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News

Bodybuilding Legend Charles Glass Reveals Best Muscle-Building Exercise

by Greg Patuto Published on Feb 18, 2025

This post may contain affiliate links (disclosure policy).

Charles Glass targeted the major exercises needed to build muscle.

Bodybuilding legend Charles Glass continues to be a major influence in the fitness world and works with some of the best athletes in the world. During his podcast, he shares different tips that can help others get the best results in the gym.

[RELATED: Charles Glass Reveals 4 Exercises For building A Stout Chest]

The “Godfather of Bodybuilding” has over 35 years of coaching experience and has trained some of the biggest names in the bodybuilding world, including Flex Wheeler and Dexter Jackson. He’s known for his meticulous training approach to transform physiques and bring out their fullest potential. Recently, he trained people at the Gold’s Gym Venice. In this podcast, Glass shared the top exercises needed to build muscle and he could not pick just one.

“There’s no one because you have chest, you have back, you have legs, you have arms. What I do is split them up and each one, I’ll use differently.”

Glass attempted to pinpoint some of the best exercises but admitted that none will hit all at once.

Superset

Charles Glass Shares Best Muscle-Building Exercises

Charles Glass did not make a long list of the best exercises because he likes to focus on body parts as a whole. If he did have to discuss one, he chose the rowing machine.

“If you had to pick an exercise, seated rowing would probably be the closest to the one you need for the rest of your life.

You can do it because it’s going to hit your legs, it’s going to hit your lower back, it’s going to hit your back, it’s going to hit your biceps, and as you extend out, it’s going to hit the triceps.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charles Glass (@thecharlesglass)

Glass also discussed the importance of squats, and how this was an exercise he did plenty when he was a gymnast, but it did not impact chest.

“How can a squat hit your chest? That’s what I’m saying. Squat is the best exercise because why? It really hits those legs hard. That’s one thing I did since my legs from being a gymnast, I always hit my legs first.”

Charles Glass’ Chest Workout 

In January, Charles Glass trained others at Gold’s Gym Venice and shared different ways to hit chest. There were multiple training methods that he suggested but picked out a workuout of the four best chest exercises to work all areas of the chest.

Below are the four chest exercises Glass recommends: 

Hammer Strength Decline Press4 10-14
Machine Seated Chest Fly410-14
Dips38-12
Smith V-Bar Champagne Press312

One method that Charles Glass suggested for technique is the two-step rep method. Like a pause rep, the two-step rep allows you to recruit even more muscle fiber to that much more out of each rep. You pause at the bottom of the movement, push halfway through the rep, and then complete it. This makes your muscles work even harder.

For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Greg Patuto

Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.

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