5. Bodybuilding - Compound movement

In bodybuilding there are three movements that everyone wants to know how well you can do. They are bench press squat and dead lift these three movements are the foundation to every thing you can do in the sport. Even people that know nothing about lifting weight will always ask you “What your bench press” these three movements are compound movements and as I said earlier they employ more muscle and so generate more results.

I prefer for beginners to do only compound movement since they will result in the greatest changes the quickest. Let’s talk about what they are; 

Chest                 Bench press   

Shoulders          Shoulder press; (I prefer dumbbell as this employs the fear factor) 

Back thickness Seated rows; (bent over rows are better but harder to teach without injury.)
Back width        Lat pull downs medium grip to the front of body at the neck
Abdominals       Hanging leg raises with bent leg; there is no advantage to straight leg
Front of thigh    Squats, but I teach the leg press machine, unless you have knowledge already of the squat.
Rear thigh         Bent leg dead lifts or lunges;
Calves               Donkey calf raises; this is old school but some gyms have a machine that you can use for them.
Triceps               bench dips; or close grip bench press to save the elbows
Biceps                There really is no compound movement for the bicep I suggest the ez- curl bar or straight bar 

                          (some people create forearm injuries form the ez-curl bar) your bicep will get a lot of work 

                          from any pulling motion like back work
Forearm             hammer curls; to this day this is my favorite exercise.

Ok now that we know the exercise lets find out how to do them. Let’s start with the king of upper body movements the bench press. This movement is done by taking the weight off the rack with arms fully extended (see photo to left). Take a deep breath as you lower the weight to the position at your chest.

As you push the weight back to starting position you exhale. Remember breath out when resisting gravity in when you allow gravity to move the weight. To return to starting position is one single rep.

The shoulder press is done starting with the weight eye level and pushing the weight up until your arms are extended. I think it’s important to know that in no exercise do you full extend any joint elbow shoulder or knee. To go from the start position to extended and back to start is one repetition. This exercise is shown with dumbbell but is most often done with a barbell. Most bodybuilder use a lifting belt with exercise that compresses the back like shoulder press and squat. Some bodybuilders use a lifting belt for all exercise. I would suggest always using a lifting belt even though I may not.

Seated rows are sometimes said to be back width exercise I think this is true but if used correctly it will definitely work the back thickness. This is done from a cable machine, bent over rows are the only free weight comparison to seated cable rows, but they are difficult to teach over the internet. The start position is with the arms fully extended and the contraction is with the cable pulled all the way to your chest. When doing this movement make sure that you don’t lend back or forward and that you lower back stays arched. If this exercise is done with a straight bar it is a back thickness exercise which is my goal here. Even though the picture shows the exercise being done with a V-bar you should do this exercise with a straight bar.

The next back exercise is the Lat pull down. I think it important to know that “Lat” is short for latissmuss dorsi the largest single muscles in your body. This exercise is don from a lat machine if  you don’t have one some people use simple pull-up with the palms facing out as a replacement. Pull ups are much more difficult to do. By now I think you can follow the star and finish of the exercise just by looking at the diagram, there is just on caution. DON”T DO LAT PULL DOWNS BEHIND THE NECK it’s just not safe, if you have a trainer and he tells you otherwise drop him, find another trainer quickly.

For the abdominal you must do the hanging leg raise; the diagram shows this movement be done from a pull-up bar but most gyms have a machine which allows you to do this with a lot more comfort. This exercise works just the lower stomach which is where most people have their problem. When doing the seated rows I said keep your lower back arched, with exercise I want you to keep your lower back rounded only let your legs down as far as you can and maintain a rounded lower back.


 

I will give you a diagram of both the squats and the leg press but will only describe the leg press. The reason for this is the difficult in getting the form correct over the internet. I would suggest the squat only be done if you have an experience trainer there to teach you. Some things just can’t be done over the web. Teaching form for an exercise is one. The fist diagram shows the squat (on the left)

The exercise that I would like you to do is the leg press it is shown in the diagram on the right. This is the movement I want you to do unless you have an experience trainer telling you other wise.

Lunges work the rear of the leg. There is an exercises that may work the leg better (stiff leg dead lifts) but It can cause injury. Some people believe that leg curls are a better exercise for the rear leg. Leg curls are isolation movements and therefore don’t do what they need to in the way of anaerobic development. My observation of the bodybuilders with the best rear legs development is that all of them do lunges. This is what is known as anecdotal observation or training.

Anecdotal training the foundation to my way of lifting, I don’t pay as much attention to what I learn as I do what I see. Caution should be made when training anecdotally, often what you think you see you don’t When doing lunges it is most common to do this exercise with dumbbells at your side rather than a barbell on your shoulder as shown in the diagram. Many bodybuilders do this exercise outside in the gym’s parking lot for set of about a hundred yards ( one football field) I would suggest that if you can not do this in a parking lot, if you are restricted by space that you do this exercise in an alternating manner. You would step out with your left leg and push back with the same leg so that your feet return together at the starting point. Then do the same thing with your right leg. When you have done both legs you count that as a single rep.

Donkey Calf Raises are possibly the best mass producer for your lower leg this is an old school exercise that has gone away for the most part but if you want results it should be added into your workout. Unless your gym has the best equipment you will have to have a partner to do this exercise. The problem with this is that your development is dependent on the weight of your partner. The photo above shows both with a partner and without one .

I took me almost 10 years to understand how important this exercise was. I never got anything form this exercise so I never did it. The result was I always had lagging triceps this is among the simplest exercise to do and if you should reach the point where you no longer get a pump from the exercise have a partner put a 45lb plate in your lap for added resistance. In the last year I added this to my workout and now for the first time in my life my arms are over 18” what was I thinking?

I guessing if you know nothing about bodybuilding you know the basic movement the barbell curl. When your daughter or in my case grand daughter say “Pop Pop make a muscle” she doesn't what to see me flex my chest or legs she wants to see my bicep. More than any other muscle on your body this is the show muscle. People want to see that full muscle and towering peak they want biceps. And the way to developing that full bicep is the standing barbell curl. Even though its an isolation movement its included here because there is no compound movement for the bicep. Learn this movement it makes you look great in a tight fitting t-shirt and the women love the result as well.

Last but not least is the hammer curl; sometime called the zotttman curl by the old school lifter this movement when use following barbell curls will help you develop tremendous arms it is a must for anyone wanting to develop the grip strength. When done correctly you hold the dumbbell at the bottom and squeeze so that the bar does not slip in your hands. Some people do these curls across the body I don't like that because it causes you to swing the weight but either way is correct. When looking at this exercise please note the position of the dumbbell. The thumb stays pointing up throughout the movement.