The Perfect Exercise for Every Body Part (2024)

Choosing the best

exercises for women isn't easy. There seem to be countless options, each just slightly different from the rest, all promising you the abs — or shoulders, or legs — of your dreams. No wonder you sometimes throw up your hands and resort to the eeny-meeny-miny-moe method.

But random acts of exercise are hardly the best way to tone and hone your perfect body. So we consulted the experts and sorted through the scientific studies to answer one simple question: What's the absolute best move for every key body part, from flabby arms to jiggly thighs? The 10 winning exercises, it turns out, are surprisingly basic — forget those complex gyrations that tax your mind more than your muscles.

What's more, these terrific 10 "involve compound movements, which target multiple muscles," says Lori Incledon, C.S.C.S., author of Strength Training for Women. Muscles work in tandem, she explains, so strengthening the core of one has peripheral benefits that radiate to the surrounding tissue. Done right, these moves will give you better tone and overall strength in just 2 weeks — and a whole new body in a couple of months.

Instructions
The only equipment you'll need is a set of dumbbells, an exercise bench, and a chinup bar. Unless otherwise specified, do three sets of 8 to 10 reps of each exercise with a weight that feels challenging by rep 8.

The Best Exercise for Triceps
The problem with the most popular arm move, the pushup, is that it works the chest first and the triceps second. "The best triceps exercise is one that uses it as the prime mover during the exercise," says Stephanie Barclay, C.S.C.S., director of fitness and wellness at North Park University. The dip does just that.

How To Do It: Sit on the edge of a flat exercise bench and place your hands, fingers facing forward, next to your thighs. Place your feet on the floor in front of you, knees bent. Keeping your arms straight, scoot forward so your butt is hovering in front of the edge of the bench (A). Inhale, bend your arms, and lower your butt (B), stopping when your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale and push yourself back up, straightening your arms.

Also Works: Chest

Add a Twist: To make the move even more challenging, extend your legs straight in front of you.

The Best Exercise for Biceps
The chinup gets a bad rap as a simple exercise that simpleminded guys use to prove their super-manliness. But those meatheads are actually on to something. "You can load your biceps with a lot more weight on a chinup than you can on a curl," says Mike Mejia, a New Yorkbased strength and conditioning specialist.

How To Do It Using a wide, underhand grip (palms facing you), hang from a bar with elbows straight, knees bent back, and ankles crossed (A). Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar (B) and slowly lower yourself back to start. Do as many as you can.

Also Works: Shoulders, triceps, lower arms, upper back, lower back

Add a Twist: We won't lie — chinups are tough. If you can't manage one yet, have a workout partner help you raise yourself by placing her hands beneath your ankles.

The Best Exercise for Shoulders
Your job might not require heavy lifting, but that's no reason to ignore your shoulders. The military press gives your upper body tone and helps you hoist weighty objects without much trouble. "And using dumbbells allows more freedom of movement than the traditional barbell press," Mejia says. That means less strain on your shoulders.

How To Do It Sit on a bench with your feet hip-width apart. Using an overhand grip, hold a set of dumbbells at your shoulders (A). Press the weights straight up, focusing on control (B). Slowly lower them back to start.

Also Works: Biceps and triceps

Add a Twist: To engage your core, turn your torso as you push the weights overhead. Alternate sides.

The Best Exercise for Upper Back
Rows work the major muscles of the upper back and midback more effectively than other gym or at-home exercises, Mejia says.

How To Do It Position your right knee and right hand on a workout bench (a large chair can substitute nicely) so your back is parallel to the floor (A). With your left hand, lift the dumbbell straight up to torso level, keeping your elbow in and pointing slightly toward the ceiling (B). Hold for 1 second. Slowly lower the weight to a dead hanging position and repeat. Switch sides between sets.

Also Works: Triceps

Add a Twist: Try it without a bench, which will test your balance as well. Bending over till your torso is parallel to the floor, stand on one leg with your other leg bent behind you and do one set of rows. Switch legs.

The Best Exercise for Abdominals
It's one-stop six-pack shopping. A study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the reverse crunch works all three abdominal areas — upper abs, lower abs, and obliques — at once.

How To Do It Lie on your back, knees bent (A). Bring them in to your chest and backdown (B).

Also Works: Obliques

Add a Twist: To strengthen your obliques even more, twist your legs to one side as you raise them, alternating sides.

The Best Exercise for Lower Back
Your power, balance, and stability all come from your core, and while ab work is important, without an equally strong lower back to control every movement, a six-pack is all but worthless. A 2005 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that the so-called superman (in this case, superwoman!) exercise is the most effective at honing the neglected half of your core.

How To Do It Lie facedown on the floor with your arms out in front of you (A). Lift your right arm and left leg off the floor (B), hold for 10 seconds, then lower them and switch sides.

Also Works: Glutes and hamstrings

Add a Twist: Increase the difficulty by lifting both arms and both legs off the floor at the same time.

The Best Exercise for Chest
Even if the chest press weren't the single smartest way to perk up your pecs — a 2005 study from Truman State University found that the bench press activates chest muscles longer than the fly — you should do it anyway. Because nothing makes you feel more like a weight-lifting badass than lying on your back and pumping iron.

How To Do It Lie on your back on a flat bench, letting your elbows and shoulders drop. Hold a dumbbell in each hand on either side of your chest (A). Lifting both weights at the same pace, push them straight up until your arms are fully extended (B). Hold them there for 1 second, then return to start.

Also Works: Shoulders, triceps

Add a Twist: To improve muscle tone, concentrate on contracting your chest throughout the exercise, not just while you're lifting.

The Best Exercise for Calves
Strong calves can defeat a frequent runner or walker's worst enemy: shin splints. If you choose only one exercise to strengthen your calves (and sculpt fantastic-looking legs), make it the toe raise, Mejia says.

How To Do It You can do a toe raise on pretty much any step or curb. Stand on a step with your feet slightly apart, drop your heels down below it (A), then push straight up onto your tip-toes (B). Slowly lower your heels and repeat. Squeeze your calves at the top of the exercise to get the most benefit.

Also Works: Quads and hamstrings

Add a Twist: Hold a pair of dumbbells at your sides, but not more than 10 pounds total — calf muscles can tear easily.

The Best Exercise for Quadriceps
Several studies over the last decade comparing squats with leg presses have found that squats are the safest and most effective way to work your quads. Gym rats will tell you to use the Smith machine (the large rack that holds a straight bar), but most women are better off sticking with dumbbells to avoid injury. "Most of these types of machines were built for a 5'10", 185-pound man," Incledon says.

How To Do It Stand, holding a dumbbell on each side with arms hanging straight down (A), and bend your knees until your thighs are just past parallel to the floor. Your back should be at roughly 45 degrees, your eyes looking straight ahead (B). Extend your legs, straightening back up to return to standing.

Also Works: Glutes

Add a Twist: Combine squats with upright rows: From the standing position, lift the dumbbells to chest height by raising your elbows. Lower the weights slowly then immediately perform a squat. Repeat.

The Best Exercise for Butt
This move can give you the lean shape of an Eastern European supermodel. "It combines two of the most often neglected but vitally important movements — hip and spinal extension," Mejia says.

How To Do It Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and back straight. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms hanging straight down (A). Bend from your hips and lower the weights, keeping your neck in line with your spine and your hips back (B). Contract your glutes and hamstrings and return to start.

Also Works: Hamstrings

Add a Twist: Do the move on one leg at a time. Keep your balance by extending your nonworking leg out behind you.