The 10 best exercises for muscle, strength and power

Number ten; the bent over row

The bent over row

The bent over row

This exercise is very effective at developing the thickness of the back. It can also develop tremendous amounts of pulling power. The difference with the chin-up is that you pull horizontally with this exercise. There are quite some variations to this exercise and as always variety will give you the best results. I can advise experimenting with different variations of this exercise since most people have their own preferences with this exercise. Pick a variation that you are comfortable with and that allows you to move allot of weight. Focus on good form and full range of motion. Add 10kg to your BOR while on a caloric surplus diet and you will see your back muscle bulging! This exercise is also really good to develop the back of the shoulder. It is very common for the back of the shoulder to be underdeveloped and the bent over row is a great way to cure that problem.

All compounds and explosive movements!, I like to call this list the explosive compounds list for that fact, and because of the explosive growth they produce! :)

Now as you can see this list only contains big compound movements. Most of the movements are for strength development, but there are some explosive exercises in there too! Now explosive exercises really carry allot of benefits for the human body, but before you start performing them you should have a solid foundation of strength. They are not for beginners, and you will need to study and practice their techniques even more than the strength exercises. The exception to these rules is sprints. Most people can perform sprints from the day they start training. I do not advise you to do so because you should first perform the squats & milk and the rippetoe program exactly as how I described them. Now you know that explosive exercises are not for beginners it is time to unleash the most critical part of this article;

TECHNIQUE!!

All these exercises are really effective for creating a sexy ripped body. They are really effective at injuring you for life too when they are not performed correctly. I can’t even emphasize engouh how important it is to learn the right techniques. If you are a beginner and are just starting to work out you should first make a list of all the exercises that will be in your first program. (squats & milk for example). Now before even starting the program you should look up all these exercises on the internet and carefully read (or listen, youtube!) how to perform them the right way. After you have done your home-study you have to go to your gym. You will bring your exercise list to the instructor and tell them you need to learn all those exercises. He will probably gladly help you, and start practicing the techniques with you. Now remember that your program has not even started, so it is not about the weights or about increasing weight, you should focus entirely on getting the technique right. After all exercises are explained to you, thank the instructor and go home. Do more research on the web, and find out what you did wrong and what you could improve. After that go to the gym again, find another instructor, (or the same, depending if he wants to go through all that hassle again) and practice the exercises with him again. Repeat this cycle for a few times until you think you understand the techniques enough to start the program. While on your first program you will be increasing weight very rapidly, so you should still have an instructor rate your technique and make sure your form stays perfect. Most of my clients need about 5-7 sessions of practicing technique before they can start their first program. This is really one of the best investments you can make because you will be using these techniques every time you work out. Always remember that the form of your exercise is more important than increasing the weight. If you can’t perform the exercise perfectly when increasing the weight, don’t increase it. Don’t break this rule or this rule will break you. When starting your second program you should get a list of the exercises again and meet up with the instructor. You will learn the techniques much quicker this time because you’re used to weightlifting techniques. (Most exercises have very similar technique, and the same rules apply to most exercises.)

Happy lifting!

 

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Tagged with: exercises, training fundamentals
Posted in Training Fundamentals
7 Comments » for The 10 best exercises for muscle, strength and power
  1. Ricky hardgainer says:

    Great article man, I did not knew dips and chin-ups were so good for you. Neither did I know that sprints are so good.

    Thanks

  2. Maisyn says:

    Very valid, pithy, sucicnct, and on point. WD.

  3. Rowdy says:

    I was seirosluy at DefCon 5 until I saw this post.

  4. Jaylen says:

    Son of a gun, this is so hlepful!

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