When it comes to coaching, few decisions have more impact on long-term outcomes than exercise selection. Yet too often, this gets over-complicated or, worse, thrown together with no clear rationale. As coaches, our role is to individualise programs—yes—but within a system. That system must be grounded in key principles and flexible enough to adjust based on our client’s evolving needs.

Here’s a breakdown of the key criteria and actionable frameworks for exercise selection that will help you build better programs and deliver better results.

Core Principles of Exercise Selection

1. Individual Movement Capability Choose movements your client can perform well today—not what they should be able to do. Stability, mobility, coordination, and technical skill all matter here.

2. Orthopaedic Restrictions Know your client’s history. Prior injuries and medical considerations should rule out risky movements. There’s always an alternative.

3. Goal Alignment Is the exercise aligned with hypertrophy, strength, or performance? Don’t let your own preferences override the client’s objective.

Example: Barbell deadlifts are essential for powerlifters, but a general fitness client may get better outcomes with a trap bar or Romanian deadlift.

4. Competing Demands Avoid pairing exercises that compete for recovery or overload the same limiting factor (e.g., grip, lower back).

5. Maximising Range of Motion (ROM) When possible, choose exercises that take the target muscle through a full ROM. Save shortened range lifts for special situations (rehab, sport specificity).

6. Contraction Type Balance Use movements that involve eccentric, concentric, and isometric contractions. Each has a role in muscular development and resilience.

7. Minimise Joint Stress Chase stimulus, not soreness. Prioritise exercises that challenge the muscle while being kind to joints.

8. Periodization Context Your program should evolve with the training phase. Volume, load, specificity, and variation all depend on the phase: hypertrophy, strength, or peaking.

Exercise Selection by Training Goal

Hypertrophy

• Choose stable exercises that allow for progressive overload.

• Examples: Hack squats, belt squats, wide-grip bench, RDLs.

Strength

• Move from general to specific over time.

• Use variations like pauses, deficits, and tempo to address sticking points.

Performance

• Rotate movements frequently to stimulate neural adaptations.

• Account for in-season vs. off-season needs.

Injury Management

• Respect rehab protocols while still training hard around the injury.

• Modify loading and movement patterns based on feedback and collaboration with health professionals.

Practical Weak Point Solutions

Squat

• Weak upper back: Safety bar squat, good mornings

• Weak above parallel: Pause squats

• Weak quads: Hack squat, leg press

Bench Press

• Weak off chest: Wide grip, deficit push-ups

• Mid-range: Incline press, spoto press

• Lockout: Close grip bench, dips, triceps isolation

Deadlift

• Weak off floor: Deficit deadlift, trap bar deadlift

• Weak knees: RDLs, paused deadlifts

• Lockout: Hip thrusts, reverse hypers

• Grip: Timed holds, farmer’s carries

Final Takeaways for Coaches

• Stick with it: Don’t rotate hypertrophy movements every week—let them do their job.

• Be agile with strength work: Change variations to keep joints healthy while driving progress.

• Context matters: A great off-season exercise might be a poor in-season choice.

• Work with—not against—injuries: The goal is to keep them training and improving, not just avoiding pain.

Great coaches don’t just throw exercises at clients. They think, assess, and adapt with purpose.