Exercises

For each muscle group there exist many different exercises. However, it is very important to realize that not all of those exercises are equally suitable for stimulation your muscles to grow. Because it is very difficult to build muscle mass being a true natural bodybuilder, I strongly recommend you to only include those exercises in your training routine that are most suitable for building muscle mass. ny exercise that has not proven to be a real mass builder is not worth being performed. !n this page I will identify for each muscle group some of the most popular exercises of which I believe, based on over "# years of training experience, are the best for building muscle mass. It is important, however, that you understand the criteria on which I have based my selection. $ome of these criteria are explained in detail on my page about training.

Exercise Selection Criteria

Bac% to the Basics. &any of the best exercises have proven their muscle building capabilities throughout more than '# years of bodybuilding history and were used by all great bodybuilding champions, including the most recent ones. (hese basic exercises are usually simple to perform and represent very natural movements. )xercises performed with your own body weight or free weights *barbells and especially dumbbells+ are by far the most effective as they usually allow very natural movements, full range of motion, and continuous tension. &achines and cable exercises should be avoided whenever possible, as their mechanical friction lowers the tension on the muscle during the down,phase of your reps, and they often limit the range of motion. (he order of preference is- body weight, dumbbells, barbell, plate loaded machine, cable machine. ny exercise that doesn.t allow you to perform quality reps, which comply with the principles of continuous tension and full range of motion, should be avoided. good exercise should place about the same force on your muscle at any phase of the rep *bottom, up, top, down+, and should allow the greatest possible range of motion *from longest muscle stretch to shortest muscle contraction+. Being a natural bodybuilder, you need the strongest possible muscle growth stimulation you can get. (herefore isolation exercises, which allow you to put all your energy and intensity into one single target muscle group at a time, are preferred over compound power movements that involve many muscle groups simultaneously, and lead to exhaustion before maximum muscle growth stimulation of all involved muscles has occurred. If possible and if they can be performed with enough stability, one,sided exercises are preferred, as they always allow you to put more intensity into the targeted muscle group, because you can first fully concentrate on one side *left muscle+ and then on the other side *right muscle+.

$o basically you need proven basic exercises that follow a very natural movement, which allow you to isolate the targeted muscle group as much as possible, which can be performed with free weights *if possible one,sided+, and which allow you to do quality reps under continuous tension over the greatest possible range of motion. (he equipment needed to do all these exercises is discussed on another page.

Recommended Exercises
For each muscle group, I list my personal favorite exercises, selected based on the criteria above. It.s always good to have a pool of good exercises available for the same muscle, because varying the exercises in consecutive wor%outs always results in better muscle response. I do not describe all recommended exercises in full detail because most of them are well,%nown and described in detail on many other websites *see for example muscleandstrength.com, bodybuilding.com or )x/x.net+. I do, however, discuss the critical aspects of the exercises to help you better understand how to perform them in the most effective way to build muscle mass.

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Chest
For my pecs I prefer dumbbell flyes, dumbbell press, and barbell bench press *on smith machine+. ll three exercises can be performed on an incline bench of 0""1 *upper pecs+, flat bench *middle pecs+ or decline bench of ,""1 *lower pecs+. 2hen I use an incline bench, I %eep the angle of the bench rather small to avoid that my front delts will do more wor% than my pecs. For the dumbbell press and flyes I am very careful not to lose the tension on my pecs at the top of the rep by bringing the weights too close to each other. For the same reason my grip is rather wide for the barbell bench press *which also reduces triceps involvement+, and I avoid loc%ing out my elbows at the top of the reps. In order to get a maximal stretch of the pecs at the bottom of the reps, I let the weights go really low for my dumbbell exercises and I fully extend my ribcage. $ometime I do hybrid dumbbell press3flyes in which I press the weight up and fly it bac% down, which gives a very powerful tension on the pecs during the down,phase of the reps. $ometimes I do a few sets of cable crossover, which completely isolate the pecs, or straight,arm dumbbell pullovers across the bench to finish my chest wor%out. 4on.t waste your time with machine exercises for your chest.

Abdominals
For my lower abs, I always do hanging or lying leg raises. For my upper abs I always do full range of motion crunches on a very steep decline bench of about ,'#1, where I arch my bac% as far as possible bac%wards *hollow bac%+ at the bottom of the rep to fully stretch the abs, and arch my bac% as much as possible forwards *round bac%+ at the top of the rep to fully contract the abs. 4uring the crunch movement, my hip 5oints remain frozen, and the lowest part of my bac% remains horizontal throughout the whole rep. (his is by far the most powerful exercise for the abs that I %now. For both exercises I typically do 6 sets of 7# , 78 reps once per wee%. 4on.t waste your time doing million of repetitions of worthless exercises. 4on.t do any twists because they will damage your spine rather than giving you a small, muscular waist.

Forearms

For my outer forearms, I do palms,down dumbbell or barbell wrist curls. 2hen I do the wrist curls with a barbell I %eep my arms straight, when I do them with dumbbells I %eep my arms *elbows+ in an angle of 9#1. I always support my arms on a *preacher+ bench. $ometimes I finish with a few sets of standing reverse barbell curls.

Shoulders
I used to do many standing dumbbell presses and seated barbell presses on the smith machine when I was a teenager. However, now I only do standing dumbbell lateral raises *side delts+, bent,over dumbbell lateral raises *rear delts+, and standing one,arm dumbbell front raises *front delts+ because they really isolate the different parts of the deltoid muscle, while all press movements heavily involve the triceps muscles. 2hen I do dumbbell raises to the side, I sometimes do them one,arm at a time. 4umbbell front raises I always do one,arm. I never alternate left and right because I feel this violates the principle of continuous tension by giving too much rest at the bottom of the rep. I also li%e to do my one,arm dumbbell lateral raises while lying on my side on an slightly inclined bench as this puts extra tension on the muscle at the bottom of the rep, when the delt is fully stretched. 4on.t do any cable exercises for your shoulders. 4umbbell raises are the greatest to develop your delts. I %eep my arms slightly bent, and raise them rather high. Be careful not to give your delts any rest at the bottom of your reps. !ccasionally I do one,arm dumbbell upright rows, which is a great exercise for the side delt and upper trapezius.

Upper trapezius
fter my delts wor%out, I do one exercise for the upper part of my trapezius. I prefer one,arm dumbbell shrugs, because they really isolate the upper part of the trapezius and allow me to have the greatest possible range of motion.

Triceps
(here are many good triceps exercises. &y favorites are- parallel,bars or bench dips, close,grip ):,bar bench press, ):,bar triceps extension on a slight decline bench, lying dumbbells triceps extension, standing one,arm dumbbell triceps extension, and ):,bar cable triceps pushdown. (hese exercises are all quite simple to perform correctly, and target the triceps muscle from all different angles. ;ay attention that you don.t forget the principle of full range of motion.

Upper and middle back

(he best exercises for your upper bac% *lats+ are- wide,grip pulldown behind the nec%, mid,grip pulldown to the chest, <,bar pulldown to your middle, and %neeled one,arm cable pulldown. (he latter one is definitely the best lat exercise that I %now as it allows an incredible great range of motion, especially when you rotate your torso 9#1 during the movement. I used to do lots of pull,ups *chins+ when I was a teenager. However, as they don.t allow varying the weight easily, I stopped doing them. (he best exercises for your middle bac% *lower lats and trapezius+ are- barbell row, (,bar row, one,arm dumbbell row, and seated cable row. $ince my lower bac% in5ury I stopped doing bent,over barbell rows, (,bar rows, and seated cable rows, and replaced them by seated machine row, and lying (,bar row because these machines support the chest so that the stress comes off the lower bac% and legs. (his way these exercises also become more of an isolation exercise rather than a compound power exercise, which allows you to put more of your energy in the targeted muscle group. 2hile training your upper and middle bac%, it is very important to realize that you are training your lats and trapezius, and not your biceps. (herefore you should focus on arching your bac%, pulling bac%ward and downward your shoulders, and pulling together your shoulder blades during the up,phase of your reps, in order to obtain a full range of motion for your lats and trapezius.

Biceps
(he best biceps exercises are- standing one,arm dumbbell curl, and seated incline dumbbell curl. I always rotate my wrists during the reps to maximize the range of motion of the biceps. !nce in a while I do ):,bar curls, concentration curls, hammer curls, or preacher curls. I always ma%e sure that I don.t lose the tension at the top of the rep, and I never alternate my dumbbell curls because I believe this violates the principle of continuous tension by giving too much rest at the bottom of the reps.

Hamstrings
For hamstrings I do lying leg curls, seated leg curls, standing leg curls, and glute,ham raises. For the leg curls it is important to explosively curl the weight up and to strongly contract the hamstrings for a moment at the top of the rep, before slowly lowering the weight in a controlled fashion. =our %nees must be positioned exactly at the level of the rotation point of the machine, and the pads at the lower legs must be placed close to your feet. >lute,ham raises put a very strong tension on the hamstrings in their extended position, and give a great muscle pump and soreness. (hey have a similar effect on the hamstrings as barbell deadlifts do, but they are harmless for the lower bac% as they don.t put any stress on the intervertebral discs.

o!er back
(he only very effective lower bac% exercise that is 7##? safe for the bac%, is the hyperextension. 4on.t use too much weight, focus on the contraction of the muscles in the lower bac%. I would not recommend you to do any stiff,legged deadlifts or good,mornings as they can be very dangerous for damaging the intervertebral discs in your lower bac%.

Cal"es

(he best exercise for the soleus muscle is the seated calf raise. (he best exercise for the gastrocnemius muscle is the standing calf raise. (he latter I prefer to do one leg at a time, only using my body weight or holding a dumbbell in one hand. (he standing calf raise can also be performed on a machine, both legs at a time. However, I feel a better control of the muscle when I do each side separately.

#uadriceps
(he best exercises to build your quadriceps are the barbell squat, optionally performed using a smith machine, and the hac% squat performed on a plate loaded hac% squat machine. potentially interesting variant of these may be the front barbell squat, optionally performed using a smith machine. In all these exercises you have to go down as deep as possible to obtain a full quadriceps stretch *full range of motion+, and you have to avoid loc%ing out your %nees at the top of the movement to %eep the tension on the muscle. It is very important always to press with your heels instead of your toes during all squat exercises. However, many people are not able to %eep their heels on the floor when they squat deep, because their body structure doesn.t allow it. (hese people should put a wooden plan% of about " inches thic% *e.g. ' x "# x @# cm+ under their heels, and ad5ust the angle of the feet plate of the hac% squat machine. (he belt squat is a good alternative for the barbell squat for people with a bac% in5ury. (he barbell deadlift and the machine leg press are rather compound power movements for the legs. (hey are great power movements that can add to the overall development of the legs. However, because they are compound exercises, lots of your energy gets lost in supporting muscles rather than the quadriceps. In fact they are often considered to be more effective for hamstring and glute development rather than quadriceps development. !ne other disadvantage of the leg press is its limited range of motion, as the quads don.t get fully stretched at the bottom of the rep. Aeg extensions and sissy squats are not really suitable for building serious muscle mass, because they are rather unnatural movements that restrict the quadriceps to a limited range of motion. However, they are the only quadriceps exercises that are completely safe for people with lower bac% problems, because the spine doesn.t have to carry any weights. Aunges are another popular leg exercise. However, as they cannot really be performed according to the principle of continuous tension, I don.t consider them as very good mass builders, and therefore I do not recommend them. $ince my serious lower bac% in5ury at the age of 7@, I.ve only used one,leg hac% squats to develop my quadriceps. (hese put very little stress on my lower bac%, but put extremely high intensity on my quadriceps. By doing one leg at a time, I can put almost twice as much energy in each of my legs. fter @ sets of one,leg hac% squats *6 sets of 7# reps for each leg+ my quads have an incredible pump and are almost paralyzed from exhaustion. If my legs still allow so, I add an additional 6 sets of leg extensions or one,leg leg presses to squeeze out the last remaining drop of glycogen. (his usually is enough for several days of deep muscle soreness.

$nner and outer thighs

(he only exercise that really isolates the inner thighs is the thigh adductor machine. It is a natural movement for the inner thigh muscles, allowing full contractions and extensions of the muscles without sacrificing the principle of continuous tension. (he thigh abductor machine offers the best isolation exercise for the outer thighs and gluteus muscles. It is a great exercise to help define your outer thighs, and develop a pair of sexy, round glutes.

Conclusion
2e all have limited time and energy, but we all want maximal results. (herefore, it is extremely important to do only those exercises, which guarantee the strongest possible muscle growth stimulation. I see too many inexperienced bodybuilders wasting their time and energy doing exercises that are simple not suitable for any serious muscle growth stimulation. It is much better to do one effective exercise than four ineffective. part from doing the right exercises, it is of course also of crucial importance to perform them correctly. By following my guidance above, and by performing only quality sets according to the principle of continuous tension and full range of motion, it must be possible for everybody to generate sufficient intensity needed to stimulate some serious muscle growth. If you are not familiar with the exercises that I.ve mentioned above or if you have no clue about how they are performed correctly, visit the website muscleandstrength.com which has a very good database of over 8## free exercise videos with instructions.