Exercise tier lists: what deserves your time?
We compare Jeff Nippard, Mike Israetel with Milo Wolf, ATHLEAN-X, and Jeremy Ethier to build a practical muscle-growth tier chart, with their disagreements intact.
9 videos · JustGains · updated · 3 min read
The most useful exercise tier list helps you choose your next movement, not replace your whole program. We compared nine videos from popular fitness creators and built a shortlist for chest, back, quads, biceps, and triceps. Supported presses and rows, sensible pulling variations, and curls you can control make strong starting points. But the interesting part is where the creators disagree, and what that reveals about your equipment, your goal, and the exact exercise you mean.
The muscle-growth tier chart
JustGains editorial picks, informed by the sources below. These are not averaged creator scores, and a creator who is not shown on an exercise simply did not rank it. Compare exercises for the same muscle; a chest press cannot replace a leg curl.
25 exercises · Tap the picture for the exercise, the name for the reasoning.
The creators, and the videos we read
This is a selected comparison, not every exercise or every creator on YouTube. Each video explains the original criteria and variations. Creators have not reviewed or endorsed this article.
Letter grades for hypertrophy, weighing the loaded stretch, how stable the position is, and how easily the movement progresses.
The Best And Worst Chest Exercises (Ranked By Science)
Published March 11, 2024
Hypertrophy ranking emphasizing stretch, comfort, and progression. Grades checked against the full caption transcript on Rosetta; original metadata checked, video not independently played. Captions can contain errors.
Supporting article or transcript
The Best And Worst Back Exercises (Ranked By Science)
Published February 5, 2024
Back hypertrophy, stability, and progression. Grades checked against the full caption transcript on Rosetta; original metadata checked, video not independently played. Ambiguous rack-pull and freestanding T-bar grades excluded.
Supporting article or transcript
The Best And Worst Biceps Exercises
Published October 19, 2024
Biceps hypertrophy, stability, and loading through the stretched position. Grades checked against the full caption transcript on Rosetta; original metadata checked, video not independently played. Bayesian curl is his final overall winner.
Supporting article or transcript
A conversation rather than a scoreboard: a grade moves with the setup, the muscle actually loaded, and the rest of the program.
Ranking The Worst & Best Exercises for Muscle Building (ft. Dr Mike Israetel)
Published July 11, 2024
Conditional hypertrophy judgments: setup, target-muscle loading, and program context matter. Timestamped dialogue checked in the Lilys transcript mirror, not independent playback. A/S ranges are retained. This collaboration is one perspective.
Supporting article or transcript
Ranking the Worst and Best Back Exercises (ft. Dr. Mike Israetel)
Published December 26, 2024
Back stimulus, fatigue, machine fit, and practical execution. Timestamped dialogue checked in the Lilys transcript mirror, not independent playback. A raw-stimulus rating is not treated as a fatigue-adjusted rating.
Supporting article or transcript
Named categories instead of letters, judged on growth, overload, and what the joints are asked to put up with.
Back Exercises Ranked (BEST TO WORST!)
Published April 4, 2022
Original categories verified in the creator’s YouTube description. Criteria include lat growth, overload, and practical limitations. “Best” and “Almost Best” are his labels, not converted letter grades. Video not independently played.
Quad Exercises Ranked (BEST TO WORST!)
Published February 26, 2023
Original categories verified in the creator’s YouTube description. Criteria include quad loading, equipment, and personal movement preferences. His categories are preserved; this is the main source for our quad shortlist. Video not independently played.
Biceps Exercises Ranked (BEST TO WORST!)
Published May 31, 2022
Original categories verified in the creator’s YouTube description. Versatility, overload, and athleticism influence his choices alongside biceps training. Categories preserved; generic preacher curls are not assumed to mean every preacher variation. Video not independently played.
Not a tier list at all: an acute EMG comparison in three people, used here only as a supporting observation.
We Tested 16 Chest Exercises, These Are Best For Growth
Published November 15, 2022
Recommendations checked in the creator’s companion article and embedded-video identity. Three-person acute EMG comparison; not a tier list or a study measuring muscle growth. No letter grades assigned to Ethier. Video not independently played.
Supporting article or transcript
Put it into practice
Training · 5 min read
What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload means asking a little more of your body over time.
Training · 5 min read
Sets, reps, and training volume
Training volume is how much work you actually do, usually counted in hard sets.
Training · 5 min read
RPE vs RIR
RPE and RIR describe the same thing from opposite sides: effort against reps left.
Training · 5 min read
What is a deload?
A deload is a planned easier stretch of training that lets fatigue drop while you keep going.