The best all-around body-sculpting workout is one that is going to concentrate on the big lift exercises such as the squat, bench press, deadlift and standing military press. These exercises are known as compound exercises and are very effective at building muscle mass because they work out more than one muscle simultaneously. As well as working the arms and legs, they also offer core work to the back and abdominals.
Squat
Place yourself under the barbell of the squat rack, then put a barbell across the back of your shoulders and neck. Keep feet shoulder-width apart and slightly pointing out. To perform the exercise, squat down to a point at which your butt is in alignment with your knees, feel the tension in your buttocks and upper legs, then come back to the starting position, as shown by the ExRx website.
Bench Press
Lie under the bar on the bench press rack. Take a medium-width grip on the bar, then lift it up, keeping the arms nearly locked. To perform the exercise, lower the bar to a point at which it nearly touches your chest. Pause for a moment, then raise the bar straight up. Breath in on the downward motion and out on the upward motion, as noted by Bodybuilding.com. This will work the chest and also the arms and shoulders.
Deadlift
Stand in front of the bar with feet shoulder-width apart. Lean down and grip the bar with an over-hand or mixed hold at least shoulder-width apart, but wider if it is more comfortable for you. Lift the bar to full extension, pushing out your chest and shoulders back at the top of the motion. Be sure to always keep your back straight and head up. Lift and feel the burn in your legs.
Standing Military Press
Position barbell at neck height on a rack. Grip the barbell with overhand grip shoulder-width apart. To perform the exercise, take the barbell off the rack and position in front of your neck. Now push up until your arms reach full extension and hold for a moment before returning to start position. Feel the burn in your shoulders, arms and upper back.
Implementation
Warmup sets for each exercise should be five in total, ranging from two sets of five reps with just the bar, then one set of five, three and two reps of increasing weights leading up to the work sets. Following the famous Starting Strength workout, noted by Bodybuilding.com, the work sets of the squat, bench press and standing military press should be three sets of a weight comfortable enough to do five reps without assistance. The deadlift is one set of five reps.
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