Here’s a couple of my favourite shoulders workout exercises. Bear in mind I got bored with standard bodybuilding fare a long time ago, so I do these uncommon varations largely to challenge and amuse myself

Shoulders Workout Exercises: Standing Dumbell presses

Tried Seated Dumbell presses? Hopefully you aren’t one of the dudes who makes a big deal of swinging the 110’s into position and cranking out 4-inch ROM reps while grunting loud enough for the whole gym to hear. Well, even if you are, I don’t mind. You might be in for a shock with standing dumbbell presses though.

Even moreso than a barbell, standing shoulder dumbell presses really test your ability to stay balanced and… err, standing up, as you lift the weight. You’ll find you can lift drastically less than your seated presses – perhaps something like 60% of your seated dumbbell press.

I really like these though, because it feels like I’m actually doing something useful rather than just pounding heavy weights for the sake of it. And even though DB presses are thought to be relatively safe, I’m sure my shoulders will thank me for it in later life.

Shoulders Workout Exercises: Lying Lateral Raises

Shoulder growth doesn’t come all that easily for me, but when I hammer my delts on a bulking program, they really show up. IMO one of the top 3 most important aspects of any “powerful” physique is shoulder width. Now, 3 sets of side laterals once a week probably isn’t going to cut it. Firstly, standing side laterals just don’t really stress the side delts that much – you’re only really lifting the weight when your arms are parallel to the floor, at the top of the lift.

That’s why I love lying laterals. Your arms start just below parallel, and you move them through parallel and beyond. If you haven’t done them before, you’re in for a treat – you’ve probably not felt this depth of “burn” in your side laterals before. Again, this is an ego-check exercise, where you can expect to lift 40% or less of the weight you use for standing side laterals.

Do 3 sets this 2-3 times a week, with perfect form, for 8-12 reps per set, and I reckon your delts will explode with width… mine did!

Here are my top three mass building workout exercises for gaining lean muscle quickly.  If I had to pick just three, it’d be these ones.  These exercises have been proven to pack on vast amounts of size and strength over your whole body, provided you’re getting adequate nutrition and rest. A word of warning though – packing on muscle quickly doesn’t mean packing on muscle easily.

These exercises are tough, and that’s precisely why they stimulate a large growth response in your body. Stick with them for eight weeks, eat and rest well, and you’ll see impressive gains.

A barbell, a rack and a pullup bar is all you need.

1) The Squat.  The squat is the king of leg exercises, and probably the best all-round exercise you can do in the weights room.  It stimulates large amounts of growth in the thigh hip and lower back structures. Honestly, after a year of squatting I felt like my thighs and glutes were made of solid iron or something. The effect really is that profound.

2) The Deadlift.  The number one exercise for the “posterior chain”. Sometimes thought of as the purest test of raw strength because it involves picking up a “dead” weight from complete rest. An excellent choice for thickening up your hamstrings and lower back especially, and you’ll probably see benefits in the middle back and traps.

3) The Pull-up.  In my opinion it’s the most important upper body exercise. We already know bodyweight exercises stimulate the most growth, and if you want to add upper back mass, the pull-up is a must have in your mass building workout.  Perform them with a supinated grip - otherwise known as doing chin ups - to give the biceps a decent workout.  This really should be all you need for significant bicep growth (there, I said it )

So if I absolutely had to pick three mass building workout exercises, it’d be these.  If I were to extend it to a top five, other candidates would include the standing shoulder press, dips, bench press and the power clean.  But that’s another article entirely

Your legs (including your glutes) make up more than half of the musculature on your body, and although they aren’t always fun to train, going hard on “legs” day with the right exercises is about the best thing you can do to develop full body strength and add some serious mass to your frame.

Machines vs Free Weights?

Hands down, the best leg workout exercises are the ones you do with nothing more than a barbell on your back (or even with your own bodyweight). Free weight exercises have been proven over and over to be more effective at developing strength and stimulating muscle growth.

More importantly, they’re safer – machines force your body to perform in an unnatural range of motion, which isn’t particularly healthy when you’re applying hundreds of pounds of force to your knees and hips in your leg exercises.  So free weights it is!

Which Leg Workout Exercises?

There’s one you absolutely must learn before any of the others… The Squat.

The squat is the king of leg workout exercises. If you aren’t doing them, you’re missing out – squats develop size and power like no else. It’s worth reading up on correct form and having a trainer, or better yet a strength or powerlifting coach, help you to get the technique down. Squats develop the glutes, hamstrings and upper quads. They’re the number one choice for any athlete looking to build leg strength and power.

Supplementary Leg Workout Exercises

• The Front Squat – Harder to learn correct form and you won’t lift as much, but they hit the bottom of the quads very nicely, building that sexy “teardrop” shape. Also, you get weird looks in the gym.

• Hack Squat – Another good “teardrop” builder, but slightly rougher on your knees than the front squat. Also, expect even weirder looks.

• Stiff-Leg Deadlift & Romanian Deadlift – each the perfect exercise for building phenomenal strength in the hamstrings. Both are excellent for assisting your deadlift progression. Have been known to largely cure chronic back problems (which are often caused by weak hamstrings) when performed regularly.