The ten lifts that build the look.
Most gyms have around a hundred and fifty pieces of equipment. You need ten lifts. Everything else is decoration. Here's the list, with form cues, sample sets, and the mistake people make on each.
Incline DB press.
Builds the upper chest shelf — the part that fills the collar of a fitted shirt.
- Bench at 30°. Higher and the front delt takes over.
- Dumbbell touches the front delt at the bottom. Full range, no half reps.
- Lockout above the shoulder, not the chin. Stay in the line of the press.
- Slow eccentric, controlled press. No bouncing off the bottom.
Strict overhead press.
Builds the deltoid cap — the round bump that pushes the shirt sleeve out at the shoulder.
- Standing. No leg drive, no hip thrust. Strict means strict.
- Bar starts at the front delts. Move your head back as the bar passes.
- Lockout overhead, biceps next to ears. Not in front of the face.
- Glutes squeezed, ribs down. No back arch.
Weighted dip.
Builds lower-pec thickness and lockout triceps strength — the line that finishes the chest.
- Slight forward lean. Bias the chest, not the triceps.
- Lower until upper arm is parallel to the floor. Full range.
- Belt + plate or DB between feet. Add weight when bodyweight 8s feel easy.
- Don't shrug the shoulders up. Keep them packed down.
Chest-supported row.
Builds mid-back density — the part of the back that pushes the t-shirt out at the sides.
- Lying face-down on an incline bench. Lower back stays out of the equation.
- Pull dumbbells (or bar) to the ribs, not the chest. Elbows tucked, not flared.
- Pause at the top, squeeze the mid-back. One full second.
- Slow eccentric, full stretch at the bottom. Let the lats lengthen.
Weighted pull-up.
Builds lat width — the part of the back that creates the V-taper from shoulders to waist.
- Dead hang at the bottom, full extension at the top. Chin clears the bar.
- Pull elbows down toward the floor. Cue the lats, not the biceps.
- Add weight once bodyweight 12s feel clean. Belt + plate, or DB between feet.
- Lat pulldown only as a placeholder. Bodyweight pull-ups are the goal.
Front squat or hack squat.
Builds the quad-glute structure under shorts without giving you a thicker waist.
- Bar high on the front delts (front squat) or pad on the shoulders (hack). Stay upright.
- Knees track over toes. Don't cave, don't shoot back.
- Descent below parallel. Hip crease below knee crease.
- Drive through the mid-foot. Quads do the work.
Romanian deadlift.
Builds the hamstring-glute line — the cinch from hip to back of knee that defines the rear silhouette.
- Slight knee bend, then push hips back. Hinge, not squat.
- Lower the bar to mid-shin. As far as your hamstrings allow with a flat back.
- Drive hips forward to lock out. Squeeze glutes at the top.
- Slow eccentric, controlled. Three seconds down minimum.
Cable lateral raise.
The most important lift for the fitted-shirt look that nobody takes seriously enough. Lateral delts push the sleeve out at the side.
- Cable behind your back, single arm. Tension stays on the muscle through full range.
- Slight lean away from the stack. Increases the stretch at the bottom.
- Lift to shoulder height, no higher. Above that, traps take over.
- Slow three-second eccentric. The eccentric is where the muscle grows.
Cable triceps pushdown.
Triceps are about 60 % of your arm. Pushdown is the cleanest triceps lift you can run heavy.
- Rope or straight bar. Either works. Rope spreads at the bottom for extra stretch.
- Elbows pinned to the ribs. Don't let them flare forward.
- Full lockout at the bottom. Squeeze triceps for half a second.
- Don't lean and use bodyweight. Keep torso vertical.
Hammer curl · standing calf raise.
Biceps grow from any curl — pick one you can progress on. Calves are mostly genetic, but trained calves still beat untrained ones.
- Hammer curl (or incline DB curl). Targets long head + brachialis. Rotate weekly.
- Elbow stays at the side. No swinging the dumbbell up.
- Standing calf raise, gastroc-bias. Slow tempo, full stretch at the bottom.
- Pause at the top of the calf raise for one second. No bouncing.
Lifts to drop.
These show up in most gyms and most programs. Not bad lifts. Low return on the lean aesthetic. Replace them with what's on the left, run the replacement.
Ten lifts. Run twice a week through the four-day Upper / Lower split (Volume 02). Total weekly volume sits in the 10–15 hard set range per muscle group. Everything else in the gym is optional.
The full lift index — with the substitution table for every machine variant, the home-gym fallbacks, and the injury-history alternates — lives behind the $5 unlock at Volume 03 — Training.