What Is The Best Exercise?

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Generally speaking the best exercise is the one you enjoy doing. If you like to bike but do not like to jog, naturally you should not force yourself to jog. It is more important to stick with exercises you enjoy; this factor dramatically increases the likelihood of you sticking with your program.

Setting goals for your exercise program will also help you decide which is the best exercise. The exercise should match what you are trying to accomplish. For example, if your goal is to run the next 5k you need to focus your efforts on aerobic training, the majority being running.

If you are looking to become more healthy or lose weight, you need to have a combination of resistance and aerobic training in your program. It is important to build muscle to boost your metabolism and you need the aerobic training to burn calories. In this case it is important to choose exercises you enjoy and that will provide high exercise motivation.

If your goal is to gain strength you need to hit the weights. High reps light weight for toning and lower reps heavier weights for getting stronger. If you are looking to target individual muscles there are specific exercises that are better than others. Researchers have used electromyographic (EMG) testing to evaluate the effects of the muscle while performing an exercise. The test specifically measures muscle activation. Obviously, the exercise that recruits the most muscle would be considered the best exercise for that particular movement.

The following is a list of exercises that EMG research has shown to have high muscle activation relative to the specific muscle group.

Gluteus Maximus	Quadruped leg raise
Gastrocnemius	Donkey raise
Quadriceps	Squat
Hamstrings	Standing leg curl
Latissimus Dorsi	Bent over barbell row
Triceps	Triceps press down
Biceps	Preacher curl
Pectoralis Major	Decline dumbbell bench press
Posterior Deltoids	Bent over dumbbell reverse fly
Medial Deltoids	Incline dumbbell side lateral raise
Anterior Deltoids	Seated front dumbbell press
Abdominals	Bicycle maneuver

These were the best exercises at the time of the study. As with anything change is always taking place. New exercises are being developed and new machines are being designed. Use this list as a helpful guideline of quality exercises to include in your resistance program.

The key point - exercise of any type is better than none so choose what you enjoy and keep exercising.