Top Ten Muscle Building Exercises

Weight training is an extremely valuable way of training that should be considered by everyone. Whether you are trying to improve your strength, put on some major size, lose some fat or to improve your performance in specific sports, weight training is essential for the highest level of success. In the past training with weights was left to the bodybuilders. Now after research has moved on it, and the benefits are clear is used widely for many different goals. If you look at the training program for any top athlete now days, you can almost guarantee that they will have weight/resistance training incorporated in there somewhere.

As mentioned one of the most common reason for using weights for training, is to increase muscular strength and size. There are literally hundreds of exercises that can be performed to make gains in this area, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. So how do we know which ones to perform? Well everyone has there own preferences, below is a list of my top ten 'power' moves to increase the size and strength of your muscles.

10. Seated Calve raise - I've added this in to put out the importance of proportions, for a well rounded physique. There is nothing worse than having great looking upper legs muscles, and them being ruined by being held up by a twig like calve! The seated calve raise is an excellent way of targeting the lower leg muscle, it really isolates the lower leg. It is also very easy to keep good form in the exercise, taking out any possibility of bending the knee or raising the shoulders like in the standing calve raise.

9. Dips - An excellent exercise for targeting the triceps and also the chest, widen or narrow your grip to change which muscle is emphasized more. I prefer to use this exercise more to target the triceps, I think there are much better exercises for building the chest. You can also add more difficulty to the exercise by either hanging a weight from a waist strap, or holding a dumbbell between your feet.

8. Barbell Curl - Standing barbell curl using a straight or E-Z bar. In my opinion the best exercise for developing great looking biceps. You can lift heavier weights in this exercise than you would in concentration curls for example, which is what you need for increase muscle size and strength.

7. Shoulder Press - The ultimate exercise for building overall mass on your shoulders. This can be done standing or seated, and with dumbbells or a bar. Which one you choose does depend on personal preference, I tend to lean towards seated rather than standing, as it puts less stress on your lower back. Both barbell and dumbbells are good for this exercise, you will find that when using the barbell, you will feel it more on your rear deltoids. Both are equally as good though. If you want thick shoulder muscles this exercise is a must.

6. Bent over row - Excellent for developing that v shape to your body. Performed leaning on a bench and using a dumbbell. Again a heavy weight can be used safely here, so the muscle building potential of this exercise is good.

5. Leg Press - Generally known as second to the squat, but the leg press does have the advantage that the weight that you are pushing isn't limited to what you can sit on your shoulders. Also the seated position reduces the stress put on your lower back. The potential to lift huge weights makes this a great exercise for bulking.

4. Chin up - Surprisingly this exercise isn't used as much as it should be. This exercise mainly focuses on developing the back muscles, but also develops strength in the arms and shoulders. Using just your body weight is usually challenging enough for this exercise, but for those of you who want to push even further, you can use a waist strap and add weight plates. This traditional exercise is definitely worth a try.

3. Dead Lift - If you want to add serious width to your back, this exercise unbeatable. Many people shy away from the dead lift, as there is a high risk of injury to the back. Concentrate on getting your technique right, and then slowly increase the weights. You will see great results from this.

2. Bench Press - No workout routine is complete without the good old bench press! There is no other exercise out there that will develop your chest as good as the bench press. There are a few variations on the exercise, including raised press, lower press, flat press, dumbbell press and barbell press. Raised press will put emphasis on the upper chest, lowered the lower chest, and flat press general does the whole chest as a whole. It is good to mix it up a bit when your change round your routine, but my personal favorite remains to be the traditional flat barbell press.

1. Squat - Finally on my list is the one and squat. This is the king when it comes to building huge legs, it also requires a strong core to perform it well. Concentration should be on technique, and then once you have mastered the movement add the weight.

The majority of the exercises in my list are compound moves, which are simple lifts which allow you to push very heavy weights. It is important to include compound moves in your muscle building routine to achieve greatest results.