The exercise library that
names the prime mover
365 exercises. For each one: which muscle does the work and which ones assist, how to do it, the mistake that ruins it, what to do instead when the equipment is missing, and how many sets and reps for your goal. 70 need no equipment at all.
Every card starts on the same axis
365MOVEMENTS
Each one names its prime mover, its synergists, the fault that ruins it and the category the energy figure comes from. 70 need no equipment whatsoever.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MET VALUES FROM THE 2024 ADULT COMPENDIUM·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN PUBLISHED VALUES · ONE MET = SITTING QUIETLY
Every exercise page highlights its own row on this ladder. That is the honest way to read a MET figure: as a position among other work, not as a measurement of your set.
How this library decides what a movement costs
- Assign the prime mover from the joint action the exercise demands, not from where people report feeling it.
- File the movement under a published conditioning category — the compendium measures categories, never individual lifts.
- Read that category's MET value and place it on the shared ladder above.
- Convert to energy with the ACSM equation for a 70 kg reference adult, and print the equation next to the answer.
- Count working minutes only, and say so on the page. Time in the building is not time under load.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Weights, vigorous: 6.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 7.35 kcal/min
The ladder, written out
The same seven values as the drawing above, with the category names printed in full. Nothing here is a measurement of one lift — that number does not exist, and any site quoting it made it up.
| On the ladder | MET | Published category | kcal/min at 70 kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sitting quietly | 1.0 | Sitting quietly — the reference value that defines 1 MET | 1.23 |
| Calisthenics, light | 3.5 | Calisthenics, light or moderate effort, general (e.g. back exercises) | 4.29 |
| Weights, 8–15 reps | 3.5 | Resistance training (weight lifting), multiple exercises, 8–15 repetitions at varied resistance | 4.29 |
| Circuit training | 4.3 | Circuit training, moderate effort | 5.27 |
| Weighted squats | 5.0 | Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort | 6.13 |
| Weights, vigorous | 6.0 | Resistance training (weight lifting, free weight or machine), power lifting or body building, vigorous effort | 7.35 |
| Calisthenics, vigorous | 8.0 | Calisthenics (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups), vigorous effort | 9.80 |
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CONDITIONING-EXERCISE CATEGORIES·REVIEWED JUL 2026
Most looked up
Browse by equipment
Start from what you actually have. 215 of the 365 exercises here work with home-scale kit or nothing at all.
The 9 movement patterns
Push
Driving resistance away from the torso — horizontally in a bench press, vertically in an overhead press.
57 exercises →Pull
Drawing resistance towards the torso — horizontally in a row, vertically in a pull-up or pulldown.
45 exercises →Squat
Knee-dominant lower-body work: hips and knees bend together with the torso staying relatively upright.
40 exercises →Hinge
Hip-dominant lower-body work: the hips travel back and forward while the knees stay relatively still.
45 exercises →Lunge
Split-stance and single-leg lower-body work, one leg clearly in front of the other.
15 exercises →Carry
Holding a load and walking with it. Trains grip, trunk and shoulders in one uncomplicated package.
9 exercises →Rotation
Turning the trunk under load, or throwing and swinging across the body.
15 exercises →Brace
Holding the trunk still while something tries to bend, extend or twist it.
44 exercises →Isolation
One joint, one muscle group, no help from anywhere else.
95 exercises →What this site does differently
Every exercise on this site names its prime mover, its synergists and the mistake that most often ruins it.
Most exercise databases tell you an exercise "works the chest" and stop. That is not enough to programme with. The useful question is which muscle is the prime mover — the one producing the movement against the resistance — and which ones are only assisting, because that decides what you can substitute, what you can drop, and why your triceps give out before your chest does on a close-grip press.
Every page here names the prime mover, lists the synergists, describes what each muscle actually does at the joint, and then computes substitutes and progressions from that data rather than from a hand-written list. If a page says the romanian deadlift trains the hamstrings and glutes, the substitutes on that page are exercises that do the same job through the same pattern — nothing else.
It also quietly corrects a few things. There is no such muscle as the inner chest. Toning is not a separate process from building strength. And no exercise removes fat from the part of the body it works — that has been tested, repeatedly, and it does not happen.
Workout templates
Twelve complete plans with sets, reps and rest. Six of them need no gym.
Training at home
70 exercises that need nothing at all. A doorway pull-up bar and one resistance band add 145 more.
Full list: bodyweight exercises, and the no-equipment workout plan.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The people behind these sites
Follow the build
This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
Amit Sharma
@amitsharmaofficial
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Geeta Patel
@geetapatelnz
Instagram
Geeta Patel
GeetaPatelYoga
Facebook
Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.
