When it comes to training, more isn’t always better.
Most people have limited time to spend in the gym. Between work, family commitments and trying to maintain some social life, you need every exercise in your programme to earn its place.
At Foundry, we focus on exercises that deliver the biggest return on investment. We want movements that build strength, improve fitness, develop muscle, enhance movement quality and help you become more resilient for life.
That doesn’t mean every exercise on this list is completely useless. Every exercise has a purpose in the right context. However, for the vast majority of people looking to get stronger, leaner and healthier, these movements often take up valuable training time that could be spent on more effective alternatives.
Tricep Kickbacks
Tricep kickbacks have been a staple of commercial gym workouts for years, particularly among people looking to “tone” the backs of their arms.
The problem is that they are a poor choice if your goal is to build muscle and strength.
The triceps receive very little meaningful tension throughout most of the movement. The exercise is difficult to progressively overload because the position limits how much weight you can use, and the resistance is greatest only during a small portion of the range of motion.
If stronger, more defined arms are your goal, there are far better options available.
Instead of tricep kickbacks, focus on:
- Press ups
- Close grip bench press
- Dips
- Overhead pressing
- Cable tricep extensions
These exercises allow you to use more load, challenge more muscle fibres and provide a much greater training stimulus.
Even better, compound pushing exercises train your chest, shoulders and core at the same time, making them a far more efficient use of your session.
Decline Bench Press
The decline bench press was traditionally promoted as the answer for developing the lower chest.
While it certainly trains the chest muscles, most people dramatically overestimate its importance.
The reality is that the shape of your chest is largely determined by genetics and body fat levels. Unless you are an advanced physique athlete trying to bring up a very specific area, there is little reason to prioritise decline pressing.
Most gym members would see significantly better results by getting stronger on fundamental pressing movements and improving overall body composition.
Better alternatives include:
- Flat bench press
- Incline dumbbell press
- Press ups
- Weighted press ups
- Dips
These exercises provide excellent chest development while also delivering greater overall strength benefits.
If your goal is a stronger, more athletic physique, mastering the basics will always outperform chasing minor muscle isolation.
Endless Calf Raises
This one may surprise some people.
Calf raises are not inherently bad. In fact, they can be extremely useful for runners, athletes, and individuals recovering from lower-limb injuries.
The problem is the way most people perform them.
Three rushed sets of 10 repetitions at the end of a workout, once per week, are unlikely to produce meaningful results.
The calf muscles are incredibly resilient. They are designed to handle thousands of steps every day and often require much higher training volumes to stimulate growth and adaptation.
For most people, there are more productive ways to train the calves while simultaneously improving fitness and athleticism.
Consider:
- Skipping
- Sled pushes
- Hill walking
- Running drills
- Loaded carries
- Walking on inclined treadmills
These activities provide a high volume of calf work while delivering additional cardiovascular and conditioning benefits.
If bigger calves are a specific physique goal, direct calf work can absolutely have a place. Just be prepared to train them with far greater consistency and volume than most people realise.
Direct Forearm Work
The quickest way to build impressive forearms isn’t through endless wrist curls.
It’s by developing serious grip strength.
Many people spend valuable training time performing isolated forearm exercises while completely neglecting the movements that naturally build strong hands, wrists and forearms.
Strong grip strength is also associated with improved overall strength, better lifting performance, and even health outcomes.
Instead of focusing on wrist curls, prioritise:
- Deadlifts
- Pull ups
- Chin ups
- Farmer’s carries
- Heavy rows
- Hanging exercises
These movements force the forearms to work exactly as they were designed to, while simultaneously training much larger muscle groups throughout the body.
At Foundry, we pay close attention to grip strength because it supports performance across almost every major lift.
Ten Different Bicep and Tricep Variations
There is nothing wrong with arm training.
The problem arises when an entire workout becomes a collection of curls, pushdowns, kickbacks, hammer curls, concentration curls, rope extensions and every other variation imaginable.
Many people spend more time isolating their arms than they do building the foundation required for bigger arms in the first place.
If your goal is muscular arms, remember this:
Big arms are usually attached to a strong body.
Compound exercises should form the foundation of your programme.
Prioritise:
- Chin ups
- Pull ups
- Bench press
- Overhead press
- Rows
- Dips
These exercises train the biceps and triceps while also building muscle across the chest, shoulders, back and torso.
Direct arm work can absolutely be useful, particularly if arm size is a specific goal. However, it should be viewed as the finishing touch rather than the main event.
Think of arm isolation work as the icing on the cake. The compound lifts are the cake itself.
Donkey Kicks
Donkey kicks are often marketed as a glute-building miracle exercise.
Unfortunately, they suffer from many of the same limitations as tricep kickbacks.
The glutes are among the strongest muscles in the body. To change their shape, size and strength, they generally need significant mechanical tension and progressive overload.
Bodyweight donkey kicks don’t provide enough resistance for most people once they move beyond the beginner stage.
There is also limited opportunity to increase the challenge progressively.
If stronger glutes are your goal, focus on exercises such as:
- Squats
- Split squats
- Lunges
- Romanian deadlifts
- Hip thrusts
- Step ups
These movements allow you to load the glutes properly, create meaningful tension and continue progressing as you get stronger.
As a bonus, they also improve lower-body strength, athleticism, and overall movement quality.
The Bigger Problem
One of the biggest mistakes people make in the gym is constantly searching for new exercises instead of getting better at proven ones.
Social media has created an endless stream of creative variations, hacks and “secret exercises”. Many look impressive, but very few outperform the fundamentals.
The exercises that consistently produce results are often the least exciting:
- Squats
- Hinges
- Pushes
- Pulls
- Carries
- Walking
At Foundry, we believe mastering these movement patterns forms the foundation of progress. Rather than chasing novelty, focus on becoming stronger, more technically proficient and more consistent.
The basics work because they challenge the largest amount of muscle mass, allow progressive overload and provide measurable results over time.
Personal Training The Foundry Way
We don’t believe in wasting your time at Foundry Gyms.
Our coaching philosophy is built around mastering the fundamentals, building real strength and creating sustainable habits that improve your health, performance and confidence both inside and outside the gym.
That means focusing on exercises that deliver the biggest return for the effort invested. Squats, hinges, pushes, pulls and loaded carries form the backbone of our classes because they consistently produce results across all fitness levels.
Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, improved performance, or simply feeling stronger and more capable in everyday life, our small group personal training sessions provide expert coaching, structured progression, and accountability every step of the way.
We remove the guesswork, cut through the noise in the fitness industry, and focus on what actually works.
Because when time is limited, every exercise should move you closer to your goals.
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