52 Exercises & Why You Should Do Them: The Best Exercises for Strength, Muscle and Fitness (The HIRT Library) - Softcover

Marchegiani, Christian

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798165038716

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

The right exercises. Done the right way.

Every week there's a new exercise, a new gadget and a new influencer telling you that everything you did last week was wrong. This book cuts through the noise.

These are the 52 exercises Christian "Mack" Marchegiani has used over more than twenty years with thousands of people, from complete beginners to NRL and AFL players and Olympians. For each one, you'll learn why it deserves a place in your training. No circus tricks. No balancing acts. Just the exercises that work, and how to do them properly.

Every exercise follows the same simple layout, so you can find what you need fast:

• Trains: the muscles doing the work
• Why do it: the reason it earns its place
• How: the set-up and the rep, step by step
• Cues and mistakes: what a good trainer would tell you if they were standing next to you
• Easier / harder: how to adjust it to where you are now

Inside you'll find:

• The ten HIRT principles that make any exercise work harder for you
• 52 exercises grouped by how your body moves: prep and mobility, squat and lunge, hinge, push, pull, and core, carries and conditioning
• The big lifts (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press and row), plus the exercises that fill the gaps they leave behind
• Clear illustrations and photos of the key lifts
• Three ready-to-go sample sessions to put it all together

This fully revised second edition adds the big compound lifts, updates the science to current research, and gives every entry a consistent, step-by-step layout. It's written in plain English for anyone who wants to train smarter, whether you're new to the gym or have been lifting for years.

Keep it in your gym bag. Look up an exercise when you're not sure how to do it, when something hurts and you need a swap, or when you want to know why you're doing it at all.

Part of The HIRT Library:

• The Complete Guide to High Intensity Training: the science and principles
• 52 Exercises & Why You Should Do Them: the exercise reference
• Total Strength, Total Fitness: the 12-week program

About the author: Christian "Mack" Marchegiani (BExSc, MSportSc, DipEd) founded THUMP Boxing and Rebel Fitness League. He has trained NRL and AFL players, Olympians and thousands of everyday people, and has featured on the covers of Australian Men's Fitness and ultraFIT.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798165038716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 92