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Wednesday 14 August 2013

The Exercises You Must Do

It doesn't matter if you are new in the gym or you have been working for a few months, there are a few exercises that are absolutely necessary for your development. Different fitness instructors will tell you different things, but these exercises are essentials and must to be part of your program.

Deadlift anatomy
Deadlifts

Why everybody should do these exercises? They are from the compound movement category. Multi-joint movements, that are powered thanks to several muscle groups, moving one or two joint. As you see, there are a lot of dynamics in this, which makes them more complicated, but will help you bulk up and gain strength and power.

Deadlifts

The first exercise everyone should do is the deadlifts (in the picture above). You should do it when you are training for your back muscles. Because it is a compound exercise and is the hardest in your program, you should do it as your first exercise. It works mostly for your lower back, but it will help you with your quads, hamstrings and glutes. This make is pretty intense, so you have to warm up your back muscles pretty good before you start, so you don't cause some injuries. It will take you time to get used to the exercise. So start with small weights until you get the hang of it, because if you are doing it with heavy weights, and you are doing it the wrong way, you might injure your back.

Squats


It doesn't matter how hard you train for your legs, how many exercises you do, if you don't have squats as your main exercise, you aren't training correctly. It mainly works on your quads and your gluteus maximus (your butt). But it's not only about that – it works on your waste, lower back and calves. A good advise here is to wear a belt, so you can protect your back. Don't put heavy weights. The optimum way to train your legs is with enough weights, so you can do around twelve or fifteen reps. And always do a big warm up before this!

Bench press

Bench Press schematic
Bench Press
Everybody is doing the bench press and there is no replacement for it. It is for training your pecs, triceps, serratus anterior and some other minor muscles. If you feel that you are putting pressure on your lower back, this means you are not doing it correctly. Lower your weights and do it the right way. Always have a spotter, because you can make some serious injuries.

A good tip here is to do your bench press with dumbbells. Try to alternate between the two type of exercises. For me, dumbbells are the better choice, because they involve more muscles. Don't do the bench press with machines, because soon your muscles will get used to the angle and they won't develop the way you want them. Always do the classic press or with dumbbells.

Pull Ups


The video will show you the correct way of doing pull ups. If you are doing it correctly you will be working on your back muscles, biceps delts and chest muscles. They are hard for beginners or for heavy people, but try to do as much as you can, because they are the best pulling exercise. You can change it with different variations – wide grip, tight grip, one hand pull up, pull ups with weight, but you have to have it in your work out.

If your weight is not enough, you can put some extra weight with a belt or holding a dumbbell with your legs. Machines are not a replacement.

Shoulder press

shoulder press
Shoulder Press
This is the best way to develop your shoulder muscles. You should warm up a lot before you do this. It involves not only your shoulder muscles, but your waste, your legs, arms and abs. That's why it's better to use a belt to protect your back. If you like, you can do the shoulder press while sitting.

These exercises should be at the beginning of your workout. They are the heaviest, the hardest and are absolutely necessary. After that you can experiment with different exercises so you can see what's the optimum work out for you.

Sources

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