Building muscle is not achieved simply by stacking as many plates as possible on a barbell and repping out as many squats as you can. There’s a reason many men struggle to gain muscle mass.
It’s a fine science encompassed by lifting heavy, yes—but also by sleeping properly, fueling the body effectively, and training smarter, not harder.
Pushup
Why: The pushup challenges your entire body—if you’re doing it properly. The plank position maintained throughout the movement challenges the core, shoulders, and back as you press using the chest and arms. This exercise is easily done anywhere, and can be scaled up or down based on ability. Try slowing down the lowering portion of the movement, or adding a plate to your back for extra challenge.
How to Do It:
- Start in a high plank position, with your hands stacked under your shoulders, toes on the floor, and a flat back. Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes to create tension.
- Bend your elbows to lower your torso down to just above the floor. Don’t allow your elbows to flare out; keep them ‘glued’ to your sides.
- Press off the floor back up to the top position, extending your elbows.
How to Train It: Do 3 or 4 sets of as many good-form reps as you can. “You can easily take pushups to failure,” says Samuel. “The worst that will happen is you’ll plop to the ground on your final rep.” You can do pushups daily or with any upper-body workout.
Deadlift
Why: Deadlifts are more practical than you’d expect. Think about how many times a day you bend over to pick something up, or to tie your shoes. We mimic these motions in deadlifts, with the utilization of big muscle groups like your glutes, hamstrings, and spinal muscles. It’s an exercise that you can quickly load up big weight, once you get the form down. Plus, there are tons of variations to keep the movement challenging as you progress.
How to Do It:
- Step up to the loaded barbell, starting with your feet about shoulder-width apart (this might vary by your anatomy and personal preference with experience), with your feet 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 set your lats, then engage your core. Keep your neck in a neutral position; don’t look up.
- Push your feet through the floor and pull the weight up, keeping the bar close to your body. You might find that you scrape your shins with the bar, that’s okay. Invest in long socks or wear pants. Squeeze your glutes at the top of the list, but don’t lean back.
How to Train It: Begin with 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps to start. As you progress, you can begin adding the load and working with lower rep schemes to build up strength.
Goblet Squat
Why: “The squat is a fundamental motion that all people should understand,” says Samuel. You can easily conform them to whatever equipment you have available to you, too—utilize a kettlebell, dumbbell, or medicine ball to perform a goblet squat. This squat variation provides an extra core and shoulder challenge that other forms don’t emphasize.
How to Do It:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the weight in front of your chest with both hands. Squeeze your shoulder blades to create mid-back tension to help support the load and brace your core.
- Push your butt back, then bend your knees to squat down as low as you comfortably can while maintaining the proper upright posture. Push your knees out and keep your core engaged; don’t rest your elbows on your knees.
- Press off the floor with both feet to stand back up, squeezing your glutes and exhaling at the top.
How to Train It: Aim to do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps of goblet squats, and don’t be afraid to go heavy, says Samuel: “Whatever the biggest dumbbells are in your gym, work up to those.” It’s a great way to start a leg workout. You can also use a lighter weight, aim for 15 to 20 reps per set, and do it at the end of your workout.
Reverse Lunge
Why: The reverse lunge is the ultimate entry point into single-leg training, in which you focus on just one limb at a time. Build up this fundamental exercise, and you’ll work through muscle discrepancies and build single leg strength.
How to Do It:
- If you have dumbbells or kettlebells, hold them by your sides. Keep your torso upright by rolling the shoulder blades down and back. Maintain tension here to not let the weights roll your chest forward.
- On each rep, you step back, bend both knees, then power back to standing position.
- The moment you power back, you’re blasting your glutes and driving into “hip extension,” a position that’s critical for athleticism—and can protect your lower back, too.
How to Train It: You can do reverse lunges with only your bodyweight daily, building athleticism and blasting your quads and glutes. To forge serious muscle size and strength, do reverse lunges with heavy dumbbells or kettlebells held at your sides. Aim to do 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps per side—and complete all reps on one side before going on to the other.
Chinups
Why: The chinup is an expression of relative strength, as you work to pull your bodyweight up to the bar. This move challenges your lats and your biceps—and if you’re doing it right, your core will work hard, too. Like the pushup, you can scale up by adding an external load.
How to Do It:
- Grasp the bar with an underhand grip. If the bar overhead is too high for you to grab from a standing position, step up to get a grip.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades, abs, and glutes to get into position. Maintain this tension throughout the set.
- Pull yourself up until your head is over the bar. Keep your hanging plank position strong.
- Slowly lower back down to the starting position.
How to Train It: Aim to do 3 or 4 sets of as many good-form reps as you can at least twice a week.
