Physical strength is one of the most necessary attributes that makes our life easier when it comes to lifting, pushing or pulling something heavy. If you want to build the great strength in your bones and muscles, there are plenty of strength training exercises that you can do to achieve that. So, in this article, we will discuss about 8 best strength training exercises that you should include in your workout sessions to make your bones & muscles denser as well as stronger.
Every exercise is different from each other & works for different muscles so you can add all of them in your routine. Moreover, if you have planned to be powerlifter in near future, these exercises will be your stepping stones. Let’s know all of these best strength training exercises.
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What Type of Exercise Makes Our Muscles & Bones Strong?
Many novice gym-goers are confused by the fact that how to do endurance training, how to exercise for strength building & how to train for muscle. Well, in short, training with light weight with high repetitions such as 15 & up is endurance training. 8 to 12 reps with moderate weight is optimum for muscle hypertrophy that means this is best for building muscles.
Lastly, for strength building, you have to lift heavy enough to forcefully make your muscles & bones strong. So, heavy weight with low repetitions like 5-8 is great for strength building but with longer rest period (3-5 minutes). If you go super-heavy, you can lower your reps to 3 or less. But, in the initial stage, we recommend you to go for heavy weight with 5-8 reps. Let’s know all these best strength training exercises that you must perform in this condition to build superhuman strength!
Deep Barbell Squat
There is a reason why Squat is called the “King of all exercises”. It is the single best exercise to develop your overall lower body from glutes & quads to hams & calves. And, when it comes to building strength in your whole body, Barbell Squat can stand toe to toe with Barbell Deadlift. That’s why powerlifters & strongmen often measure their strength by performing one-rep max of deadlift or squat. So, you better add this one of the best strength training exercises named squat if you want astonishing brutal strength in your physique especially in your lower body.
Just like the powerlifters, perform the barbell squat as deep as possible to put extra emphasis on your muscles especially glutes & core area for extra strength! As this is a compound leg movement, always start your leg day with heavy barbell squat of low repetitions such as 5-8 for building explosive strength. Make sure, you have a good spotter besides you while squatting to stay safe.
Conventional Deadlift
Deadlift is not only one of the best strength training exercises but also one of the most effective back exercises. When it comes to strengthen your every back muscle along with the spine, there is nothing better than this exercise. Deadlift is truly the best for providing that brute strength and overall back development as this exercise hits every back muscle from your traps to your calves.
Always do Deadlift at the start of your workout sessions to lift enough heavy weight with low repetitions (5-8) for building incredible strength & massive size in your back. Remember, your last set should be your maximum weight in every single session! In that way, you can achieve tremendous lifting strength for sure!
N.B. Don’t forget to warm up properly before going for heavy weight exercises otherwise, injury would be your best friend!
If you want to try some deadlift variations for learning better form & mobility and to get other muscles worked, read this article to know more.
Barbell Bench Press
Want a big, muscular & of course, strong chest? Than, you must include this exercise in your chest workout sessions as Bench Press is the single best exercise for building chest as well as one of the strength training exercises for huge upper body strength. After Squat & Deadlift, Bench Press is certainly the best compound exercise out there so it is no secret why these three are often called as “Big Three” of all exercises!
Because, you are going for strength, you have to perform Barbell Bench Press with heavy weight & low repetitions such as 5-8 for getting maximum strength in your chest, shoulder & triceps. So, make sure you are doing this exercise in the start of your chest day when you are fully energetic. And, just like deadlift & squat, your last set should be done with your maximum weight.
Overhead Barbell Shoulder Press
Now, it’s time to strengthen your shoulders & what could be the better exercise than Barbell Shoulder Press? Nothing obviously! This is another excellent compound exercise for building strength in your overall shoulders such as delts & traps.
Again, as you are exercising for strength, go for heavy weight with low repetitions like 6-8 in the start of your shoulder workout. As usual, the last set should be your heaviest. So, never miss doing Overhead Barbell Shoulder Press in your shoulder workout sessions if you really want next level pushing strength with big delts & traps!
Bent-Over Barbell Row
When it comes to rowing exercises for back, we always perform them with heavy weight because without the proper overload, it will be worthless. And, Bent-Over Barbell Row is the best rowing exercise in its family because not only you can lift heavy weight easily with that exercise to build huge strength in your overall back muscles but also this great exercise provides thickness & size to the back muscles. So, you should include this outstanding overall back builder as well as one of the best strength training exercises in your back sessions.
If you perform deadlift in the start in your back day, you can add Bent-Over Barbell Row after that to lift as much weight as possible so that you can go for 8-10 reps in order to gain great strength & thickness in your back.
Pull Up
It is no secret why Pull up is one of the best bodyweight exercises. It is not only one of the best strength training exercises but also hits every muscle in the upper back as well as in the shoulders and biceps. It requires great strength in your forearms & shoulders to pull your whole body in order to perform a perfect pull up. So, start pull ups today to build massive strength in your forearms, shoulders & back.
Pull ups can be best performed with 8-12 reps so always go for that. If you have already mastered the pull up & can do a lot of pull ups in a single set then go for weighted pull up by which you can put more pressure on your muscles & bones to make them stronger than ever!
Sledgehammer Slam/Tire Slam
This is more like a functional strength training & less like a traditional strength building exercise. But, with this movement, you will build other-worldly grip strength, sexy vascular forearms with strong & big shoulders as well as upper back.
With this exercise, your core will also be worked out. Moreover, it’s considered a great cardio exercise too! So, this is an outstanding movement not only for pure strength but also for an overall fit & athletic body. So, hit the tire with the sledgehammer until the tire is tired as well as you!
Farmer’s Walk/Farmer’s Carry
Farmer’s Walk is a very basic yet one of the best strength training exercises as you have to just lift a weight and walk for a while. It is said that you should lift the half weight of the weight you deadlift. For instance, if you can deadlift 250 lbs, you should do Farmer’s Walk with 125 lbs divided by two in each hand.
You can carry each dumbbell in each hand or you can carry a Trap bar too which would be better & walk for at least 100 feet. In this way, as you progress, you can go for further distances with heavier weight. If you want insanely strong forearms, shoulders & core then you should better perform Farmer’s Walk thrice in a week.
Bottom Line…
Therefore, these are the 8 best strength training exercises that you can include in your workout sessions to make your bones & muscles incredibly strong. All of them are great for different types of muscle groups so you should include all of them without any hesitation. Just keep in mind that lift heavy with repetitions as low as we have described earlier. While lifting heavy, focus on the form & keep a good spotter or partner beside you to help if necessary. Anyway, we hope that you have found this article about best strength training exercises helpful enough. If it really so then don’t hesitate to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for visiting & appreciating our work.