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Everyone knows heavy iron is the way to build new muscle mass. Free weights are the key to getting big and strong. But they don’t work for everyone. If you’re looking to cut back your training to recover an injury, or just trying to find a way to isolate your muscle groups, then dumbbells and cables may deliver what you’re looking for. Let’s examine the top dumbbell and cable exercises for etching fine detail into your raw and uncut muscle mass.

Dumbbells – Let’s examine the dumbbell-based exercises which will deliver the greatest amount of success for the following muscle groups.

Chest: Incline, Flat and Decline Dumbbell Presses & Flyes, Along With Dumbbell Pullovers
Back: Dumbbell Rows Using Various Grips, Dumbbell Deadlifts
Shoulders: Dumbbell Military Press, Dumbbell Side Raises, Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Biceps: Dumbbell Biceps Curls In Standing, Seated Or Lying Varieties, Simultaneous Or Alternate
Triceps: Dumbbell Kickbacks and Press Behind Neck
Thighs: Dumbbell Squats and Lunges
Hamstrings: Dumbbell Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Calves: Dumbbell Standing Calf Raises

Cables – Let’s examine the cable-based exercises which will deliver the greatest amount of success for the following muscle groups.

Chest: Cable Crossovers
Back: Cable Rows, Lat Pulldowns with Variety Of Grips And Angles
Shoulders: Cable Side and Lateral Raises
Biceps: Cable Concentration Curls, Cable Zottman and Wrist Curls
Triceps: Cable Extensions, Triceps Cable Press Downs
Thighs: Cable Leg Extensions
Hamstrings: Cable Lying Leg Curls

Machines cannot be overlooked. Nautilus and Hammer Strength deliver a nice combination of new muscle mass addition (as seen with free weights) along with some of the detail seen with dumbbells and cables. Remember that free weights offer a great way to build incredible levels of uncut ‘bulk’ – thick muscle mass that looks great in a shirt but a little chunky when unsheathed. Your best success will be derived from using a combination of big heavy free weight training, along with dumbbell and cable work to isolate your muscles and etch in fine details.

Work to maintain a balance in your training between the exercises you are used to, and those which need a bit more exploration. Cable concentration curls for biceps might seem like a foreign concept to you, if the bulk of your biceps training has resolved around dumbbell and barbell curls. And the cable variety will never be able to replace your heavy iron in terms of building raw muscle mass. But it does delver some isolation attention to the muscle group which in turn gives you greater results in terms of overall muscle group refinement and development, the goal and sole reason we use dumbbell and cable movements in our workout routines!