When I joined my first gym years ago, I was excited like a kid on Christmas. Do want to know what exited me? Those beautiful machines. That’s right, I didn’t give a damn about big bulky free weights were connected to the squat rack, the bench press etc. My workouts were so easy, and since they were easy I was able to stay in the gym for hours at a time(that’s a subject for another time). After a few months, I notice that when I looked in the mirror and on the scale I wasn’t seeing any real progress.
After picking the brains of a few seasoned vets, I realize that I was just spinning my wheels. I was to that the pretty machines should be secondary(if at all). I was told I needed to bench press, shoulder press and dumbbell. There was also something called a dead lift. Well, obviously I didn’t want to die trying to pick up a weight, but I said “hell i’ll give it a try”. Once I made these my main movements in my workouts, after a few months I started noticing great progress. But I still felt that I could do better.
There was something called a squat. I knew what it was, but wanted avoid them with all cost. So I would heavy ass leg presses and leg extension, and thought that it would be sufficient. Guess what? Obviously I was wrong on my thoughts. I was called a ”sissy boy”. Yes a “sissy boy” for not squatting. So I finally decided to give the squats a try. Needless to say it was hell. But it helped everything come together.
Compound movements is the key to stimulate your large and small groups simultaneously. Compound movements should always be the meat and potatoes of your each workout.
These are the key compound movements:
1. squat
2. bench press
3. dead lift
4. dumbbell or barbell rows
5.shoulder press(military or standard)
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