It can be frustrating when you spend hours in the gym for weeks or even months and end without any visible muscle gain results. However, with some creativity and incorporating the right exercises, you can get your muscles moving. If your target is to build muscle and achieve that chiseled physique, here are some exercises you should focus on.
1. Arnold Press
A variation of the shoulder press exercises named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Arnold press focuses on building shoulder muscles. The Arnold press works the upper body’s main muscles, including the delts, triceps, and trapezius, using dumbbells. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a bodybuilder and seven times winner of the Mr. Olympia title designed his own unique exercises and twists to the overhead press that proved effective in building muscles.
Arnold press can be done when standing or seated. Hold the dumbbells with palms facing towards you, biceps in a curl position. Twist the dumbbells in 180-degrees and push them up overhead, do an overhead press with the palms facing forward, then bring them down slowly to the starting position with the palms facing you and upper arms parallel to the floor. While at it, tuck your hips, squeeze your glutes, ad brace your stomach
This exercise helps with lean mass development, strength building, posture improvement, shoulder mobility, and stability.
2. Squats
This exercise incorporates muscles in your lower body, that is, the legs, causing your body to release anabolic hormones responsible for stimulating protein synthesis and muscle growth. It is a physically demanding exercise that will stimulate your appetite and help you gain muscle fast. Add dumbbells to the squat variations to help pop the muscles.
You need to perform this exercise correctly lest you place harsh compression on the joints and spine. The correct way to perform it is with your legs apart and at shoulder-width level, eyes straight ahead, then bring down your glutes as close as possible to your ankles. Squeeze glutes and tighten the abs to power yourself back up, then repeat the reps.
3. Pull-up
This exercise can be somehow intimidating when starting, but it is excellent for working your upper back, biceps, and shoulders. You need to have a horizontal bar for this. You can buy some pull-up bars that are easy to fit on the doorframe for home use.
The correct way to do this is by grabbing the bar with both hands in an overhead grip, thumbs wrapped around the bar. Start with a dead hang, folding your legs if the bar is lower, squeezing the bar as you engage your core and the muscles in your upper body. Then, pull yourself up till your chin is at the bar level or even clears it before slowly lowering yourself back down and into that dead-hand position that you started with. Repeat the reps severally.
4. Deadlifts
It is common for the forearms to get fatigued and give out long before your back does. For complete back exhaustion, you will need a decent set of lifting wraps. Deadlifts is a powerful exercise that is perfect for stimulating the release of growth hormones.
To start, load some comfortable weight on the bar, keep feet at the shoulder-width level and toes pointed forward. Go down in a squat position till your shins touch the barbell, eyes ahead, back straight, hips in a natural position, focus exploding upwards as you drive your heels and stand with the bar. Push your hips forward when the bar is about knee level, contract your back, pull your shoulder blades back, pause and hold, and then slowly lower the weight.
Endnote
Incorporating these exercises into your weekly workout routine will help you maintain and gain muscle. Muscle will not only look good on you, but you will also have strength and stamina, control body fat, manage body sugar, build bones, and support joints. Muscle gain comes with tons of other health benefits.
