Does Exercise Variety Maximize Muscle Growth?

Many old-school weightlifters claim highly varied exercise programs, like the kind bodybuilders follow, are a waste of time and energy.

Instead, they swear by a simpler formula for building muscle: Squat, deadlift, bench, and press heavy weights. That’s it.

I disagree—and so does science.

For example, a recent study comparing how different lower body exercises affect muscle growth found the following:

• The leg press was better for growing the vastus lateralis (outer quad) than leg extensions, while leg extensions trained the rectus femoris (front of the quad) harder.
• Standing calf raises grew the gastrocnemius (the largest calf muscle) more effectively than seated calf raises, which provided slightly better results for the soleus (the calf muscle found deeper in the lower leg).

In short, variety is important for an exercise program because it helps promote balanced muscle growth.

Here’s how to put this into practice:

• Create or follow a program centered around compound exercises that train your major muscle groups from different angles and through varying ranges of motion.
• Supplement these compound exercises with isolation exercises that target the smaller, harder-to-hit muscles that compounds train less well.
• Switch up some of your exercises every 8-to-10 weeks. You don’t need to overhaul your entire routine—core lifts like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses can stay in your program almost indefinitely. But swapping out other exercises for similar variations is smart.

For those looking to fine-tune their program further, here’s an extra insight based on the results: muscles that move multiple joints (biarticular muscles) seem to benefit more from exercise variety than those that move one joint (monoarticular muscles).

Or, more simply, it appears your quads, hamstrings, and arms need more exercise variety to reach their full potential than other body parts.

To put this into action, follow these guidelines:

• Quads: Mix squats, lunges, and leg presses with knee extension exercises (e.g., leg extensions or sissy squats)
• Hamstrings: Add knee flexion exercises (e.g., lying or seated leg curls) alongside hip extension exercises like deadlifts.
• Biceps: Do curls that position your arm in front (e.g., preacher curls), at your side (e.g., dumbbell curls), and behind your body (e.g., Bayesian curls).
• Triceps: Treat triceps like biceps—do exercises that place your arms by your sides (e.g., triceps pushdown), in front of your torso (e.g., skullcrusher), and overhead (e.g., overhead triceps extension).

This is the approach we use with our body transformation coaching clients, and it’s the foundation of my bestselling books, Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger. Thousands of people have built strong, balanced physiques using these principles, and their results speak for themselves: