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The Best Muscle Building Exercises
By
The
"Muscle Nerd"
Jeff Anderson
Not all exercises are created equal...sure,
you knew that!
But
in your quest to build some serious muscle, you'll need
to fire up as many muscle fibers as possible to stimulate
the kind of deep growth you're looking for. And for this
mission, you have a strong ally in compound exercises.
Compound
vs. Isolation Exercises
First
some quick clarification...compound exercises move
the body through more than one joint movement, while isolation
exercises only move the body through a single-joint
movement.
Probably
the best exercise to demonstrate the difference is the
barbell squat. This "king" of all compound
exercises moves your body using a majority of your muscle
groups and bends you at your ankles, knees, waist, hips,
and to some degree, even your shoulders.
Compare
this to an isolation exercise such as leg extensions,
which only moves your body by bending one joint...the
knee.
So
which is better?
To
provide complete muscle fiber stimulation, you should
take advantage of the benefits of both types of
exercises. However, if you're main goal is to build
muscle, you should use compound exercises as
the main focal point of your weight training program and
bring in complimentary isolation exercises to supplement
the "big movers".
Compound
exercises allow you to lift heavier weights and
work more muscle groups at the same time than isolation
exercises. This saves you precious time in the gym while
stimulating the maximum amount of muscle fibers.
In
addition, compound exercises, due to the increased amount
of muscle used for the movements, are better at sending
your endocrine system a "distress call" to pump
out more anabolic hormones such as testosterone
and growth hormone.
Here's
a list of the most powerful mass-building compound
exercises to build into the core of your bodybuilding
program:
|
Body
Part
|
Associated
Compound Exercises
|
|
Shoulders
|
Military
Press, Hang Clean and Press, Arnold Press |
|
Arms
|
Close-Grip
Chin-Up (w/palms facing toward your face), Dips, Close-Grip
Pushup, Twisting Dumbbell Curl |
|
Legs
|
Barbell
Squat, Deadlift, Lunges |
|
Back
|
Chin-Up,
Pull-Down, Deadlift, Row |
|
Chest
|
Push-Up,
Dips, Bench Press |
Jeff
Anderson (better known in the bodybuilding community
as the "Muscle Nerd") is the creator of
Optimum Anabolics, the ground-breaking new bodybuilding
program that has taken the entire industry by storm!
For
more information on Jeff's controversial new mass-building
principles, go to
Optimum Anabolics.
