Weekly
Topic
Weekly
Topic
Jim Cipriani's
2008
Total Body Transformation Journal
Week 9
Weekly Topic
Week Ending: Saturday, April 5, 2008
MY TOP 10 MUSCLE BUILDING EXERCISES
If you could only do ten exercises for the rest of your life, these would be the ones to do. This list covers your entire body from head to toe and these exercises will build more muscle than any others.
1. Squat- Squats have long been called the king of all exercises by many lifters and for good reason. If you want a pair of powerful, tree trunk sized legs you absolutely have to include squats in your program. Squats stimulate growth not only in the legs but throughout your entire body.
2. Bench Press (Flat or Incline, Dumbbell or Barbell)- When it comes to developing the muscles of the chest and triceps, dumbbell or barbell bench pressing at both angles are the exercises of choice to get the job done fastest.
3. Deadlift- No other exercise works more muscle groups from head to toe than the deadlift. If you want to build a huge, muscular back and traps then this is the exercise you need to do.
4. Chin-Up/Pull-up- This is the premier lat building exercise but will also add size to your biceps, shoulders and forearms. The difference between a chin-up and a pull-up is that your palms are facing you during a chin up and away form you during a pull up.
5. Bent Over Row (Dumbbell or Barbell)- When it comes to developing a thick back that stands out from the crowd, heavy rows are where its at. Barbell versions are excellent with dumbbell being a worthy alternative. Either option will add slabs of muscle to your mid back.
6. Military press (Dumbbell or Barbell)- There are few things more impressive than a set of bowling ball sized shoulders and the exercise that can make this happen quickest is the military press. Barbell military presses allow you to use more weight but dumbbells are safer and more comfortable for anyone with any kind of shoulder problems.
7. Clean & Jerk/Press- This exercise will build massive amounts of size throughout your entire upper body; especially your traps, upper back and shoulders.
8. Parallel Bar Dip- This exercise has been called the upper body squat and
can add enormous amounts of muscle to the triceps, shoulders and pecs.
When it comes to developing huge arms, the parallel bar dip is perhaps the
most effective exercise there is.
9. Close-grip Bench Press - Any type of pressing is the best choice for triceps development. Being that both Dips and Bench Presses made the list, it is only fitting to include a closegrip version. Once you have the heavy pressing and dips covered, then you can worry about including some isolation movements such as pushdowns and extensions.
10. Curls (Barbell or Dumbbell) - The biceps are just about everyone's favorite muscle group to train because everybody wants a huge pair of guns. The problem is most people do too much bicep work and neglect the big exercises like squats, presses and chin ups. You will never build big arms just by doing an endless amount of curls. As great as curls are, you must think of them as the icing on the cake of well rounded mass building program. As stated above, biceps get worked during all chin up and row variations. The inclusion of a curl exercise is enough for most people to build an impressive set of arms.
Week 9
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