Muscles worked by exercise
Each of the 25 lifts here, in nine movement patterns, has a page of its own: every muscle the lift uses, the role it plays, what it does there and the sources the role is taken from.
What muscles do the main gym exercises work?
Gluteus maximus is a prime mover in 9 of the 25 lifts, more than any other muscle. Every squat and lunge has the quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus as prime movers, every push the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii, and every pull latissimus dorsi, brachialis and biceps brachii. The six isolation lifts each work one joint action.
Every lift, by movement pattern
Squat
- Back squat The quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus, for knee extension and hip extension.
- Front squat The quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus, for knee extension and hip extension.
- Leg press The quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor magnus, for knee extension and hip extension.
Hinge
- Conventional deadlift Gluteus maximus, the hamstrings, adductor magnus, the quadriceps and the erector spinae, for hip extension, knee extension and holding the spine extended.
- Sumo deadlift Gluteus maximus, adductor magnus, the hamstrings, the quadriceps and the erector spinae, for hip extension, knee extension and holding the spine extended.
- Romanian deadlift The hamstrings, gluteus maximus, adductor magnus and the erector spinae, for hip extension and holding the spine extended.
- Barbell hip thrust Gluteus maximus, for hip extension.
Lunge
Horizontal push
- Flat bench press Both parts of pectoralis major, the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii, for shoulder horizontal adduction and elbow extension.
- Incline bench press The clavicular part of pectoralis major, the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii, for shoulder flexion and horizontal adduction, and elbow extension.
- Push-up Both parts of pectoralis major, the anterior deltoid and triceps brachii, for shoulder horizontal adduction and elbow extension.
Vertical push
- Parallel-bar dip Triceps brachii, the sternal part of pectoralis major and the anterior deltoid, for elbow extension and shoulder flexion from behind the body.
- Standing overhead press The anterior deltoid, the clavicular part of pectoralis major and triceps brachii, for shoulder flexion and elbow extension.
Horizontal pull
Vertical pull
- Pull-up Latissimus dorsi, brachialis and biceps brachii, for shoulder adduction and extension, and elbow flexion.
- Chin-up Latissimus dorsi, biceps brachii and brachialis, for shoulder extension and elbow flexion.
- Lat pulldown Latissimus dorsi, teres major, biceps brachii and brachialis, for shoulder adduction and elbow flexion.
Isolation
- Leg extension The quadriceps, for knee extension.
- Lying leg curl The hamstrings, for knee flexion.
- Standing calf raise Gastrocnemius and soleus, for ankle plantarflexion.
- Dumbbell lateral raise The lateral deltoid and supraspinatus, for shoulder abduction.
- Barbell biceps curl Biceps brachii and brachialis, for elbow flexion.
- Cable triceps pushdown Triceps brachii, for elbow extension.
Core
Exercises by muscle
Every muscle that is a prime mover in at least one lift, with the lifts it moves and the ones it assists as a synergist, most lifts first.
Prime mover, synergist, stabilizer
- Prime mover: produces the lift’s main joint action against the load.
- Synergist: assists that action, or adds a secondary action the lift needs.
- Stabilizer: contracts mostly isometrically to hold a joint or a segment still.
Each lift page goes joint by joint: the joint actions first, then the one role each muscle plays in the technique the page states. Depth, stance, grip and load shift the work between muscles, so every page names the technique its roles are for.
Sources
- Escamilla (2001), Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(1):127
- Schoenfeld (2010), J Strength Cond Res 24(12):3497
- Németh and Ohlsén (1985), J Biomech 18(2):129
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016)
- Gullett et al. (2009), J Strength Cond Res 23(1):284
- Neumann, Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System, 3rd ed. (2017)
- Escamilla et al. (2002), Med Sci Sports Exerc 34(4):682
- Schoenfeld et al. (2015), J Strength Cond Res 29(1):159
- Ebben (2009), Int J Sports Physiol Perform 4(1):84
- Contreras et al. (2015), J Appl Biomech 31(6):452
- Andersen et al. (2018), J Strength Cond Res 32(3):587
- Andersen et al. (2014), Int J Sports Med 35(14):1196
- McCurdy et al. (2010), J Sport Rehabil 19(1):57
- Barnett, Kippers and Turner (1995), J Strength Cond Res 9(4):222
- Lehman (2005), J Strength Cond Res 19(3):587
- Lauver, Cayot and Scheuermann (2016), Eur J Sport Sci 16(3):309
- Saeterbakken and Fimland (2013), J Strength Cond Res 27(7):1824
- Fenwick, Brown and McGill (2009), J Strength Cond Res 23(5):1408
- Youdas et al. (2010), J Strength Cond Res 24(12):3404
- Signorile et al. (2002), J Strength Cond Res 16(4):539
- Lusk et al. (2010), J Strength Cond Res 24(7):1895
- Kendall et al., Muscles: Testing and Function, 5th ed. (2005)
- Reed et al. (2013), J Electromyogr Kinesiol 23(2):425
- Ekstrom, Donatelli and Carp (2007), J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 37(12):754
The cited studies that measured muscle activity used electromyography, and a larger signal need not mean more force or more growth (Vigotsky et al. (2018), Front Physiol 8:985). The roles draw on those studies for which muscles a lift involves and how two lifts differ, never to rank one muscle against another.
The values are facts and free to use; this page’s selection and presentation are © 2026 ScienceQuest.