Barbell exercises are among the best workouts because they improve your fitness without requiring you to spend hours at the gym. The barbell is your best friend to increase strength and size quickly. Compound lifts, which involve more than one joint and create tension through different muscles and movement patterns, are necessary for strength. They also stimulate thousands of nerves, assisting you in becoming more robust.
Back Squat
This exercise is beneficial and efficient because it targets the lower body. However, learning it can be difficult at first because you must move around while remaining stable.
- Set the barbell on your traps, with your feet shoulder-width or slightly wider apart. These are the broad, flat muscles that run across the top of your back and the base of your neck.
- With both hands facing forward and elbows pointing down, grab the bar. Your arms should roughly form the letter ‘W.’
- Bend your knees and push your hips back.
- Maintain a straight back and a tight core. When your buttocks are just below parallel to the floor, come to a halt, push through your heels, and return to the starting position.
Deadlift
This exercise targets the back, glutes, and hamstrings. This is how you do the exercise:
- When the bar is on the floor, roll it so that it is almost against your shins.
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders.
- Your toes should be pointing forward or between 11 and 1 p.m.
- Bend your knees slightly and your hips a lot as you grab the bar just outside your legs.
- To lift the bar, brace your core and push your hips forward while pulling your torso back and up.
- Make sure your knees aren’t too bent, your hips aren’t too low, and your torso is straight.
Front Squat with a Barbell
When the bar is in front of you, as in a front squat, you must adopt a much more upright posture, with your hips dropping straight down and your knees bending forward significantly. The front squat engages both your quads and your core.
This is how you do the exercise:
- Stand directly under the bar with your feet parallel and the bar resting on your collarbone and gently pressing against your throat to prepare for the front squat.
- Grab the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, elbows bent and forward, palms up, and fingers close to your body.
- Stand up straight and walk backwards away from the squat rack.
- Set your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and turn them out 20 to 30 degrees.
- Lower yourself into a squat by pushing your hips back and bending your knees, with your knees slightly out to the sides.
- Push through both feet to get back up. Make one repetition.
Barbell Press with an Angle
The barbell overhead press is one of the most difficult barbell exercises to master. Moving a heavy object overhead necessitates a great deal of shoulder mobility as well as a strong core. This is why novices should begin with the angled barbell press.
This is how you do the exercise:
- Place the end of a barbell on a towel in the corner of a room. Place a towel between your barbell and a wall.
- If your gym has a ‘land mine’ attachment, you can use it instead.
- Grab the barbell with your right hand and hold it near your right armpit. Stand shoulder-width apart with your feet shoulder-width apart, your knees slightly bent, your core engaged, and your back straight.
- Push into and up on the bar until your elbow cannot move any further.
- Return the bar to its original position gradually.
Bench Press with a Barbell
The bench press is an excellent exercise for improving your overall pressing strength by working your chest, shoulders, and triceps. When done correctly, your lower body and midback should noticeably improve.
This is how you do the exercise:
- Lie down on a bench with a barbell rack set up to the height of your wrists when your arms are stretched up to the ceiling.
- Position your body so that your eyes are directly beneath the barbell.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together and down; arch your chest upward and plant your feet firmly on the floor.
- Remove the bar. and bring it to your chest, keeping your shoulder blades down and back, and your lower body active.
- Your elbows should be bent so that your arm is about 45 degrees away from your body in this position. as well as straight-up forearms
- Raise the barbell to your shoulders until your arms are completely straight.
