Exercises
Discover fitness and strength training exercises for every level. For each exercise you see which muscles you train, how to perform it step by step, which mistakes to avoid and how to make it easier or harder. Browse exercises for legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, core and more.
Muscle group
Equipment
Level
The basics, for everyone
23 of 23 exercisesAll FitWijzr exercises are available for free, without an account. For each exercise, see which muscles you train, how to perform it step by step and which mistakes to avoid. Choose a variation with bodyweight, dumbbells or a barbell, so you find exercises that fit your level and equipment.
Squat
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, lower through your knees and hips as if sitting down on a chair, keep your chest high and your back…
Needed: Barbell and rack
Goblet squat
Hold one dumbbell vertically against your chest and sit straight down between your feet. The weight in front of you keeps your torso upright, which…
Needed: One dumbbell or kettlebell
Bodyweight squat
The same movement as the barbell squat, but with only your own body weight. It is where everyone starts: movement first, then weight.
Needed: Nothing
Deadlift
Grip the bar just outside your knees, keep the bar close to your shins, brace your back and lift by driving your hips forward as you stand up.
Needed: Barbell and plates
Romanian deadlift
With nearly straight legs you push your hips back and let the weight lower along your legs until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Then you…
Needed: Two dumbbells or a barbell
Glute bridge
Lie on your back with your feet close to your butt and push your hips up until your body forms one line from knee to shoulder. The simplest way to…
Needed: Nothing
Bulgarian split squat
Place one foot behind you on a bench, lower with your front leg until your knee makes an angle of about ninety degrees, and push back up.
Needed: Bench or chair, dumbbells optional
Lunge
Step forward or backward and lower until both knees are at ninety degrees. A single-leg exercise you can do anywhere, and it exposes differences…
Needed: Nothing, dumbbells optional
Bench press
Lie on the bench, grip slightly wider than shoulder width, lower the bar under control to chest height and press back up without bending your wrists.
Needed: Bench, barbell and rack
Dumbbell bench press
The same movement as the bench press, but with two dumbbells. Each arm works independently, your shoulder chooses its own path and you can go deeper.
Needed: Bench and two dumbbells
Push-up
A plank in which you lower and push. Your chest, triceps and core work together, and the load adjusts by placing your hands higher or lower.
Needed: Nothing
Overhead press
Stand tall, bar at shoulder height, brace your abs and glutes and press the bar straight overhead until your arms are straight.
Needed: Barbell and rack
Pike push-up
A push-up movement with your hips high in the air, so you press almost straight up. The shoulder press for people without weights.
Needed: Nothing
Dumbbell shoulder press
Press two dumbbells from shoulder height overhead, seated or standing. Each shoulder chooses its own path, which makes it friendlier for stiff…
Needed: Two dumbbells
Barbell row
Hinge forward from the hips with a slightly bent back, pull the bar to your lower abdomen and lower it under control.
Needed: Barbell and plates
Dumbbell row
With one hand and one knee on the bench, you pull the dumbbell up along your body. The support takes your lower back out of the equation, so your…
Needed: One dumbbell and a bench
Inverted row
Hang under a low bar with a straight body and pull your chest to the bar. The pulling movement for home, and the best preparation for your first…
Needed: Low bar, table edge or rings
Pull-up
Hang from a bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width and pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar, lower under control.
Needed: Pull-up bar
Plank
Support yourself on your forearms and toes, keep your body in one straight line from head to heel and brace your abs.
Needed: Nothing
Dead bug
On your back with your arms and knees raised, you alternately extend one arm and the opposite leg without your lower back coming off the floor. Core…
Needed: Nothing
Biceps curl
Bending the weight from a straight arm up to your shoulder. Your biceps already get plenty to do during pulling work, but they grow faster when they…
Needed: Two dumbbells or a barbell
Bench triceps dip
With your hands on a bench behind you, you lower yourself down and push back up. The simplest way to load your triceps without equipment.
Needed: A bench, chair or stair rail
Calf raise
Up onto your toes and back down under control. Strong calves help with sprinting and jumping and keep your Achilles tendon and ankle able to handle…
Needed: A step, dumbbells optional
The extended library
24 of 24 exercisesMachines, cables, isolation exercises and heavier variations of the basics — each with the same instructions: step by step, with cues, common mistakes and an easier and harder version. Handy when a machine is taken, when a movement does not feel right, or when you want to target a weak spot.
What is FitPlus? →Front squat
The bar rests on the front of your shoulders instead of your upper back. Your torso stays more upright and your quadriceps do more of the work, with…
Needed: Barbell and rack
Leg press
A squat movement in a machine, where the machine supports your torso. Handy for loading your legs heavily without your lower back or balance being…
Needed: Leg press machine
Leg extension
Only your quadriceps, without your torso or balance playing a part. Useful as a supplement and when building back up after knee problems, because…
Needed: Leg extension machine
Leg curl
Your hamstrings bend your knee, and that is exactly what this machine loads. A good complement to the Romanian deadlift, which mainly loads the…
Needed: Leg curl machine
Hip thrust
With your upper back on a bench and a barbell across your hips, you drive your hips up to horizontal. Of all exercises, this one loads your glutes…
Needed: Bench, barbell and a pad
Nordic hamstring curl
You kneel with your heels held down and lower your torso toward the floor as slowly as possible. Hard, and in research one of the strongest…
Needed: Someone to hold your heels, or a fixed edge
Step-up
Step onto a raised surface and push yourself up with the top leg. Joint-friendly, very functional, and it quickly exposes differences between left…
Needed: Bench or box, dumbbells optional
Incline bench press
Bench press on a bench set at thirty degrees. The upper part of your chest and your front shoulder do more of the work, and for many people this…
Needed: Incline bench and barbell
Dumbbell fly
With slightly bent arms you bring the dumbbells in an arc from wide to above your chest. It loads your chest in a stretch, which pressing hardly does.
Needed: Bench and two dumbbells
Dips
Support yourself on two bars and lower between your arms until your upper arms are horizontal. Hard on the chest and triceps, and a good step toward…
Needed: Dip bars or two sturdy supports
Lateral raise
Lift two light dumbbells out to the sides up to shoulder height. The only exercise that really loads the side of your shoulder, and the reason…
Needed: Two light dumbbells
Rear delt raise
Bent over, lift the dumbbells out to the sides. The back of your shoulder is rarely hit by pressing work, and it is exactly that part that keeps…
Needed: Two light dumbbells and a bench
Face pull
Pull a rope at eye height toward your face and rotate your hands outward. This is the maintenance exercise for shoulders of people who bench press a…
Needed: Cable machine with a rope, or a band
Lat pulldown
The pull-up in a machine, with the weight you choose. Ideal for building up the pulling movement until you can pull your own bodyweight, and for…
Needed: Pulldown machine
Seated cable row
Seated, you pull a handle to your abdomen. Constant tension through the whole movement and a back exercise that spares your lower back.
Needed: Cable machine with a low pulley
Good morning
With the barbell on your upper back, you hinge forward from your hips and come back up. A demanding exercise for the hamstrings and spinal erectors,…
Needed: Barbell and rack
Farmer walk
A heavy weight in each hand and you walk tall. Grip, core, upper back and posture in one exercise, and the most everyday strength there is.
Needed: Two heavy dumbbells or kettlebells
Hammer curl
The same curl, but with your palms facing in. Friendlier on the elbow, and it loads the muscle that makes your upper arm thicker.
Needed: Two dumbbells
Triceps pushdown
With your elbows along your body, you push the cable down until your arms are straight. The triceps make up two thirds of your upper arm and also…
Needed: Cable machine with a rope or bar
Lying triceps extension (French press)
Lying down, you lower the weight behind your head and extend again. The triceps are loaded in a stretch, which works them harder than a pushdown.
Needed: Bench and dumbbells or a short bar
Hanging leg raise
Hanging from a bar, you lift your legs to hip height or higher. Hard on the abs, and at the same time a test of your grip and shoulder stability.
Needed: Pull-up bar
Side plank
On one forearm in a side-lying position, with your body in one line. It loads the side of your torso, which planks and crunches barely touch.
Needed: Nothing
Pallof press
You stand sideways to a cable and press the handle straight out in front of you while the cable tries to rotate you. Core strength against rotation,…
Needed: Cable machine or a band
Kettlebell swing
An explosive hip hinge in which the kettlebell swings up to shoulder height. It combines strength and conditioning, and teaches your hips to produce…
Needed: One kettlebell
General rules to avoid injuries
01
Always warm up
Five to ten minutes of loosening up and one or two light warm-up sets per exercise keep you from loading cold muscles and joints.
02
Build up gradually
Increase weight or volume in small steps per week. Injuries usually happen from wanting too much too fast.
03
Technique before weight
Correct form with less weight gives you more than poor form with a lot of weight, and it is safer.
04
Rest is training
Muscles grow during recovery. Plan at least one rest day per muscle group between heavy sessions.