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All weight lifting routines must contain certain exercises in order to provide good results. There is a hierarchy of effectiveness when it comes to weight lifting exercises. And to obtain the best results, the most effective exercises must be included in all workout routines. Every muscle group has its own exercises that work out that muscle the best. So if you want to get the best results possible, no matter what your weight lifting goals are, all weight lifting routines you use must contain these exercises.
The most important body part in the body is the legs. The legs bring stability, balance and strength to the entire body. When it comes to weight lifting, the same holds true. In fact, if you have weak legs, it's hard to achieve overall muscular strength because of the importance it has to the rest of the body. There are many exercises that work out the legs effectively because there are many muscles in the legs. But these exercises are the best of the best: squats, leg curls, lunges, and calf raises. If you include these exercises in all you workout routines, you can expect to see stronger legs.
Another important muscle in the body is the back. The back brings stability to the upper body as well. But more important, it provides the upper body with a lot of additional strength. For some reason, the back isn't given the respect it deserves by weightlifters, probably because it isn't a muscle that grows very big or fast. However, this shouldn't impact how hard you should workout this body part. If you want a strong back, include these exercises in your weight lifting routines: weighted pull-ups, standing barbell rows, and deadlifts. With these exercises included in all your workout routines, your back will grow stronger than it has ever been.
The most important upper body muscle is probably the chest. Because of it's size and position on the body, it's a muscle that provides the upper body with most of it's strength. Also, it's a muscle that weightlifters define themselves on. If it's big and strong, weightlifters think that they are strong. If it's small and weak, weightlifters think they are weak. However, the importance of the muscle goes much further than personal thoughts and appearances. A strong chest can be obtained if you include these exercises in your workout routines: bench press, incline press, dumbbell flyes, and decline press. All weight lifting routines must include these exercises for the chest, otherwise results won't happen.
A final muscle group that many weightlifters love to target is the arms. The arms consist of three parts: the biceps, triceps and shoulders. This is most weightlifters favorite muscle because in most of their minds, big arms mean strength. Although this isn't necessarily true, it seems to affect most weightlifters as they put more time and effort on such a small part of the body. However, the arms are a crucial muscle because they partake in almost every exercise weightlifters do. For strong arms, include these exercises in all your weight lifting routines: barbell curls, hammer curls, weighted dips, tricep pushdowns, overhead press, and shrugs. As long as you put in good and equal effort to each of these exercises and include them in all your workout routines, expect to see good results fast.
Weightlifters must understand that achieving their goals means performing the correct exercises to effectively workout their muscles. That's why all their workout routines must contain the most effective exercises for each muscle group otherwise success cannot be expected. Whether you are exercising your chest or your legs, there are certain lifts that must be done over others because of how well they target that particular muscle. If you want to achieve your goals, make sure all your weight lifting routines include those exercises.
Using all of these muscle groups with heavy weights creates a positive hormonal response that can cause muscle growth throughout the rest of your body as well. Because of this the back squat rightfully deserves its place as the king of weight lifting exercises.
But sometimes we need some variety. Whether it’s because we’re bored with our current program, want to target specific muscles, or need to work around an existing injury, sometimes back squats aren't the best option. For these occasions there are some fantastic alternatives to the classic weight lifting exercise:
Front Squat
The execution of the front squat is very similar to the back squat, except that the bar is in front of the head instead of behind it. Make sure the bar rests on the front of the shoulders and that the weight is not simply supported by the hands, as this puts unnecessary stress on the wrists and limits the amount of weight that can be used. You can have the hands under the bar with the elbows pointed straight out in front, or simply cross the arms and put the hands on top of the bar. Either variation is fine as long as the weight is stable and relatively comfortable.
The advantage of the front squat is that the body must maintain an upright posture in order to avoid dropping the weight. This means you can't use as much weight as with a back squat, but you’ll put more targeted stress on the quads, and less on your hamstrings and glutes.
Zercher Squat
This is one of the least used, but one of the most effective squat variations. To perform this weight lifting exercise, begin standing with your arms at your sides and your elbows bent to 90-degrees (like the mid-point of a biceps curl). From this position put the bar in the crooks of your elbows and clasp your hands together in front of you. If the bar is hurting your elbows (and it will if the weight is heavy enough) then you can place a thick towel or other padding between the bar and your skin.
From this position you simply squat down until the bar touches the tops of your thighs and then stand back up. This is a great weight lifting exercise for the lower and upper back, as well as the quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
Split Squat
This variation is very similar to a lunge, and is often referred to as the Static Lunge. Whatever you call it, it’s a tremendous weight lifting exercise for the legs. Set-up with one leg 2-3 feet in front of the other. From this position, squat down by bending the knees of both legs until the knee of the rear leg softly touches the floor and then stand back up. This can be done with a bar on your back or dumbbells held at your sides. Don’t change legs or bring the feet back together until you have completed the set, otherwise you’ll be doing a lunge.
The leg in front will bear the brunt of the weight, but the rear leg also gets a good workout. Because of this, make sure to recover adequately before changing legs.
Use these variations along with a well-designed training and nutrition program and you will gain muscle in no time!