Most underrated exercises/lifts?

Larrabars

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I want to know others opinions on the most under appreciated exercises or lifts which are good for general or specific purposes that you find fantastic and don’t see others utilizing more. LMK!
 
MikeSumthin

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Uuuuh... alternating leg lunges.

Just like when you do single leg squats or step backs, you find out real quick which is your dominant leg.
 
botk1161

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Sled pulls n' pushes (and as mentioned abobe them alternating lunges)
 
Smont

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Underated is gonna kind of depend on what your doing. Something that's underated for bodybuilding might not be useful for powerlifting or CrossFit or whatever you are training for.

If your goal is just to be big and strong I think things like farmers walks and tire flips and Bulgarian split squats are very underated.

If your a strength athlete then direct forearm and core work is very underated.

Even tho I'm not a fan of CrossFit I think the clean and press is very, very underated and should be in anyone's program that's trying to train full body. It's also great conditioning work
 
Smont

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And to further it in the other direction, I think the traditional deadlift is very overated unless you specifically want to be a good deadlifter.

I love deadlifts, but there is little carry over to anything that can't be achieved with a safer exercise. I often hurt my back somewhere three to four maybe even 5 weeks into a deadlift cycle and then it usually sets me back two weeks and it's a repeating process. So I basically now when I want to deadlift I make progression for 3 weeks and then I take a week off then I make progression for 3 weeks and then I take a week off.
 

Foxx13

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Front squats are underrated. So much abs and low back involved and they are so much harder. Most people can stand with the bar inthe back and “rest” between reps if needed, not on front squats. I find my quads blow up with front squats and has helped me fix low back issues. Not all big back squatters can do big front squats, but a big front squat has a big carryover to the back squat.
 
Smont

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Front squats are underrated. So much abs and low back involved and they are so much harder. Most people can stand with the bar inthe back and “rest” between reps if needed, not on front squats. I find my quads blow up with front squats and has helped me fix low back issues. Not all big back squatters can do big front squats, but a big front squat has a big carryover to the back squat.
You ever try zercher squats, that's a fukin weird one but I feel it's got a lot of carry over to every day strength and good for ppl into grappling and mma
 

Foxx13

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You ever try zercher squats, that's a fukin weird one but I feel it's got a lot of carry over to every day strength and good for ppl into grappling and mma
I have never tried set zerchet squats but I might have to. Any front loading squat will build up your erectors, and I have found they work far better than a back squat and deadlift. I like using front squats, hypers, and an RDL to work the erectors and core
 
Smont

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I have never tried set zerchet squats but I might have to. Any front loading squat will build up your erectors, and I have found they work far better than a back squat and deadlift. I like using front squats, hypers, and an RDL to work the erectors and core
Ya I use squats and stiff leg deadlift variations. I get a ton of low back and glute activation from regular squats and not a ton of quads. It's more of structure thing for me.
 
rascal14

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Not sure if its underrated, but my frame makes deadlifts funky so I love doing rack pulls. Set the bar abound mid shin height and load the weight.
 
Smont

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Not sure if its underrated, but my frame makes deadlifts funky so I love doing rack pulls. Set the bar abound mid shin height and load the weight.
I love rack pulls from mid shin but I feel like to get the most out of them they need heavy and high reps, worth investing in straps and a belt and go to town
 

Foxx13

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I like pulls off boxes and clean pulls off boxes. One thing that I don’t see people doing is having a real program to follow. They do the same thing each week and just try to progressive overload, which is fine to a point. But a program planned out i believe is a better option, what’s the end goal, why are you working out, etc…
 

Resolve10

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I don't see how you can answer this with such a broad question. Different people and different goals will lead to different answers.
 
Anthony_

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One movement I would say is inverted rows. It's definitely a row variation you don't see mentioned often but yet is a great row variant. I guess it's not mentioned due to the fact that it's hard to overload the movement with weight as loading plates on your lap/leg area is pretty annoying.
 
Hyde

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I think chin-ups are really under-utilized. I train in my garage and in a commercial gym, and there are plenty of shrimpy college kids who are easily light enough to be able to do chin-ups/pull-ups, but nobody seems interested in them with all the shiny chrome machines everywhere. Even though there’s actually 12 (TWELVE!) dedicated sets of chin-up bars on racks and cable towers, plus bars on the rig, at the chrome palace.

I believe it’s just because they’re harder than most machines. You can do 10 sets of lat pulldowns with less effort than 5 good sets of chins, and definitely less than half the payout.

Abs, biceps, forearms, lats all get good stimulation at once; huge bang for buck that seems to transfer to real strength & size too. If my chins are climbing and I’m not getting lighter, I KNOW I’m making real gains.

Front squats are underrated. So much abs and low back involved and they are so much harder. Most people can stand with the bar inthe back and “rest” between reps if needed, not on front squats. I find my quads blow up with front squats and has helped me fix low back issues. Not all big back squatters can do big front squats, but a big front squat has a big carryover to the back squat.
^Well-said
 

BBiceps

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Zercher carry is a underrated exercise, especially if you start from the ground/floor and I think it have a lot of carryover to everyday life.
 
Cheeky Monkey

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The power twister! You don't see many of these in the gyms but they are very effective in building chest and arm strength.
216682
 
SkRaw85

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Shake weights are number one underrated of all time.
 
DinnerTable

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Cable pullthroughs. Gives a great stretch to the glutes and hammies.

Also, hex-bar deadlifts. Much better feel to them, safer on the lower back.
 
-MVP-

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I want to know others opinions on the most under appreciated exercises or lifts which are good for general or specific purposes that you find fantastic and don’t see others utilizing more. LMK!
Face pulls… great for the posterior deltoids and upper back. Helps keep the shoulders honest. Another one I don’t think that gets enough credit is straight arm pulldowns. Really feel those hitting the lats.
 
jgntyce

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Gorilla walks
 

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