BOLD & DETERMINED

1) Squat – The Barbell Back Squat is the king of all exercises for a reason. It’s a man maker, and for my feminine readers nothing gives a lady a pleasing posterior like squats. There is nothing new I can say about squats that hasn’t been said countless times before. On the surface squats are a leg exercise but they actually work many of the muscles in your body. Think about the muscle and strength it requires to load up 300 lbs on a bar and squat to the floor and back. It is my personal opinion that one should be squatting three times per week for maximum strength, size, and endurance. You should be squatting heavy and you should be squatting hard. Forget the smith machine, this is a free weight exercise. You can always tell the gym rats who skipped their squats, they look like ostriches – big upper body and tiny little legs.

Variation: Front Squats - Instead of placing the barbell on your back, you hold the bar upfront in the clean position and you squat from there. This will give you tremendous strength and size in your quadriceps and it’s also killer on your abs.

2) Deadlift – The deadlift is the other king of exercises. I know that sounds gay, but there is nothing gay about picking up 3 times your bodyweight from the floor. This exercise works most muscles in your body (esp. lower back, forearms, legs, glutes, traps, shoulders) and when done heavy, often, and with high intensity will give you tremendous strength and size. It is my opinion that one can deadlift once per week and get the most benefits. Start with a heavy loaded barbell on the ground, take a shoulder width stance, grab the bar slightly wider than your legs, with your dominant arm grip the bar overhand, with the other arm take an underhand grip, now pull the weight up off the ground using your legs.

Variation: One Armed Deadlift
Take a wider than shoulder width stance, grip the barbell in the middle with one hand, lift the bar off the ground using your legs. This is a fun alternative to the standard deadlift.

3) Flat Barbell Bench Press – The bench press sometimes gets a bad rep as an ego exercise. I say what’s wrong with being proud of what you can lift. The bench press is the best exercise for chest development, though it can, and often is, preformed incorrectly. There are 2 ways to perform the bench press correctly and it depends on what your goals are. For maximum chest stimulation one will want to take a wide grip on the bar, lay flat on the bench, lower the bar to just above the nipple and explode back up, remember to always tough the bar to your chest (half ass reps get you half ass results) getting as many reps as you can with the heaviest weight you can.

As a strength exercise you will want to perform the bench press a little differently. When you perform as a strength exercise the bench press actually becomes a full body exercise. You will recruit your lats, traps, and legs into the lift. Forget about the dumbbells gentlemen, use a barbell for maximum weight.

4) Barbell Overhead Press – This movement is often neglected, probably because it is very hard to do with heavy weights. Start with whatever weights you can, there is no shame in starting. This is one of the most important lifts to do. Shoulders are the most impressive of a man’s physique. You can have an all around muscular body but if you lack shoulder size you will not look impressive. Put a lot of emphasis on shoulders. Keep feet shoulder width or closer, grasp the barbell at shoulder width, bring to the top of the chest and lift above your head. Lift as strict as you can for as long as you can but you can use a little leg push to get the last few reps out.

Variation: Push press and behind the neck push press
Grab a barbell either in front of your neck or behind your neck, bend at your knees and explosively push the weight up, bring it back down and repeat until you can’t do anymore.

5) Clean and Press – This is an exercise that I almost never see anyone doing. Again, because it is a hard exercise. This exercise will develop tremendous strength, size, and explosiveness. Plus you look cool doing it. Go as heavy as possible, don’t be scared of low reps. Low reps build strength, with strength comes size, with size comes respect. Of all the lifts, the clean and press is the hardest to learn. Don’t let that scare you because it is a lift that needs to be done.

Variation: power cleans
The first part of the clean and press movement. You can power clean more than you can clean and press so it is a great way to get used to lifting the heavier weights.

6) Bent Over Barbell Rows – The bent over barbell row is a tremendous exercise for the thickness of the back and the development of the biceps. Load up a barbell with as much weight as you can handle, take either an over-hand or an under-hand grip, bend slightly at the knees and the lower back, keeping your head up, row the weight to about your sternum.

7) Chin ups / Pull ups – There isn’t a lot more impressive than someone repping out rep after rep of chin ups. A pull-up is done with a chin bar. Take an overhand grip, wider than your shoulders, and pull yourself up to the bar, lowering down slowly. Rinse and repeat until you can’t do anymore. Chin-ups are done with a reverse grip and give a good workout to the biceps as well. Take an underhand grip (palms facing you) about shoulder width and pull yourself up the bar, aiming to touch your chest to the bar, and lowering yourself again slowly. Do as many as you can. When you can do around 15 chins or pullups then it is time to add weight. If your gym has a weight belt you can simply put the belt on and attach some weight and you are good to go. If your gym doesn’t have a weight belt then you can place a dumbbell between your feet and hold the weight there while you do you chins. If you can’t do chins at first then use the assisted chin-up machine. This makes the exercise easier while you build up the strength to do them on your own.

8 ) Dips – Dips are a great upper body builder and they put an emphasis on the chest, triceps, and shoulders. The late Vince Gironda called dips the upper body squat. Place your hand on parallel bars, extend fully, lower yourself as low as you can comfortably go, and explode back up to the top. Do as many bodyweight reps as you can. When you can easily do 15-20 then it is time to add weight with a weight belt. If you can’t do many bodyweight dips then start with the assisted dip machine until you have the strength built up to do them unassisted.

9) Standing Barbell Calf Raises – Calves are usually a neglected body part. Many people don’t train them, or train them as an afterthought when their regular workout is done. If you’re genetically gifted with big calves then that is ok, but if you’re like me then they need tons of work. Standing barbell calf raises are the king of calf builders. Arnold Schwarzenegger used them to build up his famously small calves into the monsters they turned into. Arnold went up 1000 lbs on these. Use the heaviest weight you can handle. It is best to do these in a power cage for safety, as you will need to stand on a piece of wood, block, or anything you can find. Place the barbell on your back like you are doing a back squat, go up and down standing on your toes, concentrating on the calf muscles.

10) Barbell Curls – Barbell curls are the king of biceps building. Arnold Schwarzenegger developed 20 inch guns before he turned 20, using heavy barbell curls as his only biceps exercise. Take a slightly wider than shoulder width grip, glue your upper arms to your sides, and curl the weight up in a strict fashion, focusing on using only the biceps.

Variation: cheat curls
Use heavier weight than you can manage strictly, put a little back and legs into it and curl the weight. This helps you get used to the heavier weight. This was a favorite of Arnolds and clearly it worked for him.

11) Skull Crushers / French Curls – Lying on a bench, grasp a barbell at shoulder width, or a little closer, and lower the weight at the elbows down to your skull. These are a great triceps builder. With the other exercises in this routine you will get a lot of indirect triceps work which will help to build size and strength, but these will directly hit the triceps for maximum affectiveness.

Variation: These can also be done standing. Grasp the bar at shoulder width, or slightly closer, press the weight all the way up, extending your arms straight up, keep your upper arms in place and lower the weight with your elbows to behind your head.

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