Your Workout Needs This Type of Exercise to Build More Muscle

YOU WANT TO build muscle, and you want to do it without spending an eternity in the gym to use every single piece of equipment. For efficient workouts, you need to program exercises that provide you the most bang for your buck.

Compound, or multi-joint, exercises require the recruitment of multiple muscle groups at once to perform, which allows for greater muscle stimulation. Think about it: Does it take more to do a biceps curl or a chinup? To do a biceps curl, you’re zeroing in on your biceps by moving at the elbow joint. To do a chin up, you’re moving that same joint, the elbows—but you’re also using your shoulders and working your back muscles, forearms, and core, too.

Taking on moves that result in greater muscle recruitment means you’ll build strength, joint stability, stamina, and muscle more efficiently. That’s why compound exercises should be the centerpiece of everyone’s workouts—but especially for those looking is to build muscle. Here’s what you need to know.

What Exercises Should I Do to Build Muscle?

The key to muscle building is progressive overload, the training principle that requires you to increase the training stimulus so that your muscles adapt. You can do this by increasing volume (reps), or changing temp to ramp up time under tension, but of the best ways to do is to increase the amount of weight to train heavy.

“Training heavy, safely and efficiently, has many benefits,” performance coach Curtis Shannon, C.S.C.S. told Men’s Health. “Heavy training challenges the muscles not only concentrically but eccentrically.”

Compound exercises move through at least two joints at the same time, using several muscle groups to complete the rep. Since more muscle groups are being utilized, you’re able to move a lot of weight—which can result in more muscle building. The big ticket lifts you can use to do this are squats, deadlifts, chest presses, and pullups. If you’re looking for more compound exercises to add to your routine, here are a few of our favorites.

“Most of the time, when done correctly, compound movements could involve the entire body,” Don Saladino, NASM, celebrity trainer and MH Advisory Board member, told Men’s Health. “When you look at an exercise like a squat, even though traditionally people are using this as a lower body movement, there’s so many other body parts that are being involved.”

How to Use Compound Exercises

Compound exercises can be done anywhere, anytime—but when you’re loading them up with heavy weights, you’ll most likely need to be in a gym.

“There’s so many different ways that you can set up compound movements, to where it can be incredibly user friendly,” said Saladino. “I don’t care if I’m programming up a routine that’s twice a week or five days a week—I’m including some form of a compound movement in every workout.”

To start, stick with three to five sets of five to 12 reps, depending on the load. For your heaviest sets, keep the reps low—you’ll be able to push heavier for a smaller amount of reps (and even just five reps has been scientifically proven to spark muscle growth). Program your compound exercises before any isolation moves, like biceps curls, triceps pushdowns, or ab crunches to complete your most energy-taxing work first (although there can be exceptions).

Continue to ramp up the challenge by progressively adding load, or adjusting other factors like tempo or adding rep schemes like drop sets to add more volume.

4 Key Compound Exercises to Build Muscle

Squat

WHY: Squats just might be the compound exercise of all compound exercises. The range of motion through both the hip and the knee allows for maximum muscle recruitment of the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. The core and back also work to stabilize the body and load. Plus, there are tons of variations to change up the exercise’s focus.

How to Do It:

• Begin by ducking under the bar and placing it across your upper back—avoid placing it on your neck. Create tension across your lats and mid-back as you grip the bar.
• Straighten out the knees to unrack the bar and take a step back. Place the feet slightly wider than shoulder-width.
• Push your butt back and bend your knees, as if you’re sitting back into a chair. Keep your core engaged to keep your chest tall.
• Lower until thighs are just lower parallel to the ground, or as your mobility allows. Maintain your gaze just in front of you. Push back up with your weight evenly distributed through your feet.

Barbell Bent-Over Row

WHY: Even though you’re only technically moving through the elbow and shoulder in the barbell bent over row, your entire body is challenged thanks to the positioning. Your core, back, and lower body all work together to maintain the bent-over posture, saving your lower back (if your form is correct). Don’t have a barbell? You can execute the same way with dumbbells or kettlebells.

How to Do It:

• Approach the bar as you would a deadlift: stand with your feet about hip-width apart, then push your butt back and hinge at the hips to bend over and grasp the bar.
• Keep your head in a neutral position, and squeeze your glutes and core to create tension.
• Raise your torso slightly to raise the weight off the floor.
• Move at the elbow and shoulder to row the bar to the top of your ribcage. Aim to ‘break’ the bar against your chest, pausing in the top position if you can.
• Control the weight back down to the starting position, maintaining your posture.

Bench Press

WHY: Sure, you might be laying down on a bench press, but if you’re executing the move with proper form, you’ll feel it just about anywhere. This compound exercise mostly targets your chest muscles, but also crushes the triceps and helps to hone the strength and stability of the shoulders.

How to Do It:

• Lie down on the bench with your feet flat on the ground. Keep your glutes engaged, and tighten up your core by thinking about squeezing your belly button back towards your spine.
• Start with the barbell or dumbbells directly over your shoulders. Inhale as you lower, think about creating a 45 degree bend in your arm pits. Keep your forearms perpendicular to the ground.
• Exhale as you press up.

Deadlift

WHY: If you’re looking for a move that lights up your whole body, look no further than the deadlift. Since you’re using practically every muscle in your body—your back and core muscles help stabilize the weight, your forearms are taxed to grip the bar, and your big lower leg muscles do the bulk of the work—you’ll be able to move some serious weight here.

How to Do It:

• Start with your feet about shoulder-width apart under the bar. Your shins should be close to or actually touching the bar.
• Push your butt back and hinge at the waist to bend down to grab the bar on either side of your legs. Grasp it in both hands using an overhand grip.
• Make sure your hips are lower than your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to straighten out your spine, pulling the slack out of the bar.
• As you pull the weight up, keep the bar close into the body. Squeeze the glutes until your shoulders, hips, and knees are all stacked on top of each other.

Want more dedicated tips to help you build muscle? Check out the MH Ultimate Guide to Muscle-Building, which features the advice, exercises, and training plans you need to achieve your goals.