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Split squats are great for adding leg size. Many would even argue their superiority over heavy barbell back squats for athleticism. Using a squat rack for these is perfectly acceptable (cue the gym police). The rack setup is the most efficient way to do these. Alternatively a split squat stand, or even some leg extension machines will allow you to hook your back foot on the support. The advantage of the rack though, is the additional support it provides. By placing one hand on the dumbbell and the other on the rack you’ll be more stable. More stability means more output, and more load you can put through your quads without worrying about toppling over. Stability is something many meatheads struggle with when attempting split squats for the first time. The height of the back foot is up to you. Begin with a very low elevation and work up. Going too high can cause knee pain in some, as well as poor pelvic alignment. Keep your abs tight, ribcage down, and try to contract your glute on the backside leg. Start and finish at the bottom of each rep, where you can either drop the dumbbell and switch sides, or place the dumbbell in the other hand and get going again. – Gareth Sapstead

Split squats with a deficit are excellent for glute growth. They work because they take your further into hip flexion. While it’s true they’re also a horrendous quad-burner, going further in to hip flexion will take your glutes in to a deeper stretch position. However, a deficit setup is for achieving a deficit! When you stand on the box, either you or the weight should be going below the height of the step. That’s why it’s called a deficit! While hip thrusts, glute bridges and kickbacks tend to bias more the upper fibers, "stretcher" type exercises such as split squats, high step-ups and forward lunges tend to bias more the lower portion of your glutes. If you’re capable of going deep, you’ll stretch and load these fibers even more. You don’t need to have a massive deficit either. Just work within your own range of motion, and progress to larger deficits over time. To achieve a slight deficit in split squats, a few heavy plates on the floor work just fine. A foam pad in the middle helps with comfort, while also adding a depth target. Just a gentle tap-and-go on a foam pad will limit cheating and help you hit the deficit every time. – Gareth Sapstead

If standard hip thrusts have lost their oomph, here's something you should try: isometronics. Isometronics combine the principles of isometric and isotonic muscle contractions to reap the rewards of both. Performing hip thrusts using this technique would look like this: • Pick a weight you can barbell hip thrust for 12 reps (your 12RM). • Do 10 full reps. • On the tenth rep, pause at the top for 10 seconds. • Finish with as many partial reps as you can in the bottom position. If you've selected the right weight, this will be no more than 4-8 partial reps. – Gareth Sapstead

Ignore the name. Gliding hamstring curls are more than just hamstring builders. This bodyweight exercise will light up your hamstrings, glutes, back, biceps and everything in between. Set some suspension handles (rings, Blast Straps, TRX etc.) off the floor around hip height. When you lay down and grip the handles, your shoulders should be clear off the floor. Next, drag over a bench or a box about a body length away from the handles. It's important that the height of the box is about the same as your grip on the suspension handles. If the box is too low you'll reduce the effectiveness of the exercise, while a box higher than the handles will further increase its intensity. Grab the handles, dig your heels into the box, drive your hips up, and then glide your butt towards the box. If your hamstrings are deconditioned then don't be surprised if they cramp up. This is a good way to make your hamstrings feel like they've been savagely beaten for days afterwards. – Gareth Sapstead

Ignore the name. Gliding hamstring curls are more than just hamstring builders. This bodyweight exercise will light up your hamstrings, glutes, back, biceps and everything in between. Set some suspension handles (rings, Blast Straps, TRX etc.) off the floor around hip height. When you lay down and grip the handles, your shoulders should be clear off the floor. Next, drag over a bench or a box about a body length away from the handles. It's important that the height of the box is about the same as your grip on the suspension handles. If the box is too low you'll reduce the effectiveness of the exercise, while a box higher than the handles will further increase its intensity. Grab the handles, dig your heels into the box, drive your hips up, and then glide your butt towards the box. If your hamstrings are deconditioned then don't be surprised if they cramp up. This is a good way to make your hamstrings feel like they've been savagely beaten for days afterwards. Add in an isometric row, as shown in the video, to really ramp things up. – Gareth Sapstead

The barbell shoulder press has a bad reputation for causing pain or injury. As usual though, the exercise is great; it's the people that are the problem! Pain and injury from shoulder pressing are generally caused by not having the prerequisite flexibility to do the movement safely, such as: 1. Limited shoulder flexion. This causes you to press the weight too far forward, or to have an arch in your lower back to compensate. 2. Limited thoracic/upper back mobility. This restricts scapula movement, again causing the barbell to travel forward. 3. One shoulder has more mobility than the other. This can cause anything from a subtle imbalance to a major twist during pressing. One of the most effective ways to test the flexibility required for an overhead press is with this lat stretch variation. – Tom Morrison

Triple–threat protocols add volume to your workouts, increase training variety, and give insane pumps. Each position has a purpose and applies load to the biceps at a different point. This is typically done with dumbbells, but works great with an EZ-bar too. Try 5–7 reps in each position: A1. Leaning back biceps curl – The point of maximal loading (PML) is in the bottom portion of the curl. Same weight, no rest. A2. Standing upright biceps curl – The PML is around the middle of the curl. Same weight, no rest. A3. Leaning forward biceps curl – The PML is closer to the top of the curl. Put them all together and you've got one killer biceps movement. – Gareth Sapstead

Grip the bar from a point directly in front of your junk, down the midline of your body. Keep your elbow tucked and wrist neutral as you curl. Your fist should travel slightly outside the line of your shoulder, allowing you to feel an intense biceps and forearm contraction at the top. Try to crush your forearm against your biceps. If a full length Olympic bar is too heavy, start with a 5-foot Olympic bar or shorter EZ-bar. The palms-down (pronated) grip emphasizes the brachialis and coracobrachialis portion of the upper arm. The fat grip of the bar benefits the movement too, requiring your forearms to do a lot more work. – Gareth Sapstead

A Hercules curl typically has you set up between cables set to a high position and performing a curl that somewhat resembles a front double biceps pose. It's a good one for training the long–head of the biceps in their shortened position. Enter the one-arm supported version where we use a bench for additional stability and support for the elbow and shoulder. The angle of the cable is key. The cable load is greatest when the angle of the cable is roughly 90 degrees to the forearm (due to leverage factors), so play with the cable height and bench angle to help you achieve the best feel. – Gareth Sapstead

From a tall-kneeling position, grip the bar from a point directly in front of your junk, down the midline of your body. Keep your elbow tucked and wrist neutral as you curl. Your fist should travel slightly outside the line of your shoulder, allowing you to feel an intense biceps and forearm contraction at the top. Try to crush your forearm against your biceps. If a full length Olympic bar is too heavy, start with a 5-foot Olympic bar or shorter EZ-bar. The palms-down (pronated) grip emphasizes the brachialis and coracobrachialis portion of the upper arm. The fat grip of the bar benefits the movement too, requiring your forearms to do a lot more work. – Gareth Sapstead

The neutral grip used on this movement will shift emphasis on the brachialis muscle, which, when trained efficiently, can give some thickness to your upper arms. The squatting position isn't some ridiculous way to hit your quads at the same time, either; it's so your knees can provide support for your elbows, like a steep preacher curl bench would. This helps to isolate your elbow flexors, while also emphasizing loading in the top portion of the movement. – Gareth Sapstead

While some common biceps exercises fall short in maintaining tension throughout the movement, kettlebell curls are an exception. They also help to emphasize an elongated eccentric contraction, which causes lots of micro–trauma that's essential for muscle growth. As a result of the high tension, kettlebells also produce an occlusion–type effect, whereupon the restricted blood flow acts as another kind of potent hypertrophy stimulus. This move specifically targets the brachialis and brachioradialis in the top portion of the movement. – Gareth Sapstead

You'll be doing a mechanical drop set, transitioning from a seated hammer curl to a standing hammer curl, and then finishing with a higher rep pump. A1. Seated hammer curl 6-8 reps (no rest) A2. Standing hammer curl 6-8 reps (same weight, no rest) A3. Band hammer curl 12-20 reps These also work well with an underhand grip. – Gareth Sapstead

Using an incline bench to add some support is a great strategy if you want to isolate your biceps. Complete 6-10 reps in each position, in sequence: A1 Incline bench cable biceps curl – The point of maximal loading (PML) is in the bottom (lengthened) position. Without resting, use the same weight and go to the next part of the movement. A2 Bench leaning cable biceps curl – The PML is nearer the middle of the curl. Without resting, use the same weight and go to the next part of the movement. A3 Chest-supported cable spider curl – The PML is near the top (shortened) position. The bench stays in place throughout, which makes this setup highly practical. The cables stay where they are too. Just make sure they're properly aligned with your shoulders and at their lowest height. Two to three sets of these and your biceps will be fried. – Gareth Sapstead

This "triple-threat" uses cables and works like a mechanical drop–set: A1. Cable biceps curl leaning forwards (pulleys just slightly behind you) – The point of maximal loading (PML) is around the middle to top of the curl. Without resting, use the same weight and go to the next part of the movement. A2. Cable biceps curl (pulleys adjacent to your feet) – The PML is around the middle of the curl. Without resting, use the same weight and go to the next part of the movement. A3. Cable biceps curl (pulleys behind you) – The PML is around the middle to bottom portion of the curl. – Gareth Sapstead

Simply sit backwards on the Preacher bench (hence "back–facing") and keep your upper arms fixed against the pad. This eliminates cheating and keeps your humerus directly perpendicular to the floor, allowing you to really isolate the tension. – Gareth Sapstead

The 1.5 method is simple: Perform full reps of an exercise with partial reps between each. Although 1.5 means "one-and-a-half," quarter reps can also be used. One benefit: 1.5s increase TUT (time under tension) in the portion of an exercise that emphasizes a certain muscle. Decide what your target muscle is, then determine what portion of the exercise loads the muscle the most. For example, booty-builders might want to squat deep to get more hip flexion and glute loading. So do an extra partial rep at the bottom to, well, hit your bottom. (See what I did there?) To hit your pecs more in a barbell bench press, do an extra touch-and-go off your chest to really fire up those pecs. The top portion of a squat will emphasize quads more, so spend more time at the top with a partial rep. Squat example shown in video. – Gareth Sapstead

Looking for a new way to build your hamstrings? Try these. A1: Long Hamstring Bridge (toes down) x 5-10 A2: Medium Hamstring Bridge (toes down) x 5-10 A3: Regular Hamstring Bridge (heels down) x 5-10 Do 5-10 reps in each position, finishing each with a 5-10 second isometric hold – contract as hard as possible and battle against gravity. – Gareth Sapstead

The 1.5 method is simple: Perform full reps of an exercise with partial reps between each. Although 1.5 means "one-and-a-half," quarter reps can also be used. One benefit: This method adds time under tension (TUT) to the portion of an exercise you might otherwise be under-loading. Determine the strongest half or quarter of an exercise, then do an extra half or quarter rep in that portion. It doesn't matter how big the partial reps are – no one will be measuring with a goniometer. As a general rule, just avoid going through your sticking point. This will vary from exercise to exercise. For example, in a deadlift, if you struggle just below your knees, then stay above them for the extra partial reps. Another example is the snatch-grip RDL, as shown in the video. – Gareth Sapstead

The 1.5 method is simple: Perform full reps of an exercise with partial reps between each. Although 1.5 means "one-and-a-half," quarter reps can also be used. One benefit: This method can be used to address a technique flaw. Pick the portion of an exercise you suck at, then spend more time there. Do you lose tension at the bottom of a squat? Then add an extra partial rep to work on it. Do you compensate at the top of a chin-up by rounding your shoulders forward? Spend more time at the top and work on it. Stop avoiding it and address the problem head-on! – Gareth Sapstead