The 3 Most Important Exercises To Build Muscle Fast

The 3 Most Important Exercises To Build Muscle Fast

WARNING - WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

When you enter the gym, there are umpteen machines, cables and contraptions that you can use to start working out. Often, beginners are intimidated with this wide selection of sculpting machinery, yes, sculpting machinery, cause a bodybuilder is a sculptor and his/her body, the sculpture. The sculptor must find the right tools to chisel the frame he/she so desires. 

Now, coming to the tools. There are dumbbells, cable machines, assisted machines, barbells, kettle bells and plenty more. You need to find what triggers the maximum muscle growth. Now, don't be dejected, the body is made up of muscles and muscles follow an exact science, the science of physiology.   Physiology is the branch of biology that deals with the functioning of body parts of living beings. By understanding the physiology of one's body, one is able to incorporate a range of muscles into a single exercise or isolate a particular muscle. These exercises are termed as Compound Exercises and Isolation Exercises. 

The human body incorporates multiple muscle groups to achieve any single movement. My question to the sculptor is as follows, "If the body is physiologically designed to incorporate groups of muscles to execute any movement, would it be smarter to work muscles in isolation or in tandem?". If you think, the answer is the latter, please read on. If not, I urge you to read on, maybe you'll change up your current routine. 

Let us proceed. 

What are Compound Exercises?

Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at one time. A great example of a compound exercise is the squat exercise, which engages many muscles in the lower body and core, including the quadriceps, the hamstrings, the calves, the glutes, the lower back and the core.

Wait a minute, one single exercise, working all these muscles, is it possible? The answer, yes! It is only right to harness its awesome power and see your body grow, become stronger, more agile and explosive. 

I wont get into any more technicalities, because I am not a professional, its a passion for me, so I would encourage everyone to do their own research, deep dive if you must! 

The Big 3 - Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift

To sculpt the physique, the sculptor must have a reasonably sized rock to work with. Compound exercises, help you pack on lean muscle and ensure that the progress is being made by all muscle groups involved in that particular exercise.

The three main compound lifts are the squat, the bench-press and the deadlift. Firstly, I would recommend not using any assisted machines when you first start going to the gym, simply because it makes things easier and you deny yourself the ability to feel the muscle. If you've been going to the gym for any period of time, you would have often heard people talk about the Mind-Muscle connection. This connection can be fine tuned through Compound Exercises, it will teach your body to to feel all the muscles being incorporated in that movement. The beauty lies in executing these exercises with correct form! The more precise the form, the more intense the Mind-Muscle connection. These exercises burn more fat and build more calorie-torching muscle.

In strength training and fitness, the squat is a compound, full-body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quadriceps, hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body. Squats are considered a vital exercise for increasing the strength and size of the legs as well as developing core strength. Squats are typically used to tone back, thigh, and hip stability. Isometrically, the lowerback, the upper back, the abdominals, the trunk muscles, the costal muscles, and the shoulders and arms are all essential to the exercise and thus are trained when squatting with the proper form.

 Deadlift refers to the lifting of dead weight (weight without momentum), such as weights lying on the ground. It is one of the few standard weight training exercises in which all repetitions begin with dead weight. There are several positions one can approach when performing the deadlift, which include the conventional deadlift, squat, and sumo-deadlift. In most other lifts there is an eccentric (lowering of the weight) phase followed by the concentric (lifting of the weight) phase. During these exercises, a small amount of energy is stored in the stretched muscles and tendons in the eccentric phase if the lifter is not flexible beyond the range of motion. Although this exercise uses the hips and legs as the primary movers, it can just as easily be considered a back exercise. The dealift works the entire posterior-chain, which I will write about in another blog.

Finally, The bench press is an upper-body strength-training exercise that consists of pressing a weight upwards from a supine position. The exercise works the pectoralis major as well as the supporting chest, arm, and shoulder muscles such as the anterior deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis, scapulae fixers, trapezii, and the triceps.

In the three above mentioned exercises, you must use a barbell, while other weight holding mechanisms may be used, the most genuine movement will be done with a barbell.

These exercises are extremely taxing on the body and must be done with the right form, this is where the beauty lies. These exercises are highly fat burning, I know I've mentioned it before but I feel like i cant stress it enough. You don't need to do a high number of sets or reps, a simple 5x5 routine can be followed to begin with. I will explain this program in another blog. For the time being, chose one exercise for your gym session that day, hit 5 sets consisting of 5 reps. Do the sets and reps with the exact same weight and with precise form. I repeat do not use assisted machines to do these exercises as it will not work all the muscles being incorporated in that movement.

I hope this finds you well and helps you achieve that frame, which you can go on to sculpt any way you like!

For any queries reach me at itsutsavojha@gmail.com, ill get back to you ASAP!

Our actions in this lifetime, echo across eternity!