What Are Some Compound Exercises to Build Muscle?

For most people, the primary reason for working out is to build muscle. And when you’re looking to gain muscle, you should rather focus on particular exercises that can help you build that.

The human body is the most complex machine known to date and is not easy to understand, let alone manipulate it to be how we like it to be. Growing or strengthening even a single muscle requires a perfect combination of significant physical work plus adequate nutrition.

But one thing that can be stated for the fact is that some exercises have proven to be more effective than others for building muscles. These are called compound exercises.

What Are Compound Exercises?

Compound exercises are physical activities that involve multiple muscle groups in each movement. Rather than focusing on a single point of the body, these exercises simultaneously impact multiple muscle groups.

Today, we will discuss some of the best compound exercises for muscle building.

Barbell Squats

This is one of the exercises that can benefit almost every muscle in the body, especially the lower body parts like calves, feet, quads, etc. While the activity involves physical movement of the entire lower body, it also needs assistance from the upper body parts like core and lower back, which means it can help strengthen muscles throughout the body.

The barbell squat helps strengthen important joins around the body and repair muscles.

As a side-effect of this energy-intense exercise, you can burn tons of calories in no time.

Since the exercise works throughout all the major muscles, it can make you very strong, very fast. Also, it helps improve body stamina, endurance, and overall strength, enabling you to work harder for a longer time.

For energy-intense exercises like barbell squats, it’s recommended to take a good quality pre-workout supplement like the BLOW pre-workout to raise your body stamina, energy levels to the max, and therefore enhance the muscle-building process.

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How to do it?

If you’re just starting, keep the weight low. It’s ideal to start with only the bar (about 45 pounds) on the squat rack.

First of all, your focus should be on acquiring the right form.

To begin with (in the first week), you can perform about 3 sets consisting of 10-12 reps in each set. Make sure to take a break of at least 2 mins between the sets.

Once you’re comfortable with the current routine, which may take about a week or so, it’s time to up your level to do 4 sets consisting of 7-9 reps per day for a week, and so on.

Depending on your choice, you can adjust the weight level on the squat bar.

Bench Press

The bench press is a more common exercise and followed by almost everyone looking to build chest muscles.

If you aren’t already doing bench press, it’s time to start now.

While the bench press is known to have the most impact on chest muscles, it also works on a range of muscle groups, including shoulders, chest, lower back, core and triceps, making you stronger and faster in no time. It can also improve your body stamina and muscle durability in the long run.

In general, how much you can bench is considered as a standard of your strength.

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How to do it?

In the beginning, your focus is on building the form.

To achieve that, put some lightweight on the bar and try to maintain a stable form while pressing. Make sure your hands are properly positioned on the bar. Perform 3 sets consisting of 12-15 reps, with about 2 mins break between the sets.

And when you start feeling comfortable, increase the number of sets per week.

To speed the recovery process, take a high-quality whey protein like the Pure Whey Protein by Limitless Pharma, which provides a high protein content and helps meet the added protein requirements of the body to build and repair the damaged muscles.

Overhead Press

The overhead press is a more complex form of the bench press, which involves pressing a weighted bar over the head using two hands/arms. The aim is to strengthen the shoulder muscles, triceps, and forearms.

The exercise also involves the use of core and legs, which makes it a whole body or compound exercise.

The overhead press exercise works mainly to strengthen the upper body muscles, which makes it ideal for anyone looking to get stronger above the waist.

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How to do it?

Based on your choice, you can perform the overhead press sitting or standing, however, I recommend doing it standing, as it involves more muscles.

In the beginning, perform the exercise with only the bar (without extra weight) to achieve the balance and form.

Once you’ve achieved that, you can add some weight to the bar and start doing 2 sets of 8-10 reps each day.

Compound exercises are the best when you are looking to achieve the overall fitness and work out on every major muscle in the body.