Best for Biceps - Standing Curl

A barbell with an EZ-bar is uncommonly more convenient, but this convenience actually turns into a minus: the inner short bundle of the biceps is “turned off” from work. And only an “uncomfortable” straight bar makes both bundles of the biceps biceps muscle work equally. For this reason, the working weight in the exercise in comparison with the EZ bar increases by 5-8%. So don't waste your time on curved bar lifts! This movement should be considered only as an auxiliary! Your main tool is the classic straight-neck barbell.

● Best for Chest Muscles - Dumbbell Bench Press

The activation of the chest muscles in the bench press increases significantly when the lifter switches from barbell to dumbbells. This is due to the fact that the straight bar of the bar closes the athlete's straight arms into a rigid "frame". As a result, the front bundles of the deltas are forced to join the exercise and take on part of the load. More precisely, they take it from the pectoral muscles. And who needs this? The dumbbell press has no such disadvantage.

● Best for Delts - Standing Dumbbell Press

Since the average beam of deltas sets the width of the shoulders, its buildup is considered the main one in bodybuilding. From this point of view, the bench press is unprofitable for a bodybuilder. The bar puts a power emphasis on the front bunches of deltas, even if you press it from behind your head. Only dumbbells load the middle bunch of deltas at 100%! Cause? You press dumbbells along the centerline of the body, and the bar moves either in front (bench press) or behind (behind the head press) of the body axis. The exercise can also be performed while sitting.

● Best for Triceps - Dips

Isolation exercises, in which only one joint works, as you know, do not grow mass. But that’s exactly what all triceps exercises are. They are accompanied by bending the elbows, and nothing more. Only push-ups and narrow bench presses work the shoulder joints and elbows. But push-ups are better because the exercise is performed with the targeted effort of the triceps.

● Best for Quads - Front Squats

So called squats with a barbell on the chest. Squatting with a barbell on your shoulders is much easier, but the “back” position of the projectile transfers a significant part of the load to the biceps of the thighs and buttocks. Aimed buildup of the quadriceps requires moving the bar forward relative to the axis of the body, i.e. on the chest. The load on the quadriceps at the same time grows by almost 25%!

● Best for hamstrings and glutes - Romanian deadlift

This is the name of the deadlift, which is done on straight legs from the middle of the legs. Here, the athlete no longer has to rise from the squat with the strength of the quadriceps, as in the classic version of the thrust from the floor. The exercise is limited to the final phase, when the torso is straightened by the hamstrings and buttocks. The aiming of the thrust, multiplied by the lethal weight of the rod, gives a quick and guaranteed return. With bending the legs lying down and comparing is ridiculous!

● Best for calves - Standing calf raises

Comparing calf raises while standing, sitting and tilted, scientists have found that the athlete is able to overcome the heaviest weight only in a standing position. The toe press did not stand up to comparison either, since it is an “inverted” version of the bent-over calf raises. So draw your own conclusions! Standing calf raises are the ultimate exercise for building cyclopean calves!

● Best for overall mass growth - Deadlift

Undoubtedly, the deadlift is the best exercise for gaining total body weight. It is very important to note that in the case of mass gain, the deadlift must be performed in a multi-rep style. In general, a pyramid of 12-13 repetitions in 6 sets is considered optimal. Correct exercise technique is important.

● Squats

Do you know what is the most difficult exercise for our body? That's right, classic squats! In order for the athlete to maintain balance and not tip over on his back, the body connects a huge array of stabilizing muscles to the legs. In particular, all the muscles of the body work to the limit, including the back, chest, deltas and even the muscles ... of the face! To cope with the weight of the bar, our body is forced to grow all its muscles in response to squats. Experimental training programs from squats alone are known, when an athlete gained up to 7 kg of total muscle mass in a few weeks!

● Best for Fat Burning - Free Weights

Scientists undertook to compare the energy consumption of squats and leg presses. Squats burned more calories for the simple reason that they engaged the stabilizer muscles responsible for body balance. When doing leg presses, there was no need for this, of course. So it turns out that any exercise with free weights will burn more fat. Exercise machines require a strong fixation of the body, and therefore "save" your calories.

● Short rest

The more calories you burn in training, the more fat you burn. So, how do you increase your energy bills? It turns out that you need to rest between sets not for 2.5-3 minutes, as usual, but only 30 seconds. In this case, the calorie consumption from the same workout will increase by 50%! In this case, the complex must be composed of exercises with a barbell, performed in the mode of 6-8 repetitions. In the case of heavy basic movements, fat burning will continue by inertia even after the end of the workout. The loss of adipose tissue will increase by another 5-8%.

● Best for Back Extension - Wide Top Pull

The researchers decided to find out which exercise most activates the latissimus dorsi. The real hit was the wide upper chest pull. The underdogs got the upper pulls with a reverse and neutral grip, as well as the vaunted wide upper pull behind the head, which even before the start of the experiment, the scientists predicted the laurels of the leader. By the way, this exercise could not even take second place. The second was a reverse grip pull.

● Weider's Best Principle - Forced Reps

The higher the intensity of the training, the faster our muscles grow! Bodybuilding knows many techniques for increasing intensity. They are also called the Weider Principles. Which one is the best? Forced Replays! But only in the new edition! In the past, you've done a few forced reps after a "failure" with the help of a partner. Now you should increase your usual working weight by 15%, and then meet the previous number of repetitions with the support of an assistant in the final set. Did you catch the difference? As science has established, with this method of performing strength exercises, the body of an athlete powerfully enhances the secretion of testosterone and growth hormone. Muscles gain strength faster and subcutaneous fat “burns” faster.

● The best for growing strength - "Pyramid"

According to the general opinion of the security forces, the “pyramid” is the best way to increase strength. That's just what? Here opinions are divided. Some say that you need to increase the weight from set to set so that the final set is the heaviest. Others argue that the first set should be the record, until the muscles have accumulated fatigue. Then you need to reduce the weight from set to set. Comparing both models in a practical experiment, the scientists made a categorical verdict: the ascending “pyramid” increases strength better when you increase the load stepwise. The explanation lies in the features physiological mechanism of the nervous system. On the path of the nerve signal, there are so-called. "motor bodies", which, following the example of capacitors, accumulate an electric potential in themselves. When it rises to the maximum, then the muscle effort will also become maximum. Thus, before setting a power record, you need “technical” sets that will maximize the tension in the “motor bodies”. Here is the best load growth scheme: 1 set - 50% of 10RM, 2 set -75% of 10RM and finally 3 set - 100% of 10RM.

● Best training time - Evening

It is better to train in the afternoon, when your body is finally awake and ready to respond to power loads with maximum secretion of hormones. Here is the data of the comparative experiment. Two groups of athletes of the same level trained according to the same scheme, however, the first performed strength exercises in the morning, and the other after 4 pm. After 2.5 months, the second group was recognized as the undisputed leader. She added more muscle mass (by 3%), and burned 9% more subcutaneous fat.

● The best exercise for the press - Twisting

It seemed that the main advantage of twists is their safety for the lower back. In fact, when doing crunches, your lower back stays in contact with the floor. A solid support saves the lower back from overexertion. Another thing, army corps rises. Here the lower back is actively working, and therefore, over time, the exercise becomes the cause of severe pain in the lumbar region. However, the most important thing is that twisting loads absolutely all the muscles of the abdomen, including both layers of the oblique muscles. But! Only if you do crunches