Bodybuilding develops a strong, muscular physique and should target every major muscle group. Free weights, strength-training machines and your own body weight can serve as resistance to build impressive muscle around your body. Complete a full-body strength-training workout two or three days a week, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Use an amount of weight that makes completing a set difficult, and complete three to six sets of six to 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Shoulders, Arms and Chest Weightlifting
Hold a dumbbell in each hand to perform shoulder-strengthening military presses. Raise the weights to your shoulders and push them above your head until your arms are straight. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand while sitting on the edge of a weight bench to perform biceps-strengthening concentration curls. Place your right elbow on your right inner thigh, straighten your arm to lower the weight, then curl the dumbbell toward your biceps. Alternate arms between sets. Target your triceps with skull crushers. Lie on your back on a weight bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Hold the dumbbells on both sides of your head, with your elbows pointing toward the ceiling. Straighten your arms to raise the weights above you. Strengthen your chest with bench presses. Lie on your back on a weight bench with your feet flat on the floor and your head below the barbell rack. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip and lower it to your chest. Push the bar above your chest by straightening your arms.
Core Weightlifting
Strengthening your core muscles --- your back and abdomen --- helps prevent injury to your back and spine. Stand behind a barbell placed on the floor and bend forward at the hips until your torso is parallel with the floor. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip and raise the bar to your abdomen, keeping your torso level with the ground. Use a Roman chair to perform abdomen-strengthening knee lifts. Stand in the chair with your elbows and forearms resting on the arm rests and your suspended legs below you. Bend your legs and raise your knees to your chest. Add more resistance to this exercise by holding a dumbbell between your feet throughout the exercise.
Lower-body Weightlifting
Target your hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings with barbell squats. Hold a barbell across your lower shoulders and bend forward at the hips, pushing your buttocks out behind you. Bend your legs until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Use a seated calf-raise machine to target your calves. Load the machine with the appropriate amount of plate weight and sit on the stool of the machine. Bend your legs and place your thighs under the padded leg rest. Raise your heels off the ground so that only the balls of your feet are in contact with the floor. Hold this position for one count. Target your outer calves by pointing your toes inward, or concentrate on your inner calves by pointing them outward.
Body-weight Exercises
Use your own body weight as resistance to perform body-weight exercises in conjunction with your weightlifting workout. Perform close-stance pushups to strengthen your triceps and chest. With the palms of your hands four to six inches apart and the balls of your feet on the floor, form a straight line from your head to your feet. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your nose or chin almost touches the floor. Use a chinup bar to strengthen your biceps, shoulders and back. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Lift your body upward by bending your elbows. Keep your legs bent to prevent them from touching the floor. Continue lifting your body until your chin is above the bar.
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