High yield exercises are comprised of compound movements which work more than one large muscle group at a time. As an example, to thoroughly train the legs, you might use several exercise machines such as the leg extension, leg curl, ham-glute machine and the standing calf raise. A high yield exercise that hits those same leg muscles, plus the abdominal, lower and upper back musculature, is the back squat.
Squat
The back squat, where the barbell rests on the shoulders, involves several major muscle groups of the legs and trunk to not only move, but to stabilize, the weight. You can do squats, which is a natural movement similar to sitting in and getting out of a chair, in a variety of set-rep schemes depending on your exercise goals. To increase muscular mass, work more sets with five reps or less. To increase muscular endurance, work fewer sets with higher reps of 12 or more.
Dip
The dip works the chest, front of the shoulder and arms. The dip is a body weight exercise where you grasp two parallel bars at waist or chest height and support your weight with the arms, taking the feet off of the ground. You then lower your body as far as possible and then raise to the starting position with the arm straight. For building mass, use several sets of up to five reps and add weight by holding a dumbbell between crossed ankles. To increase muscular endurance, do as many dips as possible in each set for up to 10 sets.
Pull-Up
The pull-up works the arms, shoulders and upper back muscles. To do a pull-up, grasp an overhead bar with palms facing away you. Using only your arms, pull yourself up toward the bar until your chin goes over the bar, then slowly lower to the beginning hang position.
Pull-ups are challenging for many and you may need additional assistance getting the chin over the bar at first. Tricks to do this are to jump up or use a box to increase the starting height and then control the descent. One method to increase pull-up strength is to use a timed ladder set. With this protocol, you use a timer and attempt to match your pull-ups to the 60-second round. For example, you do one pull-up in the first minute and then rest for the remainder of the minute. As the second minute starts, do two pull-ups, then rest for the remainder of the minute. This continues until you can no longer complete the required number of pull-ups in 60 seconds.
References
- "Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder;" Arnold Schwarzenegger and Douglas Kent Hall; 1993
- "The Navy SEAL Workout: The Complete Total-Body Fitness Program;" Mark De Lisle; 1998
