Effective Weight Lifting Exercises
For Building Muscle

I'm going to be quite honest here, if you want to build muscle, your going to have to lift heavy weight using effective weight lifting exercise and proper form and technique.

There’s no getting around this. If you want to build muscle, you will need to apply the appropriate amount of resistance to your muscles. You will need to use simple compound movements. Compound movements are weight training exercises that use more than one muscle group to complete a lift.

By using effective weight training exercises, such as with free weights and compound movements, you force your body to work harder. By forcing your body to work harder, you add more stress to the targeted and supporting muscles.

If you are a beginner, I suggest you use a combination of free weights, machines and body weight exercises. In order to lift heavy, you need to establish the correct form and balance. This takes time, practise and patience.

Building muscle 101 has compiled a database of exercise, which are listed below in order to give you an idea of how each exercise should be performed, complete with illustrations and descriptions.

Now, I've also decided to include video samples of each exercise outlined below. I think it's important that you see, exactly how each exercise is performed. With that in mind, you may want to check out the video exercise page, located at this page:

Weight Training Exercise Videos

If you're looking for outstanding weight training routines, please see Building-muscle101's weight lifting routines. You'll find beginner, intermediate, advanced, specialized, and dumbbell routines on that page.

Also, if you are interested in weight training ipod workouts, click here.

Always remember to include a warm up (5 to 10 minutes) using an aerobic activity, followed by 5 to 10 minutes of stretching in your weight lifting exercise routine.

Simply follow the descriptions and illustrations below for accurate guidance. Also feel free to print off whatever exercises you may need. Building muscle 101 has a book with all the exercise illustrations and descriptions. It migh be handy for you to simply print off a copy and take it to the gym with you. Click here to see the book.

Exercises

Flat Bench press
Flat bench press with dumbbells
Flat bench dumbbell flyes
Incline bench press
Incline dumbbell press
Parallel bar dips
Decline dumbbell bench press
Incline dumbbell flyes
Dumbbell pullover
Cable cross overs

Exercises

Bent over rowing
Wide grip chins
Lat machine pull downs
Low cable pulley rows
One arm dumbbell rows
Dead lifts
Shrugs
Good mornings
Hyperextensions
T bar rowing
Dumbbell Deadlift

Exercises

Press behind the neck
Seated dumbbell press
Side lateral raises
Alternate front dumbbell raises
Bent over laterals
Arnold presses
Single arm dumbbell lateral raise
Single side cable lateral

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Exercises

Squats
Leg press
Leg extensions
Hack squats
Dumbbell lunges
Dumbbell squat
Sissy squat

Exercises

Lying leg curls
Stiff legged dead lifts
Dumbbell stiff legged deadlifts

Exercises

Standing calf raises
Seated calf raises
Leg press calf extensions
Standing one legged calf raises
Donkey calf raises

Exercises

Standing barbell curls
Seated alternate dumbbell curls
Concentration curls
Preacher curl
Incline dumbbell curl
Standing dumbbell curls
Flat bench lying dumbbell curl
Under grip close hand chin up

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Exercises

Close grip bench press
Lying triceps extensions
Standing cable press downs
Seated over head barbell extensions
Triceps kick backs
Triceps bench dips
Overhead rope extensions
One arm dumbbell extensions
Seated triceps dumbbell extension

Exercises

Crunches
Knee ups
Hanging leg raise
Incline knee raises
Incline sit ups
Roman chair sit ups

Exercises

Reverse barbell curl
Wrist curl
Reverse wrist curl

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