Four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler recently listed what he thinks are the single best exercises for each body part. It’s an interesting thought experiment. We provide our commentary about each of Cutler’s 10 picks.
CALVES
Standing Calf Raise
Calves were always a strength for Cutler, and this one is an easy call. If you only do one calf exercise, make it a standing raise to target the gastrocnemius (which makes up most of the muscular mass of your lower legs). In fact, standing calf raises may be the only calf exercise you need to do, because new research demonstrates that not only do they grow the gastrocnemius while seated calf raises do very little, standing raises do almost as good a job as seated raises at growing the much smaller soleus muscles.
QUADS
Squat
Ah, the old standard. The barbell squat. It may not be for everyone (six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, for one, was not a fan), but it’s the ultimate lower body exercise for most bodybuilders. Cutler didn’t do much squatting later in his career, but this was his “bread-and-butter,” as he calls it, in the early years of his bodybuilding journey, when he was known for his monster truck wheels.
HAMSTRINGS
Stiff-leg Deadlift
Cutler says stiff-leg deads can be with a barbell or dumbbells. We like this as the one hamstring choice, because, as we explained in another article, the fact that you bend at the hips during a seated leg curl or stiff-leg deadlift trains the hams through a greater range of motion than a lying leg curl, and therefore makes them more effective exercises. And, if you’re only doing 10 total exercises (and no conventional deadlifts), we like that stiff-leg deadlifts, unlike leg curls, work the spinal erectors as well as the hams.
BACK
Pull-up
“Back movement—your pull-up,” Cutler says. “That’s going to give you that V-taper.” He’s referring here to the outer lats and how developing them makes the torso look like a V, broadening from the waist to the shoulders. Pull-ups are another exercise, like squats, that Cutler did early in his bodybuilding journey when he made his greatest gains but rarely later when he was winning (and almost winning) Mr. Olympia titles. In the 2000s, he generally did pulldowns, instead. He grew too heavy for lots of sets and reps of pull-ups, but he also preferred the greater ability to select a precise weight for pulldowns. Note that back is perhaps the body part that is hardest to effectively train with just one exercise. Various kinds of rows are also needed to get full upper back development.
SHOULDERS
Shoulder Press
“Shoulders—I would say definitely the shoulder press, whether it’s barbell, dumbbells, machine, Smith machine.” The dumbbell shoulder press, especially, has been shown to be a very effective front deltoid exercise. It ranked #1 in our list: Best Shoulder Exercises.
CHEST
Dumbbell Bench Press
“For chest, it’s going to be your basic bench press,” Cutler says. “Although I don’t focus a lot on barbell movements. I’d focus more on dumbbell movements, for sure.” The bench press ranked #1 in EMG tests for pectoral stimulation in our list: Science says: Best Chest Exercises.
TRICEPS
Dip
“Triceps—I would say dips. I mean look at these guys [gymnasts] in the Olympics. They have the crazy triceps, where they work on the rings. I think the dips being a lockout movement for the triceps, that’s really ideal.” This was a bit of a surprise. The bodyweight dip is not the first triceps exercise that most people think of (that would be the pushdown or skullcrusher). However, dips do rank well in EMG studies for stimulating the lateral (outside) and medial (inside) triceps heads.
BICEPS
Barbell Curl
“Biceps—barbell curl,” Cutler says. “Whether it’s with a straight bar or cambered [EZ] bar, that exercise is going to build the biceps the most.” The bodybuilding legend stuck with the basics with the most obvious choice here.
FOREARMS
Wrist Curl
“Forearms—I would say wrist curls. That’s going to help build your forearms a little more. If you’re going to have big biceps, you’ve got to have the forearms to match.” Jay Cutler was one of the few world-class bodybuilders who regularly trained forearms. He would do both wrist curls and reverse curls at the end of his arm routines.
ABDOMINALS
Hanging Leg Raise
We heartily agree with the four-time Mr. Olympia on this one. If you only do one ab exercise, make it the vertical leg raise (whether hanging or not). It ranked #1 on our list: Science Says: The Best Ab Exercises.
Related content:
The Barbell‘s Jay Cutler Interview
How Jay Cutler Grew Fast: Interview, Full Workout & Diet
