Once you've mastered that movement, you can try a Russian deadlift (RDL), before finally progressing onto a classic deadlift. 'It's not about pulling with your upper body at this point,' says Cavaliere, 'but learning to pull with your posterior chain and hips.' A beginner move here would be a pullthrough, which uses hinging and extension of the hips to drive motion. From there, you can practice a banded pullup to build your form and strength while only having to lift a fraction of your bodyweight, before attempting the final goal: an unassisted pullup. However, if you're working out at home without access to a pulldown machine, Cavaliere explains how you can easily improvise a banded pulldown by looping a resistance band over a pullup bar. Vertical PullĪn obvious place to start here is the lat pulldown. Finally, the barbell row removes all support completely and forces the lower back to help you control the full weight. Then, you can progress into a dumbbell tripod row, which takes away some of that support and increases the demand placed on those muscles. Start off here with a chest-supported row, which allows you to focus on developing those pulling muscles. As you progress, however, he recommends using both arms in the dumbbell overhead press, and then the barbell overhead press, both of which will necessitate stability and control in the core as you start to load and lift more weight.

'It's easier to move one arm at a time because, again, you can look those imbalances, and there's less core control demanded of you using just one dumbbell,' says Cavaliere. To master this movement pattern, beginners should practice the one-arm dumbbell press. 'If you have any stark imbalances between the left and right side, you're going to see it here.' The third move he recommends here is the barbell bench press.

'The thing about using dumbbells is that they can float freely,' says Cavaliere. The basic pushup is a good foundational variation of this principle as it builds scapular control, while the dumbbell bench press is a slightly more advanced exercise which requires you to work on stability as you're pushing the weights up, not pushing your own weight off the ground. Access exclusive muscle-building workouts and weight loss diets with our digital membership program.

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