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Workout & Exercise Guides

How-to exercise guides covering technique, the muscles worked, common mistakes, and the home gym kit that makes each move easier.

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Bent Over Row: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Form

How to do a bent over row with a barbell or dumbbells. The muscles worked, the benefits, the common mistakes that wreck your form, plus Pendlay and dumbbell variations and a simple sets and reps plan.

Your library of exercise guides

This hub collects our exercise guides in one place, each built around a single movement or a short workout you can actually use. Pick a lift, a stretch or a conditioning session, and you'll find how to set up, which muscles do the work, the mistakes that quietly sabotage most people, and sensible ways to make the move harder or easier. Nothing here is trying to sell you a machine; the aim is simply to get the movement right.

Use the filters to narrow things down by the body area you're training, the kit you've got to hand, or how much room you have. If you're new to all this, start with the compound basics and the big stretches, then branch out as your confidence grows.

How each guide is put together

Every guide follows the same shape, so you always know where to look. We open with the setup and the execution, cue by cue, then cover the primary muscles and the supporting ones, because knowing what should be working tells you a lot about whether you're doing it right. After that come the common faults, usually a handful we see again and again, each with a quick fix.

We also list variations and regressions so a move scales with you rather than locking you out on day one. A bench press guide, for example, points you toward floor presses or a lighter dumbbell version if a full barbell setup isn't realistic yet. Treat these as reference pages you return to, not articles you read once and forget.

Turning single moves into a routine

A good routine doesn't need to be clever. Pick one big push, one big pull, something for the legs and a core or carry movement, train them two or three times a week, and you've covered most of what matters. Three sets of roughly five to twelve reps per exercise is a fair starting range for strength and muscle; go lighter and higher if endurance is your goal.

The engine behind progress is progressive overload, which just means asking a little more of your body over time. Add a rep, add a small amount of weight, or tighten up the reps you already do. Warm up with a few easy sets of the movement itself rather than long static stretches before you lift, and keep a note of each session so the next one has a number to beat.

The four kinds of training you'll find here

Strength lifts are the squats, presses, rows and deadlift variations that load a weight and build raw force; they're the backbone of most plans. Bodyweight and calisthenics moves, from press-ups to bear crawls, need little or no kit and travel well, which makes them handy for small flats and hotel rooms.

Mobility and stretching work, like the 90-90 hip stretch or a set of calf stretches, keeps your joints moving freely and often clears the stiffness that holds a lift back. Cardio and conditioning rounds things off, whether that's a steady 12-3-30 treadmill walk or a brutal few minutes on an air bike. Most people do best mixing all four rather than living in a single camp.

Frequently asked questions

I'm a complete beginner. Where should I start?

Begin with the big compound lifts and a couple of basic stretches: a squat, a hinge, a push and a pull. Learn each movement with light weight, or just your bodyweight, before you chase numbers. Our guides flag a regression for every move, so you're never stuck attempting the hardest version on your first attempt.

How many sets and reps should I actually do?

For general strength and muscle, three to four sets of around five to twelve reps per exercise suits most people. Stop a rep or two short of total failure on the big lifts to keep your form honest and your joints happy. If you're training purely for endurance, drop the weight and push the reps higher.

What does progressive overload mean in practice?

It means gradually giving your body a bit more to do so it keeps adapting. In practice that's adding a rep, nudging the weight up slightly, or doing the same work with cleaner technique. You don't need big jumps; small, steady increases over the weeks beat heroic sessions you can't repeat.

Can I follow these guides at home with no equipment?

Plenty of them, yes. The bodyweight and calisthenics guides need nothing but floor space, and many strength guides include dumbbell or resistance-band versions if you don't own a barbell. A pair of adjustable dumbbells and a bench will open up most of the library without filling a room.

I'm in a small flat. Which guides suit a tight space?

Filter for bodyweight and mobility work; those need little more than a mat's worth of floor. Press-ups, planks, lunges and the hip and calf stretches won't disturb the neighbours and pack away in seconds. If you do want to add load, adjustable dumbbells give you a wide range in one small footprint.

Should I stretch before or after training?

Before a session, warm up with light sets of the movement you're about to do plus some gentle dynamic work, rather than long static holds that can briefly dull your strength. Save the deeper static stretches for after training, or for a separate mobility day, when the muscles are already warm. Each stretching guide tells you which type it is.