Top 5 Muscle Gain Exercises in the Gym You Need to Try Today

Having good muscles for a finely chiseled body is a dream of many. This is why many people spend hours doing muscle gain exercises in the gym. But muscles offer you way more than simply a well-shaped body. Your muscles are what keep your skin taut, healthy, and younger-looking for a long time.

The human body favors being in a comfort zone and hence exercising is something that most people want to do but cannot commit to it. That’s why fitness goals are most likely to be the new year’s resolution that was never fulfilled for most. However, a sedentary lifestyle can easily deplete your muscles as you grow older. Exercises help you burn fat to release energy and induce muscle growth.

In this blog, we will be looking at the top 5 muscle gain exercises in the gym that you can try today. But before that, you need to understand how muscle growth works.

How Do You Gain Muscles?

Muscles are made of complex protein structures that are further made of amino acid chains. These are nutrients that can be found in foods[1] like quinoa, fish, meat, apples, berries, bananas, and soy. 

When you exercise, your muscles sustain injury. The nutrients from these foods work towards fusing[2] the injured muscles and growing them bigger than before. Your body uses the energy from food (calories) to continuously mend your muscles[3]. This means that your body will keep burning fat even during rest periods. 

The more you exercise, the more your muscles will undergo wear & tear. With the right diet and nutrition, your body will keep repairing and growing your muscles. Diet packed with protein, carbohydrates, fats, and other nutrients is important for healthy muscle gain. 

Without the right diet, your body will use the fat reserves for energy to repair your muscles, and after that, it will affect your muscles negatively leading to muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, and loss of muscle tissue[4].

So, now that you know that both, a healthy diet & exercise are important for healthy muscle growth, let’s check out the top 5 exercises for muscle gain you can try today in the gym. Remember to always consult your gym trainer before attempting any of these exercises especially if you are new to them.

#1 Squats

The classic squats and deads are a great way to increase your muscle mass. Using deadlifts and squats together works on multiple muscle groups. The exercises engage your back muscles, abs, arm muscles, shoulders, thigh, and leg muscles.

There are two different ways you can do deadlifts & squats— the front squat and the back squat. While both ways have their own benefits, the back squat is the best to ensure all your muscles work to bring you the result you expect.

#2 Inclined Bench Press

The best thing about the inclined bench press is that you can control the angle of inclination to work on different muscle groups in your body. Based on the angle of your bench, you can work on your shoulder, chest, triceps, and abs. For example, if you wish to work on your chest muscles, you need an angle of 15 to 30 degrees. 

You can choose to work out with the barbell or dumbbells for including variations in your movement. Unlike a traditional bench press, the focus of an inclined bench press is on your upper body muscles. Hence, this is a good workout exercise to try at the gym if you want to work on your upper body muscles.

As opposed to this, the decline bench press will help you engage the lower abs, biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles. It tilts your body back on a downward slope which increases the challenge of your workout.

#3 Hanging Knee Raises

Hanging knee raises work on multiple muscle groups in your body. These include the core muscles, hip flexors, shoulders, biceps, and lower back-to-side muscles. And that’s the reason why hanging knee raises make it to our list of top 5 muscle gain exercises in the gym.

This exercise makes your stomach muscles taut, strengthens your core muscles, and engages your lower back. 

You can further add challenges to the move by holding a ball between your feet. Holding the ball will also engage your leg and thigh muscles.

#4 Exercise Ball Pike

An exercise ball will be helpful to you for many exercises. One of these exercises is the Exercise Ball Pike. The stability ball or exercise ball pike increases your upper body strength and works on your shoulder, arms, chest, and pelvic muscles.

For a ball pike, you start with lying face down with your stomach on the ball. Slowly walk forward using your arms. Once your feet reach the ball top, walk back to make an angle from your hips. Make sure that you keep your back and legs straight (not bent or sagging).

#5 Barbell Bent-Over Row

Rows are always the right choice for working your whole body muscles. You can do rows using barbells or dumbbells. A barbell bent-over row needs you to bend forward at your hips with slightly bent knees as you pick the barbell up till it reaches your sternum. Lower it slowly to get back to the starting position.

Bent-over row works on your lower back-to-side muscles, upper back, shoulders, forearms, and biceps.

FAQs

What are the big 5 gym exercises?

We have discussed the top 5 muscle gain exercises in the gym that you can do with the help of your gym instructor. These are:

1. Squats

2. Inclined Bench Press

3. Hanging Knee Raises

4. Exercise Ball Pike

5. Barbell Bent-Over Row

It is important to have your gym trainer supervise you while you do these exercises as wrong movements while you do it can injure you.

What is the king of all lifts?

The best type of lifting is the deadlift. And when it is paired with a squat, it can help you gain muscles faster.

EndNote

Your gym is the right place for building muscles. You cannot get the right guidance or equipment to work out at home, on your own. The gym will offer you the equipment, the guidance, the diet, and the schedule necessary for a healthy muscle gain.

While we have listed out the top 5 muscle gain exercises in the gym that you can try, we will strongly recommend talking to your gym instructor first. Your trainer would know about your diet, lifestyle, and any medical conditions that may be affected by your exercises. A trainer will also help you with your form and give additional techniques to do these exercises the right way.

Tell us which exercise is your favorite for muscle gain. Share your thoughts in the comments below and if you find this blog helpful, be sure to share it with your peers & friends on social media.

Also, if you are a gym owner trying to bring efficiency to your gym business, then you may want to check out the VFitnessClub Gym Management Software. It is a complete software to handle your gym members, accounts, inventory, marketing, and much more.

References

1.    https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22243-amino-acids

2.    https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319151

3.    https://www.genesishealthclubs.com/blog/health/what-is-caloric-afterburn.html

4.    https://www.issaonline.com/blog/post/eat-to-gain-musclethe-role-food-plays-in-strength-training