Walk into most gyms, and you’ll see the same lifts on repeat—bench, squat, deadlift, curls, and rows. They’re classics for a reason, but if you never venture past the basics, you’re leaving gains on the table. Some exercises don’t get social media attention, aren’t included in every program, and sometimes look odd, but they build strength where you need it most.
These 10 exercises address strength leaks—weak upper backs, soft lockouts, and underdeveloped hamstrings—and help prevent grip-strength issues. These underrated moves build your strength where it matters most.
If you’re serious about lifting heavier, feeling better under the bar, and building a stronger body, these 10 underrated strength moves are worth revisiting. But why bring them back?
Read on.
How These Strength Moves Improve Your Big Lifts
These exercises reinforce weak links in the bench press, squat, and deadlift by improving lockout strength, core stability, and posterior-chain power.
Strengthen Weaker Links
Muscles like your adductors, upper back, hip stabilizers, and grip muscles determine how much weight you can lift. When you neglect these areas, strength escapes, and your form suffers when you need it most. These exercises target often-overlooked muscles and help you build the confidence to handle heavier weights.
Improve Your Main Lifts
Many of these moves improve your ability to lock out a bench press, brace in a squat, hinge in a deadlift, or generate power in athletic movements. By building strength in the exact areas where lifts stall, you’ll crush it next time you’re under or over the bar.
Less Wear and Tear
Some of these exercises allow you to lift heavy while reducing stress on your shoulders, knees, hips, or lower back. Protecting your joints from excessive strain makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
Plateau Breakers
These 10 lifts introduce new challenges and muscle stimulus, helping you grow again. The combination of novelty and neglected muscle activation is a proven way to restart progress—especially when gains have stalled.
10 Underrated Strength Moves
If your gains are looking for a training refresh, take one or two of the following exercises for a test drive. Your body will be pleased.
Reverse-Grip Bench Press: Upper Chest and Triceps Strength Without Shoulder Pain
Instead of gripping the bar with your palms facing forward, flip your hands so your palms face you. This grip changes your elbow path and bar path just enough to shift the emphasis toward the upper chest and triceps, while taking the strain off your front delts.
Why Lifters Skip It: It looks unfamiliar, feels awkward at first, and most people think it’s only for advanced lifters.
Why It Works: The reverse grip requires a tighter tuck at the elbows and a more controlled descent, leading to a powerful press off the chest and stronger lockout. It also lights up the upper chest more than a flat bench ever will.
Form Tip: Use a spotter for lift-off when learning the lift. Tuck elbows at 45 degrees, and press in a slightly diagonal path back toward the rack.
Sets & Reps: 3–4 sets of 6–12 reps.
Seal Row: Build a Bulletproof Upper Back for Stronger Presses and Pulls
Instead of rowing from a bent-over position—where momentum, body English, and lower-back fatigue can hinder your form—you lie face-down on a flat bench with the weights beneath you. With your chest locked in place, every rep is to your upper back’s delight.
Why Lifters Skip It: The seal row requires strict technique and less weight, and many gyms don’t have a bench tall enough for a full range of motion.
Why It Works: With no way to cheat, the seal row hammers the upper back, rear delts, rhomboids, and lats. It strengthens the muscles that control shoulder positioning and bar path—making it a huge accessory lift for improving the Big 3.
Form Tip: If your bench isn’t high enough for a full range of motion, elevate it on boxes or plates. Pull the bar toward the lower chest, squeeze your shoulder blades hard at lockout, and lower with control.
Sets & Reps: 3–4 sets of 8–12 reps for muscle; heavier sets of 4–6 reps for strength.
Trap Bar Romanian Deadlift: Safer Hamstring and Glute Strength
The trap bar RDL is one of the most overlooked posterior-chain builders. The trap bar places the weight at your sides, shifting the load closer to your center of gravity and making the movement easier to perform.
Why Lifters Skip It: Many lifters only use the trap bar for deadlifts or carries and never think of doing RDLs with it.
Why It Works: With the weight at your sides, you can hinge with reduced lower-back stress, while loading the glutes and hamstrings. It’s easier to learn and easier to progress than a barbell RDL.
Form Tip: Push your hips back, keep a slight bend in your knees, and stop when your hamstrings tell you to. Think “stretch the hamstrings, squeeze the glutes” on every rep.
Sets & Reps: 3–4 sets of 6–12 reps for strength and muscle.
Barbell High Pull: Explosive Power for Traps, Hips, and Total Strength
The barbell high pull is an explosive lift that builds traps, upper back, and hips, and develops total-body power without requiring mastery of an Olympic lift. It’s similar to the first half of a clean: making it fast, athletic, and effective for adding size and power to your upper body.
Why Lifters Skip It: Many lifters avoid high pulls because they associate them with Olympic lifting or worry they’re too technical.
Why It Works: The high pull uses triple extension—hips, knees, and ankles working together to generate force through the entire posterior chain. That means stronger hips and trap development that shrugs can’t touch.
Form Tip: Start light, hinge with a flat back, explode through the hips, and pull the bar close to your body.
Sets & Reps: 4–6 sets of 3–5 reps, focusing on speed and crisp execution.
Copenhagen Side Plank: Core and Adductor Strength for Squats and Knee Health
The Copenhagen side plank has you on your forearm and top leg on a bench or box while holding a side plank. Doing this fires the adductors and deep core muscles far harder than a standard plank ever will.
Why Lifters Skip It: Lifters skip side planks altogether, so neglecting it is no surprise. Most lifters don’t realize how vital strong adductors are for squats, deadlifts, sprinting, and knee health until it’s too late.
Why It Works: Strong adductors improve squat depth, hip control, and change-of-direction power, while also reducing the risk of groin and knee injuries.
Form Tip: Start with your knee on the bench rather than your foot to reduce the difficulty. Keep your body straight, brace your abs, and don’t let your hips drop.
Sets & Reps: 3 sets of 20–30 seconds per side.
Anderson Squats: Build Power Out of the Hole
Anderson squats flip the traditional squat upside down as you start from the bottom, with the bar resting on safety pins at your desired depth. From a dead stop, you squat without help from the stretch reflex in your hips and quads.
Why Lifters Skip It: It looks awkward, feels heavy, and is humbling. Without the stretch reflex bounce at the bottom, it exposes your squat weaknesses fast. Because of its technical setup, it rarely shows up in workouts.
Why It Works: Starting from the bottom requires you to produce force right away, which improves power out of the hole and strengthens this common sticking point. It builds leg drive and rock-solid core tension.
Form Tip: Set the safety pins at your regular squat depth. Get tight before you lift—brace your core, squeeze the bar, drive your feet into the floor, and squat up.
Sets & Reps: 4–6 sets of 2–4 reps, focusing on power and crisp technique.
Curtsy Lunges: Hip Stability and Glute Medius Strength
The Curtsy lunge is an excellent strength movement for the hips and glutes—especially the glute medius, the muscle responsible for hip stability and knee alignment. This lunge variation creates a diagonal, rotational angle that challenges the hip abductors and requires your glutes to be on high alert.
Why Lifters Skip It: It’s a true “looks are deceiving” exercise because it’s not a “heavy” exercise and doesn’t look like a traditional strength lift.
Why It Works: By training hip rotation, you strengthen the muscles that help keep your knees from caving in during squats, hinges, and other athletic movements.
Form Tip: Step back just enough to create a diagonal angle, but not so far that your torso twists. Keep your front knee tracking over your toes and push through your heel to stand tall.
Sets & Reps: 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps per leg.
Swiss Bar Floor Press: Shoulder-Friendly Lockout Power
The Swiss bar floor press combines two shoulder-friendly concepts into one exercise: neutral-grip and floor pressing. The combination of these keeps the shoulders in a joint-saving position, making it a go-to option for lifters whose shoulders need a little extra love.
Why Lifters Skip It: Many lifters also don’t realize how valuable neutral-grip pressing is for shoulder health and triceps lockout strength.
Why It Works: The floor press eliminates momentum and the stretch reflex, demanding pure upper-body strength, and forces your triceps to work harder on each rep.
Form Tip: Keep elbows tucked at roughly 45 degrees and pause every rep on the floor—no bouncing and finish with a locked-out press.
Sets & Reps: 3–4 sets of 4-6 reps for strength; 2–3 sets of 10–15 reps for muscle.
EZ-Bar Reverse Curl: Grip, Forearm, and Elbow Health
The EZ bar reverse curl uses an overhand grip and shifts the tension from the biceps to the brachioradialis, one of the main muscles that gives your arms that thick look. It also strengthens the wrist extensors, which play a significant role in pulling strength and elbow health.
Why Lifters Skip It: Lifters forget that grip and forearm strength are limiting factors in rows, deadlifts, and pull-ups—and it requires less weight as it’s your weakest grip.
Why It Works: Reverse curls build balanced arm strength, healthier elbows, and a stronger grip.
Form Tip: Curl with control, pause at the top, and lower slowly—you’ll feel this more in your forearms extensors than any other curl variation.
Sets & Reps: 3–4 sets of 8–15 reps.
Single-Leg Stability Ball Hamstring Curl: Hamstring Strength Without Spinal Load
This exercise tests hamstring strength, glute power, and core control, all without loading the spine. If you want stronger pulls, faster sprinting, or bulletproof hamstrings, it delivers.
Why Lifters Skip It: Stability balls are often thought of for core work and not outright strength work. Hence, lifters default to machines or heavy barbell hinge exercises.
Why It Works: The combination of hip extension and hamstring curl trains both functions of the hamstrings. Doing it unilaterally exposes imbalances and forces the glutes and core to stabilize on every rep.
Form Tip: Drive your heel into the ball, squeeze your glutes, and keep your hips high as you curl.
Sets & Reps: 2–4 sets of 6–8 reps per leg, slow and controlled.
