Combined with the proper set and rep scheme, picking the right exercise and doing it the right way with proper technique and form is crucial for success in a training program. My Training methodology is about using internal cues from the body to gauge feedback rather than just external cues like strength levels etc.. The old myth would have us all believe that it is just a matter of selecting basic exercises and "training heavy". I'm here to tell you both concepts are ancient and non-applicable for real gains. If it was that simple then everyone who just lift weights would have great development.
You see in target training you want to select exercises that put the working muscle at it most disadvantageous leverage positions. This allows the muscle to achieve the most overload. So for instance if you have a stalky build with short limbs then bench-pressing with a barbell is probably a good idea for you, But for anyone who may have longer limbs bench pressing is the worst exercise to select, because the pecs are not the prime movers in that exercise, let alone are they put in a disadvantageous leverage position. That is another reason for proper exercise selection as well.
Worshipping strength for its own sake does not equal muscle gains. We've all been there. What you should be attempting to do is isolate a muscle as an agonist, (or the muscle doing the most work) and then insure that that muscle and only that muscle is doing the most work. That way you get away from just measuring what is on the bar, (an external cue) and you can start to "feel" the effect the movement has on the muscle.
This whole mentality of "just do basic exercises and train heavy" misses the whole point. In my Training, you "train the muscle and not the movement". This whole idea of training the muscle and not the movement gets you away from recording how much you lift. When you target train, how much is on the bar is secondary to" where do I feel this working" that is the most important variable.
Doing a movement like military presses and using 5 or 6 different muscle groups inefficiently to get the reps, is a lot less productive than doing say a side lateral, using only medial delts to lift the weight for 5 sets of 8 reps. Now you can see that "heavy" becomes a relative term and less important to your overall training strategy. Training hard is what matters, heavy is elusive and usually involves training the ego rather than the muscle.
When lifting for development If your training centers around age old concepts like basic exercises and just training "heavy" then you are probably wasting your time and you need to reassess your training protocol or have a expert do it for you