Help! I'm New! - Best Exercises for Building Muscle

A common question among beginners in the gym is- What exercises are best for building muscle?


A great question. I hope that I can answer this question thoroughly so that you can go to the gym and have confidence in your exercise selection.


First things first, as always, we need to recognize that every single person starting at the gym can be coming from a different place. We are all unique. Some of us have been exercising for a long time, others are brand new. Some young, some old. Some active, some inactive. Tall, short. Small, large. Men, women. Motivated, unmotivated. Healthy, injured. We are all unique so the rules, may differ slightly amongst us.


In this blog, I will write for the majority of us. Following this advice will do you well, with minor alterations as needed.


If you are brand new to the gym, recovering from a severe illness, or if you’re a teenager, pretty much anything you do in the gym will build muscle! Yes, there is a ceiling to how much muscle you can build, but nearly everything works initially for these groups.


If you’re not in one of these groups, or if you’ve found that you’ve hit your ceiling, this is the point where we need to begin to answer this question.
​

Exercise Selection

For building muscle, the best thing we can do for success is to pick the right exercises. Generally speaking the best exercises for muscle growth are large compound movements. These are movements that require several muscles across multiple joint to work. Typically there are some muscles making the moment happen while other stabilize. Examples of compound movements are Squats, Presses, Deadlifts, and Pulls. Sound familiar? 


When we use compound movements we are able to use our full body. Ranges of motion are often large. Many muscles are contributing to the pattern. They’re dynamic. Because they are full body movements we tend to have a lot of ability- ability to control and handle fair amounts of weight…Which leads us to the next points.
​

Tempo

When it comes to building muscle, one of the best factors that we can manipulate is speed. Working slow controlled movements is a great way to stimulate muscles growth. Slow movements, loading the muscles through their fullest range of motion, and creating force with control is a recipe to ensure muscle growth while lowering the risk of beginner inefficiencies.
​

Load

Like Tempo, Load is another fantastic variable that needs to be considered when building muscle. In your first couple trips to the gym, the weight you lift should not be a big factor in your training, but as you progress, you will certainly want to increase the amount of weight you’re lifting. So then what is the appropriate load? Well, it’s hard to say exactly since there are so many variables at play. For ease, my advice is that the weight you use, should make you a bit fatigued by the end of your set.


Again, we’re beginners. It doesn’t need to be perfect right now, we just need consistency!
​

Repetitions

Lastly, I do want to touch on repetitions. Many people wonder how many reps they need to do. Well, the answer is that it doesn’t matter too much. Like the weight you use, it should be enough reps to create some fatigue by the end of the set.
​

What about the biceps curls?

What about the body building movements we see everyone doing that has big muscles? Biceps curls, Triceps Extensions, Forearm curls, Leg Extensions, Lateral Shoulder Raises, etc. . . These movements are great, but they are just the cherry on top. Prioritize the compound movements first. Work heavily (for you). Control your tempo and range. Once you’ve found fatigue in big muscles groups via compound movements, work on the smaller muscles groups via isolation exercises.
​

Summary

​Tempo, Load, and Repetitions are three simple, but very important variables that can be manipulated to stimulate muscle growth. All three do not need to be improved at the same time, instead just focus on one or two at at time.


In summary, there are many ways to build muscle when you are an absolute beginner, but after your first couple of weeks, you should begin to get more specific with your program. Use your large compound movements first. Find fatigue via load, tempo, and reps. Most sets should illicit some sense of fatigue, not exhaustion. After that have fun with isolation exercises to add a bit more on top for your specific goals.

Push, Pull, Squat, and Hinge. 

Follow these patterns, pay attenetion to your Load/Reps/Tempo,  and you’ll set yourself up for success!