Which gym exercises are the most popular? And do men and women prefer different exercises?
We analyzed millions of workouts from over 274 890 users of our workout tracker, and in this report, we present the results.
Key findings:
- The most popular exercise of all is the bench press – for men and women.
- Men train the bench press 30% more, and the barbell curl 71% more than women.
- Women train the leg press 42% more and hip thrust 830% more than men.
Where does this data come from?
This data comes from our workout log app StrengthLog. We compiled training sets from millions of workouts to determine which gym exercises are currently being trained the most.
The Most Popular Gym Exercises for Both Men & Women
Below are the top ten most popular strength training exercises for all users combined, broken down into men and women.
Below are the top 25 most popular exercises for all users combined and the percentage share of total training sets logged.
- Bench Press – 9.7%
- Squat – 7.0%
- Deadlift – 5.0%
- Lat Pulldown – 3.8%
- Overhead Press – 3.4%
- Barbell Row – 3.2%
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 2.7%
- Leg Extension – 2.5%
- Leg Press – 2.2%
- Barbell Curl – 2.1%
- Tricep Pushdown With Bar – 2.0%
- Incline Dumbbell Press – 1.9%
- Dumbbell Curl – 1.7%
- Pull-Up – 1.7%
- Cable Close Grip Seated Row – 1.6%
- Tricep Pushdown With Rope – 1.5%
- Lying Leg Curl – 1.3%
- Dumbbell Row – 1.3%
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 1.3%
- Romanian Deadlift – 1.3%
- Seated Leg Curl – 1.2%
- Hammer Curl – 1.1%
- Standing Cable Chest Fly – 1.1%
- Dumbbell Chest Press – 1.0%
- Face Pull – 1.0%
The Most Popular Gym Exercises for Men
Below are the top 25 most trained exercises by men, and the percentage share of total training sets logged.
- Bench Press – 10.7%
- Squat – 6.7%
- Deadlift – 4.8%
- Lat Pulldown – 3.6%
- Overhead Press – 3.5%
- Barbell Row – 3.2%
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 2.8%
- Leg Extension – 2.4%
- Barbell Curl – 2.4%
- Tricep Pushdown With Bar – 2.1%
- Incline Dumbbell Press – 2.1%
- Pull-Up – 2.0%
- Leg Press – 1.9%
- Dumbbell Curl – 1.8%
- Cable Close Grip Seated Row – 1.5%
- Tricep Pushdown With Rope – 1.5%
- Lying Leg Curl – 1.3%
- Dumbbell Row – 1.2%
- Standing Cable Chest Fly – 1.2%
- Seated Leg Curl – 1.2%
- Hammer Curl – 1.2%
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 1.2%
- Close-Grip Bench Press – 1.1%
- Dumbbell Chest Press – 1.1%
- Romanian Deadlift – 1.1%
The Most Popular Gym Exercises for Women
Below are the top 25 most trained exercises by women, and the percentage share of total training sets logged.
- Bench Press – 8.2%
- Squat – 7.7%
- Deadlift – 5.4%
- Lat Pulldown – 4.1%
- Overhead Press – 3.0%
- Barbell Row – 2.9%
- Leg Press – 2.7%
- Leg Extension – 2.7%
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 2.6%
- Hip Thrust – 2.0%
- Romanian Deadlift – 1.7%
- Cable Close Grip Seated Row – 1.6%
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 1.6%
- Dumbbell Curl – 1.6%
- Dumbbell Row – 1.5%
- Tricep Pushdown With Bar – 1.5%
- Barbell Curl – 1.4%
- Bulgarian Split Squat – 1.4%
- Tricep Pushdown With Rope – 1.3%
- Seated Leg Curl – 1.3%
- Incline Dumbbell Press – 1.3%
- Lying Leg Curl – 1.2%
- Stiff-Legged Deadlift – 1.1%
- Hip Abduction Machine – 1.0%
- Face Pull – 1.0%
Feel free to cite this data, as long as you link back to this article or StrengthLog as the original source.
Related Links:
- Top 10 Strength Training Statistics From 274 890 Users of Our Workout Log
- StrengthLog – Free Workout Log for Lifters
- About Us
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