Best Workouts for Legs, Arms, Shoulders, Chest, and Back

Every time you hit the gym you need to have a plan of attack. It is important to know exactly what you are going to do for multiple reasons. Personally, when I go to the gym I do not like to take longer than 2 hours of weightlifting. Sometimes, I will stay longer than 2 hours if I am doing cardio or decide to play basketball. If you do not know what you want to do, you will spend a long time thinking of things to do, or even find yourself talking too much to other patrons. I want to tell you about some of the best lifting strategies and some of the best workouts for all of the parts of the body.

Let's start off with everyone's favorite day, LEG DAY!! Legs exercises are so important because you do not want to be that person in the gym who does arms everyday. Unfortunately, leg exercises are not people's favorites because of the after effect.

1) Squats - This should be one of the predominant lifts in your exercise. Squats work multiple muscles which means it is a major lift. To get the best results from your squat workout, do this exercise at the beginning of your workout. It is a major muscle group exercise with multiple joints working together. If you do this at the beginning, you will be rested and you will also be able to move the most weight. Doing this exercise when you are fatigued, such as at the end of a workout, will prevent you from getting the most out of this lift.

2) Superset: Leg Extensions and Leg Curls - A superset is when you finish one workout and then transition right in to the second workout without taking a rest. After your first set in the first exercise, go to the first set in the second exercise. These two workouts are great together because they target the same area of the body, but different muscles. Leg extensions works your quadriceps, while leg curls work your hamstring. These workouts are great because they can give your legs a pump. I would suggest doing 5 sets of 20 repetitions on this exercise. Doing these workouts with a low amount of weight is ideal so you can control the weight and move it slowly. This allows your muscles to fully extend and contract which will grow the muscle the most.

Secondly, I want to talk about arm and shoulder exercises. I like to do both of these target areas on the same day because you can do different exercises and not be affected by either in your workout.

1) Barbell Bicep Curl - This type of curl is an advanced workout because it is done with free weights and you have to control the weight the whole time. This exercise should not be done if you have shoulder or back pain because it is very easy to do wrong. A barbell curl should not be done with large amounts of weight at the beginning. Once you have evolved in your lifting, you will be able to add larger weights such as 35 lbs. on each side adding to a total of 115 lbs. I would suggest starting off on this exercise by doing either just the barbell or adding 10-15 lbs. on each side. This exercise benefits immensely from performing the repetitions slowly and allowing your muscles to extend out.




2) Close-Grip Bench Press - This is a great tricep exercise. Like squats, this should be done near the beginning of your workout so you can post great numbers on this exercise. A common misconception about the close-grip bench is that people place their hands too close together. Your arms should be directly above your shoulder, possibly in a little in closer. When you contract your arms, they should come straight down as opposed to the side in a bowed manner. If you go out in a bowed manner, you run the risk of wrist injury. I speak from experience when I say this because I in fact performed this exercise incorrectly for a few weeks when I began doing it until a gentleman had corrected me. 

3) Arnold Dumbbell Press - This press exercise is for your shoulders. It was created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, as you can tell from the name. The Arnold Press is performed by starting with the weights at your chest facing you. When you begin to press the weights up, twist them in ending with your fingers facing away from your body. This exercise is great because it hits all the muscles in the shoulder. With this exercise, you will not be able to do as much as you normally would on a regular dumbbell press due to the twist.

4) Upright Barbell Row - The upright barbell row is an exercise that targets your shoulder muscles. It is one of the most common workouts done for shoulders. This exercise should not be done with super heavy weights because of the stress that it could put on your shoulders. In your shoulders there are a lot of small muscles that can be easily damaged if worked too hard.

The last and final two target areas are the chest and back. I love doing these body parts on the same day because they are either exercises that are a push, or a pull exercise. This means that they target different areas of the body. A common thing among lifters you will hear is, "what's your bench". Bench pressing is great for the advanced lifter who knows the proper form, but can possibly cause more harm that good. Therefore, I mentioned it, but I will not be discussing it more today.

1) Dumbbell Fly - The fly is a great exercise to increase your chest size. If done properly, your entire chest will grow. It is important to keep a little bend in your elbow on this exercise, but to keep that flex the entire repetition. At the top of the lift do not clank the weights together because that will reduce the tension in your muscles.

2) Straight Arm Dumbbell Pullover - This workout is great for increasing overall chest size. It is best performed slowly, with a full range of motion, and a slight pause at peak of contraction. To do this exercise, click on this link for an explanation as it is rather difficult to explain.

3) Barbell Row - This exercise is similar to the upright barbell row that we discussed in the previous section. The difference with this exercise is that your hands are wider apart and you are using different muscles to pull the weight. You should place fingers so that they are facing your body, and you need to pull the weight to your hips using your middle back muscles.

4) Dumbbell Row - This is similar to the barbell row except you are using dumbbells. Believe it or not, this workout is beneficial to do in a superset with the barbell row. In the barbell row you can do heavy weight, and then lighter weight on this workout. Form on this exercise is key because it should be done slowly, really emphasizing the flex of your muscles.




I hope you can take some of the workouts I have discussed today and incorporate them into your workout plans. If you ever need any advice on exercises feel free to comment below.