5 Essential Moves for More Muscle Mass

The New Year is a blank canvas when you enter the weight rooms. There is no better time to start getting stronger and more muscular! When it comes to strength and muscle gains nothing beats simplicity. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo Da Vinci So many trainers in the gym these days are looking for the latest fad workout to get them more muscular or leaner. But there is a reason these key exercise have been round for years. The reason? THEY WORK!

Muscle Mass - Deadlift

[caption id="attachment_3473" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Deadlifts are great for all round mass building[/caption] This is called the King of exercises and for good reason. This move works more muscle than any other exercise including the squat. The deadlift will increase your core strength and stability. Deadlifting targets all of the muscles responsible for your posture and enables you to keep your back straighter during regular daily activities. It has real life application, in its simplest form you are picking something heavy up from the floor. So next time you’re moving furniture or lifting heavy shopping bags the deadlift can help. In fact nearly most the population could benefit from this move.

Muscle Mass - Overhead Press

The overhead press is the forgotten lift in the weights rooms. Everyone always does seated dumbbell press these days. But again sometimes the basics work the best. How cool does it look to go over to bar and shift something that weighs the same as you over your head. Believe me someone who can press 70/80kg above their head will not be small! This move is so much more than a shoulder exercise. Your traps, triceps and core will all be firing at the same time. This move can also greatly increase your bench press. So if you want a big chest maybe you should think more about this move.

Muscle Mass - Barbell Squats

Simply put squats are tough! That’s why people shy away from them. Not for the reason they give. If you learn to love leg day your onto a winner! Squatting will develop the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes but the hormonal effect from squatting can help develop even other muscles of the body. Squatting can cause a huge increase in your body’s secretion of testosterone and growth hormone. Old school bodybuilders use to tell young guys that if they wanted big arms, to start squatting. You don’t need to be repping out 30 reps with the ez bar, especially if you’re a beginner. Get squatting to get overall mass.

Muscle Mass - Pull Ups

[caption id="attachment_3475" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pull ups develop the arms and back[/caption] There is no other excise that will cause upper body growth quite like pull ups will. With pull ups practice makes perfect if you can only do 1 or 2 keep doing them! When I could only do 1 or 2 pullups I would perform 3-4 sets of assisted pull ups, and then do a couple of sets of body weight pullups, even though I could only do 1 or 2. I am now upto 15 full reps and have notice huge size increases in my back.

Muscle Mass - Farmer's Walk

[caption id="attachment_3477" align="aligncenter" width="381"] Farmer's Walk[/caption]   You may be surprised to see this one here. But what is more simplistic than pick something up and carrying it. But just like squats, deadlifts and pullups, simpler is often better. Few exercises work the body from head to toe like farmers walks. And even fewer exercises can be used to get stronger, gain muscle, lose fat and improve athletic performance – all at the same time. I urge you to include farmer’s walks in your routine for the next 8 – 10 weeks and see what happens. 

Conclusion

The theme of this blog was simplicity. I wanted to get it across to people that you don’t always need to be searching for that holy grail of a programme that contains around 500 reps! Especially if you are a beginner these moves will work wonders. You can employ them into a basic 5x5 programme or if you’re looking more at hypertrophy you could try 4x8 routine. The key is all these moves can be included in any programme you don’t need loads of equipment and the best thing is they will make you bigger stronger and faster, now who doesn’t want that?! Finally, remember to boost the results of your lifts by taking the right supplements. “There is no greatness, where there is no simplicity” – Leo Tolstoy