The Best Exercises for Building Muscle

The key to building and maintaining muscle is to use it in regular exercise, fuelled by a diet that includes quality protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruit (see 5 things to include in your diet if you want to build muscle).

The most effective exercise to build muscles is resistance training, which works muscle fibres by exerting them against weights – barbells, dumbbells or simply your own body weight, says Durban fitness consultant and trainer Hayley Cassim, owner of Club Zero Fitness.
 
It’s best to start with a session or two with a personal trainer to be sure your posture and form are correct, or you risk injury. If you are unable to do this, watch a reputable professional doing them on YouTube. 

Aim to incorporate the exercises below, performing them twice a week and gradually increasing repeats and, if you use them, weights.  Some trainers advise using different rep schemes for the two sessions. For instance, for the first session, do 12 reps of each exercise for five sets, using a weight that challenges you but allows you to keep good form. For the second session, do 8 reps of each for the five sets, but with a heavier weight, as long as you can maintain form. 

SQUATS

These are a star move for muscle and strength-building and can be done with nothing but your own body weight, or with the addition of dumbbells, or a barbell across the top of your back – this will exercise your upper body and core muscles as well as those in your thighs and buttocks (your biggest muscle group). “Focus your gaze on a point above eye level so you keep your chest up, and engage your core, keeping it tight,” says Cassim. 

DEADLIFTS

These rank just behind squats in effectiveness, building back and bicep muscle as they strengthen you. The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. “It’s important to focus on the posterior muscles – many people just focus on what they can see in the mirror,” Cassim says. Make sure your back stays straight and again engage your core, keeping it tight to control tension. Lower the barbell with control.

DIPS 

For these you need only a chair, bench or ledge. Dips are a bodyweight exercise that develops the triceps and other upper-body muscles where you hold on to parallel bars with your arms straight. You then bend your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the ground before driving up to the starting position. Dips do for your upper body muscles what squats do for your thighs, working your shoulders, triceps and chest. 

PULL-UPS

These are a great way to build shoulder, upper back and bicep muscles. When you hang from the bar, aim to create a shallow C-shape with your body, pressing your legs together and engaging the muscles of your upper body and core. “Keep your head looking up,” Cassim says.

BENCH PRESS

This is a chest and upper body-building classic, perfect for strengthening shoulders, triceps, pecs and back. Place your hands on the barbell slightly more than shoulder-width apart and hold your elbows close to your body as you push it up until your arms are fully extended. Focus on pushing your feet into the ground. Again, be sure to lower the barbell with control.

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