The 5 Best Barbell Exercises For Increasing Mass

If you’re in the process of designing a workout program to help you generate more lean muscle mass on your frame, one type of exercise that you cannot leave out are the barbell exercises that will assist with mass building.

Barbell exercises are highly effective as they’ll allow you to lift more weight than most other movements will, therefore adding to your power and force generation capabilities.

Let’s give you a brief overview of some of the best barbell exercises that you should consider including in your workout routine.

1: Barbell Bench Press

The first of the exercises to think about is the barbell bench press. This movement is going to hit the chest muscles, the triceps, as well as the shoulders, and the bicep muscle will act as a dynamic stabilizer.

When performing the bench press you want to make sure that you extend but never lock the elbow into position and then also keep the lower back pressed flat against the bench. This will help prevent the development of lower back pain.

2: Barbell Squat

The second of the barbell exercises to consider in your workout program is the barbell squat. This movement is one of the best lower body strength builders and will hit the quads, hamstrings, as well as the glute muscles.

Be sure to lower yourself the full way down so that your bum is almost touching the ground if you want to see the most beneficial effects from the exercise. This will ensure that the glutes do get worked and maximize your strength development.

3: Barbell Bent Over Row

The barbell bent over row is the third of the bicep exercises that you should consider. This movement is going to hit the back muscles hard and will also assist with working the biceps as well.

The barbell bent over row should be performed with a stationary back position, which will make sure that you aren’t using momentum to carry you through the lift.

You can either use a regular grip, a close grip, or a reverse grip when performing the barbell bent over row exercise.

4: Barbell Deadlift

The barbell deadlift is the fourth of our barbell exercises to consider. This movement is going to be key for rounding out your lower body workouts as it will hit the hamstrings to a much larger extent than the squat will.

While performing this movement, think of squeezing up from the glutes at all times so that you are never calling the lower back into play. If you do that, you will end up suffering from low back pain.

5: Barbell Shoulder Press

Finally, last but not least, don’t forget about the barbell shoulder press. This exercise will finish off the upper body by specifically targeting the shoulder muscles. It’ll also work the triceps to a small degree as well, so will ensure that you aren’t missing any major muscle groups.

So there you have the main things to consider as you design your workout program. The importance of barbell exercises really cannot be stressed enough.

The Best 8 Barbell Exercises That Work The Most Muscle Groups (Compound Exercises)

1. Squats

2. Barbell Curls

3. Hip Thrusters

4. Barbell Dead Rows

5. Barbell Incline Bench Press

6. Landmine Thrusters

7. Deadlifts

8. Core Barbell Rollouts