When you hit the gym, you don’t want to waste time. Make sure that you focus your workout time on compound exercises and free weights and you will maximize your muscle gain.

Compound Lifts

These lifts are lifts where more than one joint is moving. Contrast this with isolation lifts, where only one joint is moving. Let’s look at some examples. First, we have the squat. This is a compound lift. Your knees, hips and ankles are all active and in motion during this lift. This means that the muscles that move these joints are all firing. Next, let’s look at a bicep curl. In this exercise, only the elbow is moving and fewer muscles are involved.

Compound lifts utilize and train more muscles in the same amount of time and you are able to lift heavier weights.

Here is a list of some of the best compound lifts:

Squats
Benchpress
Deadlifts
Snatches
Clean and Press
Pullups
Bent Over Rows

Free Weights

Free weights have a clear advantage over machine lifts. The reason is because machines are mostly set up to provide isolation and stabilization. We already discussed why compound movements are superior to isolation movements. Machine stabilization will also hold you back as you are striving for muscle gains. Using free weights forces you to recruit other muscles in your body in order to stabilize yourself.

Spending your time doing compound movements and using free weights is the best possible way to maximize your gains in the gym. Remember these two principles and you are bound to pack on the pounds.

My name is Brian Fox and I used to be a skinny guy. I created the The Skinny Man’s Guide to Getting Jacked so I could teach other skinny guys about the only three things you need to know to bulk up.

Ready to put on some muscle? Check out my FREE site. The Skinny Man’s Guide to Getting Jacked.