How to Pick the Right Exercise

There are hundreds of thousands of exercises out there, and with enough creativity, most of them can be justified. That does not mean they are helpful.

The problem most people face in the gym is not effort; it’s motivation. It is direction. Random exercise selection leads to random results, no matter how hard you work. Picking the right exercise is not about variety or novelty. It is about choosing movements that serve a clear purpose and move you closer to your goals.

Exercise Selection Is Not Random

The phrase “bang for your buck” gets thrown around a lot in fitness, and for good reason. Time is limited, recovery is finite, and not all exercises deliver the same return.

That said, there is no universal list of best exercises. The right choice depends entirely on the person doing them. An exercise that is effective for one individual may be inappropriate or even counterproductive for another.

Effective exercise selection starts with context.

Training Age and Experience

Training age matters more than most people realise. Someone who has not trained consistently for a year has very different needs than someone with a decade of structured lifting under their belt.

Jumping straight into high-volume or high-intensity work without the necessary foundation is a fast way to stall progress or pick up an injury. Equally, someone with a background in activities like yoga may have excellent mobility but lack the strength and stability required for loaded compound lifts.

Exercises should reflect not only what you can do, but what you are ready to do.

Exercise Order Matters

Not all exercises deserve equal priority. The movements that matter most should be performed first, when you are freshest and able to maintain quality.

Exercise order also affects movement quality. Mobility work often needs to come before strength work, and specific exercises prepare the body for others. Stretching the chest and lats before thoracic mobility, for example, sets you up for better overhead squatting mechanics later in the session.

Poor sequencing turns good exercises into bad ones.

Addressing Actual Needs

Most people bias their training towards what they are good at. It feels productive and comfortable. Unfortunately, it is also one of the biggest reasons progress stalls.

Weaknesses do not disappear when ignored. Exercise selection should reflect what you need, not just what you enjoy or perform well. Strength imbalances, limited movement patterns, and poor control all require targeted work.

Training only your strengths might feel good, but it rarely leads to meaningful change.

Enjoyment and Adherence

Enjoyment matters, especially in the early stages of training. If you dread every session, consistency will not last long enough for results to appear.

That does not mean every exercise should be your favourite. It does mean programmes need to strike a balance between effectiveness and tolerance. Building confidence in the gym and creating positive momentum early on is often more important than chasing perfection.

An exercise you will do consistently beats a perfect one you avoid.

Training Frequency and Time Available

How often you train affects which exercises you should select. If you are in the gym twice per week, your exercise choices need to be efficient and well-rounded. There is less room for niche or single-purpose movements.

With higher training frequency, there is more opportunity to dedicate time to remedial work, technique development, or specific weaknesses. Volume can be spread more intelligently, reducing the risk of overload.

Frequency dictates structure. Structure dictates results.

Training Effect and Return on Effort

Some exercises do more than others. Compound movements that load multiple joints and large muscle groups tend to deliver a higher training effect than isolated or unstable variations.

That does not mean smaller or simpler exercises are useless. It means they should be chosen deliberately, not used as substitutes for movements that deliver more return.

Standing on one leg with a medicine ball does not outperform a well-executed trap bar deadlift for most people – context matters.

Injury History and Risk Management

Previous injuries should inform exercise selection, not eliminate movement. Some patterns may need to be temporarily avoided, while others can be modified and gradually reintroduced.

A history of spinal disc issues, for example, may mean that deadlifts and chin ups are inappropriate early on. That does not mean those movements are gone forever. It means capacity needs to be rebuilt progressively.

Exercise selection manages risk without wrapping people in cotton wool.

Mobility Before Stability

Movement capacity follows a clear hierarchy. Mobility allows positions. Stability controls them. Strength builds on top.

If you lack mobility, no amount of loading will fix it. If you lack stability, increasing weight only reinforces poor patterns. Exercise selection should reflect where you sit within that progression.

Train the limiting factor first. Everything else improves faster as a result.

Progression With Purpose

Progression should never be random. Exercises should build logically on one another, using shared movement patterns.

A solid Romanian deadlift supports progress towards conventional deadlifts and bent-over rows. A regression is not a step backwards. It is often the fastest route forward.

Every progression should make sense. If it does not, it probably does not belong in the programme.

Exercise Selection, Done Properly

At Foundry, exercises are chosen with intent. They are selected based on your goals, movement quality, training history, and recovery capacity, not trends or guesswork.

This is precisely how our small group personal training works. Every session is coached, structured, and purposeful, ensuring the exercises you perform are right for you, not just right on paper.

Nothing is filler. Nothing is there to entertain. Every movement earns its place because it serves a role in a broader plan.

When exercise selection is done correctly, training stops feeling random. Progress becomes predictable. Results follow.

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