Top 5 Compound Lifts Beginners Should Never Ignore
We cannot help but imagine how some people find the will to rise early and hit the gym right away, every single day. Such rare species are often loathed with envy than showered with admiration because deep down, every one of us wants to find the discipline they so effortlessly adhere to.
Who wouldn’t like being healthy, looking ripped, and feeling fantastic throughout the day, but most of us fall short on the efforts. We chase the effects without putting in the actions required to reach the goal of optimum physical functionality.
The most common reason beginners quit exercise is the need for “instant gratification” and the inability to feel changes in their physical and mental state despite putting in hours of work, which is relatively more challenging for them.
Beginners need to understand that gaining muscle and strength is a long and enduring process, which tests both the body and the mind. Looking at exercise as a means to an end will lead to eventual boredom, which might lead you to despise it altogether.
Instead, one should approach lifting as an everyday investment that gives guaranteed results such as improved cognitive function, elevated mood, rejuvenated sense of self, and a much-needed sense of discipline that definitely transfers to other spheres of life.
Well Begun Is Half Done
Are you a rookie who is desperate to become a pro at lifting? We know it sounds cliche, but getting the basics right is what will keep you on the path to ensure success.
Here are five exercises that will provide you with the bang for your buck, help you gain confidence, muscle, and enjoy some great workout sessions of your life.
1. Pull-Ups
Pull-up is the exercise that most beginners dread due to their underdeveloped grip strength. Don’t shy away from doing half a pull-up or even just hanging by the bar initially.
It might seem like a worthless activity, but this very hanging is responsible for developing “grip strength” in the forearms, which is crucial for performing any weighted exercise that your fit self plans to perform in the distant future.
Pull-ups and their other variations, when done right, work a lot of muscle groups such as the biceps, shoulders, and the whole of your back; this helps you gain strength as fast as possible.
To give you a perspective on how essential pull-ups are, it is worth celebrating even when you can do just one. Because one single pull-up today ensures many fulfilling workout sessions in the future.
2. Squats
Squats are an absolute favourite of the majority of gym-folk for various valid reasons. Squats are an exercise that can single-handedly help you reach your muscle gain goals. Not only are squats the perfect exercise to measure the increase in your strength, but they also work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors that improve your posture dramatically. Squats work the lower back and the core, which helps you achieve the shredded look you yearn for.
Need more convincing to do squats? We have a lot of reasons to give.
Do squats work calves? Yes, they do. Calves that are otherwise too stubborn a muscle group to grow show significant growth with regular weighted squatting.
Squats reduce the risk of injury by improving your balance and mobility.
Squats burn calories! If you are someone who loves food, then you’ll love squats too. Apart from running and cycling, Squats are your best bet to burn calories and build explosive strength and athletic ability.
You say Squats; I hear Win-Win!
3. Bench Press
If squats are the measure of your lower body strength, the bench press is the measure of your upper body and core strength. It is the best upper-body compound exercise as it helps build strength in your chest, triceps, and shoulders. As three muscle groups are working together, the return on investment is undoubtedly high.
To work the whole of your chest, make sure to perform incline and decline bench press for upper and lower chest muscles, respectively.
A narrow grip bench press is another great way of working your triceps and forearms for maximum growth.
4. Deadlifts
The deadlift is an exercise that not many beginners are sure about. Doing them wrong can lead to serious back injuries. But, ironically so, when done right, the deadlift is the exercise that reduces the risk of injury to a great extent.
Beginners should first practice keeping their backs straight with just a barbell and then gradually increase weights so as not to feel excessive strain in your lower back at all.
Whenever you practice deadlifting with weights or just a barbell, make sure you engage your hamstrings and glutes rather than your upper body.
Still not convinced about going for your first deadlift? We won’t blame you for being scared, but where there is a will, there’s away. To convince you about deadlifting even further, let’s see the muscle group every deadlift works — forearms, hamstrings, glutes, calves, lats, traps, and abs.
A deadlift sure is an exercise that will bring you to life in the gym.
5. Barbell Rows
The back is one of the largest muscles in the body, consisting of multiple smaller muscle groups. As a beginner, your focus should be on engaging most of these muscle groups at once rather than performing isolated movements for each of them, which is time-consuming.
Barbell rows help you to work the whole of your back with a minimum number of exercises.
The barbell row, just like deadlifts, is to be performed with bent knees, a straight back, and the neck in line with the spine.
To avoid injury and maintain proper form, begin with lighter weights and perform slow and controlled movements for maximum muscle activation.
You also use the back glutes and legs to stabilize the body during barbell rows, so get ready to feel a spike in strength during your other lifts too.
Wide overhand grip, close overhand grip, and close underhand grip are the variations you can perform while doing barbell rows to isolate different back muscle groups.
It is natural to have inhibitions, confusion, and self-doubt as a beginner. Never let them come in your way. Lifting is a day-to-day approach where you have to take it one day at a time.
Execute these 5 compound lifts the right way, and you will be grateful that you started off right. Make sure you stick to a lifting schedule for maximum gains and don’t forget to mix it up a little.
Remember, exercise does not mean punishing your body for what you eat, but it is a celebration of what your body can do.