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The 6 Exercises That Grow Every Muscle (All You Need)

0h 16m video Published Nov 2, 2025 Transcribed Jul 22, 2026 J Jeremy Ethier
Beginner 8 min read For: Fitness enthusiasts and beginners looking for an efficient full-body workout routine.
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AI Summary

This video features fitness expert Dr. Mike Israetel demonstrating six compound exercises that target all major muscle groups efficiently. The exercises are designed to maximize muscle growth by hitting multiple muscles simultaneously, making them ideal for full-body workouts.

[00:02]
Six Exercises for Full Body

Dr. Mike Israetel presents six exercises that can grow every muscle in the body, focusing on compound movements that target multiple muscle groups at once.

[00:18]
Close Grip Incline Bench Press

This exercise hits upper pecs, front delts, and triceps. Key cues: keep shoulders back, chest up, elbows tucked, and touch bar to clavicles.

[02:45]
Underhand Pull-Up

Targets lats, rear delts, and biceps. Emphasize full stretch at dead hang and control on the way down.

[04:33]
Cambered Bar Chest Press

Provides deep stretch for chest growth. Cue: lift chest to meet the bar, pause at bottom. Alternatives: dumbbells, barbell, machines.

[07:05]
Barbell Row + Stiff-Legged Deadlift Combo

Combines rowing and stiff-legged deadlift to hit hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and upper back. Cues: chest up, knees back, row to belly button.

[10:38]
High Bar Squat

Targets quads, adductors, glutes, and core. High bar position keeps torso upright, emphasizing quads. Cues: butt back, chest up, knees over toes.

[13:25]
Dumbbell Upright Row

Hits side delts, traps, and forearm flexors. Cue: drive elbows up as high as possible, control descent. Alternative: lateral raises if uncomfortable.

[15:15]
Programming Recommendation

Perform all six exercises twice per week: one heavy day (5-10 reps) and one lighter day (10-15 reps) for variety and reduced injury risk.

With just these six compound exercises performed twice a week, you can build a well-rounded physique efficiently. The key is to focus on proper form and progressive overload.

Clickbait Check

90% Legit

"Title accurately promises six exercises that cover all muscles, and the video delivers exactly that with expert guidance."

Mentioned in this Video

Tutorial Checklist

1 00:18 Perform close grip incline bench press: keep shoulders back, chest up, elbows tucked, touch bar to clavicles, press up and back.
2 02:45 Perform underhand pull-ups: dead hang for full stretch, pull up, control descent, target lats, rear delts, biceps.
3 04:33 Perform cambered bar chest press (or alternative): lower bar with deep stretch, lift chest to meet bar, pause 1 second at bottom, press up.
4 07:05 Perform barbell row + stiff-legged deadlift combo: keep chest up, knees back, lower down with hamstring tension, row to belly button as you come up.
5 10:38 Perform high bar squat: bar on traps, toes shoulder-width, push butt back, keep chest up, bend knees, go full depth, press up.
6 13:25 Perform dumbbell upright row: drive elbows up as high as possible, keep dumbbells close to body, control descent.

Study Flashcards (10)

What are the six exercises that grow every muscle according to Dr. Mike Israetel?

easy Click to reveal answer

Close grip incline bench press, underhand pull-up, cambered bar chest press, barbell row + stiff-legged deadlift combo, high bar squat, dumbbell upright row.

00:02

What muscle groups does the close grip incline bench press target?

easy Click to reveal answer

Upper pecs, front delts, and triceps.

00:32

What is the key cue for the underhand pull-up?

easy Click to reveal answer

Full stretch at dead hang, control on the way down.

02:58

What is the benefit of the cambered bar chest press?

medium Click to reveal answer

It provides a deep stretch for greater muscle growth.

04:33

What are the two cues for the barbell row + stiff-legged deadlift combo?

medium Click to reveal answer

Chest up and knees back.

08:25

What muscle groups does the high bar squat primarily target?

easy Click to reveal answer

Quads, adductors, glutes, and lower back.

10:53

What is the cue for the dumbbell upright row?

easy Click to reveal answer

Drive elbows up as high as possible.

14:09

How does Dr. Mike recommend programming these six exercises?

medium Click to reveal answer

Two days per week: one heavy day (5-10 reps) and one lighter day (10-15 reps).

15:15

What is the ideal shoulder-to-waist ratio mentioned in the video?

hard Click to reveal answer

1.6.

12:57

What alternative exercise is suggested if dumbbell upright rows cause shoulder discomfort?

medium Click to reveal answer

Lateral raises.

15:01

💡 Key Takeaways

💡

Six Exercises for Full Body

Introduces the core concept of the video: six compound exercises that target all major muscle groups.

00:02
🔧

Deep Stretch for Chest Growth

Emphasizes the importance of deep stretch in chest exercises for maximizing muscle growth.

04:33
🔧

Compound Row and Deadlift Combo

Demonstrates an efficient exercise that combines two movements to hit multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

07:05
📊

Side Delts as Most Attractive Muscle

Cites a study rating side delts as the most sexually attractive muscle, highlighting their importance.

12:30
⚖️

Programming for Two Days a Week

Provides a practical programming recommendation for busy individuals to build a good physique with minimal time.

15:15

✂️ Creator Tools: Viral Hooks

AI-generated clip ideas for Shorts based on the transcript

6 Exercises for Full Body Growth

45s

Immediately hooks viewers with a bold claim about growing every muscle with just six exercises, sparking curiosity and debate.

▶ Play Clip

Underhand Pull-Up Secret for Bigger Back

60s

Reveals a specific adjustment to a common exercise that promises significant growth, appealing to those seeking optimization and quick results.

▶ Play Clip

The 4-in-1 Exercise You've Never Tried

60s

Introduces a novel compound movement that combines row and deadlift, offering efficiency and surprise, which drives engagement and shares.

▶ Play Clip

Side Delt: The Most Sexually Attractive Muscle

60s

Uses scientific and provocative language about attractiveness and shoulder-to-waist ratio, tapping into vanity and fitness goals for high virality.

▶ Play Clip

2-Day Full Body Routine for a Great Physique

60s

Offers a time-efficient solution with a simple two-day schedule, appealing to busy individuals seeking effective workouts, perfect for saving and sharing.

▶ Play Clip

[00:02] just these six, you can grow every single muscle. The last exercise, it's one I've never seen in my 10year fitness career, yet can completely change the me? Because I got the answers from the brightest head in the world. Mr. Mike

[00:18] brightest head in the world. Mr. Mike Israel. I get to be relevant today. Yay. There are eight muscle groups in the human body. Now, we have six exercises. I'm looking for exercises fundamentally that take care of multiple muscle groups

[00:32] at the same time. So the close grip incline bench allows us to hit our upper pecs. Think girls like them or something. The front delts and then the triceps. Traditionally, if we would just do a normal incline bench, then it would

[00:45] delts really well, and the triceps kind of like meh. But close grip incline same ratio. So we're getting some good pec work, front delt work, and tricep work. Typically, the way you would set this up is in a regular incline bench

[01:00] notice something real quick. This is a very high incline. You don't have to go on a high incline. It can be high. It could be average like 45°. It could be just dealer's choice at that point. >> Yeah. And that's a good point, too.

[01:14] Unless I was really, really careful with my elbow tuck, like this would be all >> Here's a big big detail. Close grip is super individual. If you're gigantic, close grips out here. If you're teenytiny, close grip is over here. The

[01:29] only way to catalog if you're doing it right is can you get the bar to touch that's probably the best way to do this. You see, my shoulders are back, my chest is up, my elbows are tucked in. Gently touch every time. Press up and back. You

[01:42] forward cuz that's going to cancel to lever over and feel weird. So, you start at your clavicles and end up over your eyes or just your upper part of your to auto stabilize. So, one thing I I do notice, your wrists are directly over

[01:55] your elbows. I'm not sure if you care much about that with the close grip rather than imagine if you were like this. If you want to press as much as possible and be as strong as you can be and use your chest a ton, wrists over

[02:07] elbows is a very good cue for close gripping. A lot of time your wrists are that's not a problem. That's actually how you generate a lever arm for the triceps and get them involved. >> Exactly. So, this incline, as I said,

[02:20] >> I see. >> Wo, you lowered it that much. >> That was only one one. >> That's going to be a problem, bro. >> Wow. Dr. Mike is literally the best trainer partner. He just compliments

[02:33] >> You could always do better, brother. You're always a failure in your father's >> Literally my childhood PTSD. >> And that's just one of six exercises that hit multiple muscles. Now, the next one might be something you're already

[02:45] doing, but with a tiny adjustment, it can completely change your growth. Next is our next upper body move, which is the underhand pull-up. Any kind of six exercises and a whole lot more muscle groups. So, we need to get the

[02:58] than normal, which is where the Underhand position, you want full stretch with a dead hang, bringing your over to hang and then come back down. It's going to hit almost the entire

[03:13] muscles that pull vertically. It's going to hit the rear delts. It's going to hit the biceps. That's three muscle groups checked off. That's a big deal. And you guys will notice he's not rushing anything. He's got plenty of power on

[03:25] under smooth control for that big deep stretch. And one thing uh that I with my back involvement is that dead hang position, right? Like letting your shoulders actually like shrug up towards

[03:38] your lats, but reversing that uh on the way up, right? Like literally shrugging down like that. Whereas before I was just kind of, you know, stay within. >> You can do more pull-ups like that, but

[03:50] about how big your back is. With arguably Bill, no one gives a [ __ ] about >> Yes. >> What do we got next? is why this video won't be super boring and have all the exercises everyone is

[04:04] already doing, but also why this video might not be the most useful unless you hear us explain it, because you probably don't have access to a bar like that. don't mean like, oh, you probably train at a normal gym and not a specialty gym.

[04:17] really clearly. I'm phenomenally wealthy and extra privileged. have it, I'm looking down on you because you're poor than me. And I honestly just >> he's not lying. I saw all the Lamborghinis in the front yard.

[04:33] press. The reason I have the camber bar here is because it's been shown time and again now that the deep stretch and pushing a lot of tension through that deep stretch really just does grow more muscle. And then as the bar descends,

[04:46] you want to lift your chest to meet the bar. Yes. >> Yeah. Right. That is a deep stretch. >> 1 second pause at the bottom and then >> Yeah. Now, one thing I'm noticing with this is that you really have to focus on

[05:01] keeping that chest up and reaching your chest towards the bar. Otherwise, if you compromise usually just with your shoulders. Yes. that's no good for your chest. >> And I think the same applies even just

[05:15] >> Cuz I think a lot of people, they don't even have the range of motion to get a So, I really like that Q of shoulders back, but also reaching your chest up >> Yes. Thank you so much. That reach Q is something we've been doing at RP for a

[05:30] works with every chest exercise. It works with flies. When you do flies, It's going to [ __ ] work great. >> I'm a fan, man. Can I take this home? day, so I don't care. >> If somebody doesn't have access to the

[05:45] dumbbells, for example? >> Yeah, you can get a factory job. You can go begging on the street. Dumbbells work incredibly well for this. When you do chest. You don't just touch the dumbbells to your nipples. You want to

[05:59] deep stretch. Regular barbell works phenomenal. And machines work great. If you have a flat chest press machine, control deep stretch for a second, come all the way back up. This works totally fine. And so when I'm traveling and need

[06:13] press, if I'm traveling and it's all whatever, I do whatever exercise I want. I go to, I'm going to be using it. If straight bar. If there's not, I'll use dumbbells. If there's not, I use a

[06:26] machine. And if not, I just put some pads on the ground and do deficit really, really have to be in a bind workout equipment wise to not be able to do some kind of horizontal press. We've already hit multiple muscle groups in

[06:39] just three exercises, but it only gets better from here. Especially the last one. I've never seen anything like it. >> Okay, exercise number four. So, we still Glutes. Another one is quads and adductors and stuff. And then the third

[06:53] one is side delts because you notice we've done pushing front delts, pulling rear delts, but like what is your physique if you have small side delts? So, this next exercise, number four, addresses two of those problems right up

[07:05] front. This is a combo movement that does rowing and it does the stiff-legged deadlift at the same time. It's kind of cheating, you guys. We are going to take traditional overhand grip on a barbell. We are combining the barbell bent over

[07:18] row and the stiff-legged deadlift. We're going to keep a nice tight lordic lower back. I'm going to lower down like this all the way, my tummy out, knees back so

[07:30] that we have hamstring tension. So, at the very bottom here, I'm totally loose in my upper back. I'm totally tight in my hamstrings, totally tight in my lower back. I basically bent over. And then here I'm getting a hamstring stimulus

[07:44] and a glute stimulus and a lower back stimulus. And then as I come back up, I also row to my tummy. Come down. Stifflegged deadlift. Row. Stifflegged

[07:56] Stifflegged deadlift. Row. Stifflegged deadlift. Row. Stifflegged deadlift. annoying. Really painful for the hams. And then row. And as you notice, as I advantage. So the weight that we use for stifflegged deadlifts can still be

[08:11] something we can row for enough reps to really benefit. Because if I did the this for the row, Jesus, I'm never going to provide enough challenge for the >> Knees back and then >> and then row. Yes. But spend a long time

[08:25] real deep. >> Oh, I >> Oh, I boom. Two cues for you. One is chest up and the other is knees back. And are you aiming for like the belly button area?

[08:40] >> Whatever is natural, whatever fits. Keep your chest up at all times, including at the bottom. Yeah. And keep those knees back to get nasty hamstring tension. >> Oo, I feel that for sure. >> Yeah, it knocks out basically like I

[08:53] don't know three muscle groups sort of at the same time, maybe four if you it does lower back, it does upper back rowing, it does glutes, it does hamstrings. The thing I like about uh your choice of hand placement too is

[09:06] that you went overhand a little bit wider. So it'll hit, you know, a little bit more of the rear delts and the mid-upper back compared to the underhand >> which is going to buy us a little bit more of the lat. So it's like very

[09:18] something that you would do if you were not just limited to six exercises? >> So there's two questions baked in there. One is if you had more exercises. The other is if you had more time. >> More exercises. I could do this, but I

[09:31] [ __ ] would do it. >> And that's why I think a lot of people bash exercises that are less specific to a muscle, world and what's actually practical for the average person. It's like, I'm

[09:43] getting four exercises in one here. Maybe it's not hitting each of those muscles at 100%. But maybe each of them are hit at 70%. That's an amazing use of >> Exactly. I couldn't agree more. >> Let's say don't have access to a barbell

[09:56] dumbbells. Is this possible with dumbbells as well? actually demo it for you really quick. What we want to do is change the queuing >> and take the dumbbells and we're going to kind of tuck them into our hips at

[10:09] the top. So, same as normal, bend all the way deep, knees back, chest up, tension on the hands, and when you come up, put the dumbbells in your pocket. Stretch the dumbbells out in front of you. Real hamstring pain. Bring the

[10:24] advantage. Makes it easier for your back, tougher for your hamstrings. Your hamstrings are stronger than your back, so that's good. What's missing? Nobody >> Too much more chest. >> Yeah, come on. So, we need something

[10:38] The stiff-legged deadlift is so good for the hamstrings, we just don't need any and adductors. We need to take care of the front side of the leg. And we're going to do the high bar squat. This is my favorite leg exercise of all time. It

[10:53] hits quads, adductors, glutes, even lower back, even a little mid back for stability. It does target your abs at heavier loads substantially. This is an boxes for us and leave us just one exercise away from a real whole body

[11:08] back. High bar squat sits right above the traps, just where the neck ends. The low bar squat sits just below the traps and intersects your rear delt. High bar there. The main reason there is again just to bias it a little bit more

[11:22] >> Yes, high bar squats are going to let you stay more upright with your torso. They really hit the quads a lot more. If you want low bar, you can lift more. It's more uh intense for your back, more intense for your glutes, but kind of

[11:36] deadlift row combo. So, this is going to be a really good thing for us. So, shoulder blades back, perfect high bar position. You're going to want your toes at roughly shoulder width, pointed out a little bit so that you can really sit

[11:49] down in a natural way. The first thing you're going to do is push your butt there. You're going to keep your chest up the entire time, though. So, you to stay completely upright. So, butt back, but chest up. And then bend your

[12:02] knees and let your knees do the rest. All the way over your toes with the knees. Full stop at the bottom and come back up. Beautiful. Big chest the whole time. Look forward and then knees go way over your toes.

[12:16] >> All right, Dr. Mike. So, we are five exercises deep. We're on to the last little concerned because there's one muscle group that we have yet to hit and address it. >> The side delts.

[12:30] >> The side delts >> have been rated by scientists as the single most sexually attractive muscle in the male physique. Side delts are these guys right here. And the bigger they get, the more manly you can look. I

[12:43] >> actually did a study on like the shoulder to waist ratio, the ideal ratio. And they surveyed a bunch of females from different countries. The females from different countries. The number apparently is 1.6. And that just

[12:57] gets girls like crazy. If you thought the side were important, they are ultra walking around with a tape measure. Oh, what's up? You seem cool. Oh, hold on. Yeah. And ooh, you know, this is like a lunch coffee date. Dinner date would be

[13:12] like a little bit wider. We could do some laterals. Those are great. And they're great. However, we haven't had a chance to do biceps. We've got some how can we involve more of the forearm flexor muscles while also hitting side

[13:25] which you've hit a little bit with stiff leg deadlifts, but not a ton? The answer is the dumbbell upright row. we've got something special because if we just do this, it's uh the side delts and it's also

[13:40] going to be your traps, which is cool. But by doing the dumbbell upright row, bring it up nice and high, slowly control, what we're going to be able to do is do some forearm flexor work as well as your side delt work as well as

[13:53] getting sort of three muscle groups here, which is awesome because we only which I'll coach you through in a second, is to imagine that the only purpose of the exercise is to get your elbows as sky high as humanly possible.

[14:09] That's your cue number one. So, all the way up, big elbows, and then all the way a little bit at the top, connect with his shoulders, and then all the way back down. This right here, this little guy, this elbow, I want it right here. That's

[14:22] it. And the same for that side. Boom. And notice you're coming up in front of your body. That's not wrong at all. That's totally cool. If you want more involvement of the forearm flexors, the biceps, etc., keep it closer to your

[14:34] body, even closer. Still, try to get the dumbbells to almost drag up your chest. dumbbells to almost drag up your chest. Yes. And something you guys will get to see in the B-roll is the angle of pull in

[14:47] this exact technique is like all side delts. It's one of the best side delt exercises ever. And as soon as you get up to the top, Jeremy, control the want to tear that down. You're going to want to control it and the control comes

[15:01] from this side delt muscle. Flawless, man. This is excellent technique. Now, uncomfortable on the shoulder joint and traps. So, feel free to switch these out for normal lateral raises instead. So, we have the six exercises. Let's say

[15:15] somebody can commit to two, maybe three full body workouts per week. How would into their routine? >> I would have one of two options. Day one is all of these six exercises, but in the 5 to 10 rep range, pretty heavy. Day

[15:32] two, halfway through the week, the same exercises, but sets of 10 to 15. Lighter, higher reps, a little bit of variation, not as bad for like tendons and stuff like that. Injury probability goes down. The novelty psychologically

[15:45] goes up cuz the same pounding ass weights all the time. That's no fun. Lower reps, higher reps is awesome. >> Do you think people can build a pretty good physique with just these? >> Two days a week of training an hour. In

[15:58] each one of those hours, you do these exercises for a few sets. I think you can establish a wonderful physique. I've also made PDFs of the full body workouts that you can download completely free over at builtwithscience.com/only6.

[16:12] for more personalized guidance, scan this QR code to try my Built with Science Plus app for two weeks free, where we help thousands of members >> All right, so we're about to head into Dr. Mike's Lamborghini. Go for a rip. Is

[16:26] viewers to where they can catch up to you, learn some more stuff? >> We have a YouTube channel, RP Strength. You'll see my giant face on it. Click on the jokes on here are very restrained compared to what we say on the channel.

[16:38] Lambo. >> I love it. Rich people time. This is >> I love it. Rich people time. This is much better than a Lamborghini.

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