mainly for advanced lifters with time to recover.

Is 20 minutes of strength training a day enough?

Twenty to thirty minutes, three or more days a week, is enough to get stronger if the sets are hard and you keep adding weight. Supersets help you fit more work into short sessions.

What age is hardest to gain muscle?

Muscle comes slower the older you are, and slowest from late middle age on, but men gain muscle at every age with hard sets and enough protein. Whatever your age, the earlier you start the more you keep.

What is the 3-3-3 rule for strength training?

It is a loose rule of thumb, most often three exercises of three sets, three days a week. It is too little for most men's goals; the beginner plan here uses five lifts per session.