So, you want to get strong? I can’t blame you, it’s something that you can never actually get too good at. Just think, can you ever be too strong? What’s even better is that the stronger you get, the more muscle you are going to build and the better you will look, given that your diet is in check of course.
But where to start? With so many exercises to choose from it can be a little bit confusing knowing which is going to give you the best bang for your buck. I’ll give you a clue, you can scrap the idea of these exercises being cable based or machine plate loaded. They have their place, but not if you’re solely looking to get strong. So, what’s next? Dumbbells? Not quite, but they are a great tool to get strong, just not the best. That leaves barbells (you know where this is going now don’t you), which means the exercises are going to be heavy and hard but oh so rewarding.
I recommend if you really want to see progression in strength and size then you eat in a calorie surplus. This will allow your body to repair itself optimally and give you the best chance of getting as strong as possible. Let’s look at the first exercise.
The barbell squat
Come on now, you were never going to read an article that had ‘best for strength’ in its name and not come across the squat, were you? Not everybody likes the squat and I can understand why, it's hard, not just on the body but also on the mind. You have to fall in love with squatting, you have to do it enough times to see the benefits it has, which is difficult because everyone wants a quick fix to get strong, but there isn’t one.
The benefits
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Massive release of growth hormone and testosterone, more than any other exercise
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It’s a great calorie burner! The squat uses nearly every muscle in our body, meaning it burns a tonne of calories!
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It’s a mass builder. As the squat uses a huge amount muscle to get from point A to B, you are stimulating nearly every muscle in your body when performing it, meaning muscle growth everywhere!
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Increases flexibility and mobility, we all need some more of that!
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Increase in core strength. The lower back, spinal erectors, obliques and abdominal wall all are engaged during the squat.
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Nothing engages the quads, hamstrings and glutes more than a squat! Meaning if you really want big legs, you need to squat!
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It has a massive carry over of strength to other exercises such as the hamstring curl, leg extension , leg press etc.
The flat barbell bench press
This is probably the one you were hoping for. Does anybody not like a bench press? Think of it as the upper body squat that has the potential to add slabs of muscle onto your chest, shoulders and triceps.
The benefits
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Huge pectoral activation, if you want to grow your chest, you need to be benching!
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Indirect activation of the triceps and front deltoids. As secondary muscles in the bench press, your triceps and shoulders will also be working hard to move the weight. Don’t be alarmed if you see some growth in your shoulders and triceps from increased frequency of performing the bench press.
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Strength carryover onto all pressing movements. As with the squat, the stronger your benching gets means that the likelihood of your other pressing movements increasing goes up as well.
The deadlift
There is possibly no cooler feeling than ripping a heavy deadlift off the floor and locking it out, making that weight yours. I feel like a lot of people simply think you just need to pick the weight up (in any form possible), lock it out and drop it to have it deemed as a proper rep. This simply isn’t the case so please learn how to deadlift with correct form before attempting anything heavy. The benefits of the deadlift are great, but it also comes with a high risk of injury.
The benefits
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Much like the squat, they release a huge amount of growth hormone and testosterone when performed.
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An increase in grip strength. If you can avoid using straps for as long as possible, then there is no greater exercise that strengthens the grip. Are you really going to have a weak grip if you are pulling 200kg off the floor?
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Huge muscle activation. Just like the squat, you aren’t just activating the muscles in the back when pulling, meaning total body muscle growth.
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It's going to build you massive glutes, hamstrings, lats and traps, who doesn’t want that?
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As with the other two exercises, the carryover of strength onto pulling movements is going to be noticeable.
