Choosing exercises: movements and substitutions

Choose exercises that fit your goal, equipment and experience. Start with the purpose of each exercise, then select a version you can practise and record consistently.

Choose the job before the exercise

For general strength training, cover the major muscle groups across your week. The NHS recommends muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, with a gradual start. The categories below are a planning aid, not a requirement to do every movement in every workout.

• Knee-dominant lower body: a squat, split squat or leg press. These offer different ways to train the legs; a leg press does not teach the balance or technique of a squat.
• Hip hinge: a Romanian deadlift or kettlebell deadlift. Practise moving at the hips with an appropriate load. A glute bridge trains hip extension too, but is a different movement rather than a like-for-like hinge substitute.
• Horizontal push: a push-up, dumbbell bench press or machine chest press.
• Horizontal pull: a supported dumbbell row, seated cable row or securely anchored band row.
• Vertical push: a dumbbell or machine overhead press, if comfortable and appropriate for you.
• Vertical pull: a lat pulldown or assisted pull-up. A row can provide useful back training when these are unavailable, but does not reproduce the same movement.
• Trunk work: a dead bug, plank or carry chosen for the task you want to practise. These are different tasks, not interchangeable tests of one skill.

Use the categories to review your week; this list is not a complete programme. Add focused work where your plan calls for it. If you are new, start with the beginner gym guide.

Match the exercise to your equipment

Machines, free weights, bands and bodyweight movements can all belong in a useful routine. The ACSM’s 2026 resistance-training guidance supports flexible equipment choices for healthy adults and emphasises regular participation. If your goal involves a particular lift, include practice of that lift in your plan.

• At home: try a sit-to-stand or squat variation, a suitable push-up variation and a band row with a safe anchor. Add equipment or coaching where a movement is difficult to set up safely.
• With dumbbells: a goblet squat, Romanian deadlift, press and supported row give you several repeatable options.
• In a full gym: pick machines or free weights that fit you and are usually available. Record machine seat settings so the next session is comparable.

Choose a load and range you can control. Ask a qualified trainer to check an unfamiliar setup if you are unsure.

Swap an exercise without losing the plan

1. 1
   Keep the purpose: if a chest-press machine is occupied, consider a dumbbell press or push-up variation for the pressing slot.
2. 2
   Check the difference: support, grip, range and balance demands may change. An alternative can train similar muscles without being the same skill.
3. 3

   Choose a fresh starting load: do not transfer a machine’s displayed kilograms directly to another machine or to dumbbells.

   Record the exact version: log the new exercise separately and compare it with its own previous sessions.

If an exercise is painful, do not keep adding load to complete the plan. Pause that exercise and seek help with the cause and a suitable alternative. A substitution list cannot diagnose pain.

Keep enough consistency to see progress

Changing exercises can help enjoyment or solve an equipment problem; it does not need to be random. In Baz-Valle and colleagues’ eight-week trial in 21 resistance-trained men, varied exercise selection improved motivation while producing similar measured adaptations to fixed selection. A small study in trained men cannot establish the best approach for everyone.

Keep some exercises consistent and change others for a clear reason, such as availability, comfort or a new goal. Record the exact version in your workout log, then use the progression guide to plan the next step.