Any type of resistance exercise can help build muscles, but there are some that do a better job than others. These are known as compound exercises. Unlike isolation exercises, compound exercises cause you to use more than one joint and more than one muscle group. This leads to an abundance of muscle fiber recruitment and a gain in size. To effectively gain muscle with these exercises, use the heaviest weights you are capable of lifting.
Bench Presses
Bench presses are done on a bench with a weighted barbell. They place a primary emphasis on your chest muscles, with a secondary emphasis on your shoulders and arms. Lie faceup on the bench, and grab the bar with a wide grip. Push it off the supports, and suspend it straight above your chest, with your arms extended. Slowly lower it down, until it lightly touches your chest. Push it back up, and stop just short of locking out your elbows. Repeat for a set of reps.
Pull-Ups
Bench presses are a pushing exercise, and pull-ups are a pulling exercise, as the name implies. These recruit your back, arms, upper chest, shoulders and core, all at the same time. Jump up, and grab a pull-up bar with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. Bend your knees, and cross your legs behind your body. Pull yourself up, and try to get your chest to meet the bar. Slowly lower yourself down, and repeat.
Military Presses
Military presses are shoulder-specific exercises that also work the arms and core. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and hold a barbell at upper-chest height, with your palms facing forward. Your hands should be placed on the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Push the bar straight above you, driving hard through your core. Stop just short of locking out your elbows. Lower the bar back to your chest, and repeat.
Dips
Dips are a triceps exercise that also recruits the lateral delts (sides of shoulders) and upper chest. Line two benches up parallel to each other and slightly wider apart than the length of your legs. Place your hands on the edge of one bench, and place your heels up on the other bench. Lower your butt down toward the floor by bending your elbows. Stop when your elbows form a 90-degree angle. Push back up, and repeat. Do not fully lock out your arms when you rise up in the air.
Twist Curls
Twist curls work your biceps and forearms, and they are performed with dumbbells. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and hold the weights down at your sides, with your palms facing in. Lift the dumbbells up, and twist your wrists, so your palms are facing your chest. Squeeze for a second, lower the weights back down, and repeat.
Deadlifts
Deadlifts are an exercise that targets your quads, back, glutes and hamstrings, all at the same time. Stand behind a weighed barbell, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees and hips to lower your body toward the floor. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip, look forward, and stand up while holding the bar. Let it rest on your thighs for a second, lower it back to the ground, and repeat. Make sure to keep your back straight throughout the exercise.
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