Best Barbell Exercises For Optimum Strength
Barbell Exercises for Strength
The Barbell is arguably the best tool you can use if you are looking to increase strength in any area of the body. Its ability to customize the load to suit your needs and easily progress (or regress) make the Barbell an effective training tool. Here are some of the Barbell exercises that you should be including in your exercise routine to gain optimal strength.
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Barbell Back Exercises
Having a strong back is crucial for comfort and stability in everyday life. Performing exercises for the back that use a barbell will allow you to achieve a strong and stable back due to the distribution of the weight. This strength in the spine will transfer to all of your other movements and exercises. For example, having a strong back will allow you to bench press and squat heavier loads, ultimately leading to increased strength in the entire body! These exercises will target multiple muscles in the upper and lower back.
Barbell Row
The Barbell Row is a staple exercise for those looking to build strength in the back. It is particularly beneficial due to the bent-over position that the athlete is in. The bent-over position as you perform the row forces you to find balance in your feet, which is advantageous for athletes who play sports such as hockey, football and soccer. The Barbell Row requires you to squeeze the shoulder blades together, and you can really feel the Rhomboids and Trapezius activating to perform the movement. We like the Barbell Row because it challenges you to maintain a neutral spine while maintaining the balance in your legs and core. You can learn how to perform the Barbell Row here, as well as its variations such as the Yates Row.
Landmine Row
Barbell Shrug
The Barbell Shrug is often a forgotten way to target the Trapezius and the Rhomboids. We like the Barbell Shrug because it helps to unlock a tight Trapezius by taking the muscle through its range of motion. Not only does the Barbell Shrug strengthen the Trapezius, it can also help to improve posture, which is always beneficial especially for those stuck behind a computer all day. You can learn how to perform the Barbell Shrug here, and its variation the behind the back Barbell Shrug.
Barbell Deadlift
The Barbell Deadlift is an exercise that many lifters are familiar with and perform regularly, for good reason! The Barbell Deadlift will help to increase core stability and strength, increase grip strength and increase the overall fitness and strength of the body. Increasing body strength in general is beneficial for making everyday exercises and movements easier, which can help to increase your quality of life!
There are so many different variations of the Barbell Deadlift such as the Romanian Barbell Deadlift, the Barbell Sumo Deadlift and different grips you can use that will change the exercise. You can learn all about these variations here.
Barbell Shoulder Exercises
Few specific barbell exercises explicitly target the shoulder, however, many barbell variations such as the overhead squat, overhead lunge and bench press will also increase strength in the shoulder. If you select your exercises properly, many barbell variations can target multiple muscles in the body!
Barbell Upright Row
The Barbell Upright Row is a personal favourite of mine to build strength in the shoulders and upper back. The movement of the upright row is so effective at targeting the Deltoid and promoting internal rotation of the shoulder, something that many people lack. Including the Barbell Upright Row in your exercise routine is a great way to add variety to your shoulder workouts, especially if you are currently only doing shoulder fly’s. Learn how to perform the Barbell Upright Row here.
Barbell Tricep Exercises
Using a Barbell to increase strength in the Triceps is optimal for isolating the muscle. Though there are many alternative ways to increase Triceps strength, other Barbell exercises such as the Chest Press will also help to increase the strength of the Triceps.
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension
The Lying Barbell Triceps Extension will target the Triceps and increase muscle size and strength. This is a great exercise to tone the arms and develop the shape of the Triceps. The strength of the Triceps is important as they help you perform many everyday tasks. The Lying Barbell Triceps Extension is very similar to a Skull Crusher. The main difference is that this exercise engages the shoulder more, which is beneficial for strengthening the entire muscle. The Skull Crusher is also a great exercise for building Triceps strength, it just isolates the movement at the elbow more than the Lying Triceps Extension.
Barbell Bicep Exercises
Barbell Curl
Barbell Chest Exercises
Using a Barbell during exercises that engage the chest is the most effective and safe way to lift a heavy load that is evenly distributed across the working muscles. The ability to select your grip and width of your hands on the bar allows for easy customization of each exercise to suit your needs and promote building optimal strength.
Barbell Bench Press
The classic Barbell Bench Press is an exercise used by probably every lifter. The ability to overload the muscle is always sought after for athletes who are looking to build optimal strength. To put it bluntly, if you are looking to achieve large, powerful, toned muscles in the chest, you need to be doing Barbell Bench Presses. If you are unfamiliar with this exercise, you can learn how to perform the Barbell Bench Press here.
The Barbell Bench Press has many variations such as closed grip, wide grip, incline and decline, so you will have multiple ways to build strength in the chest.
Barbell Leg Exercises
Using a Barbell in exercises to increase strength in the legs is essential to be able to overload your muscles. It allows lifters to effectively build strength in the legs with greater progressions when compared to exercise that use dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands. Ultimately, the use of a Barbell during exercises that target the legs will allow for even distribution of weight so all of your muscles can work together, which allows you to lift greater loads over time. These are some of the best Barbell Leg Exercises that you can perform to increase muscular strength.
Single-Leg Barbell Deadlift
The Single-Leg Barbell Deadlift is not only an effective exercise to build strength in the legs (and also the lower back), but also will challenge you to ensure that you are performing the movement with the proper form. If you are not exhibiting the proper form during this exercise, you most likely will lose balance and fall over. When it comes to building optimum strength, the Single-Leg Deadlift with a Barbell allows you to use more weight than you could doing the dumbbell variation, thus allowing for increased strength gains. For a step-by-step tutorial of the Single-Leg Deadlift, click here.
Barbell Back Squat
Yet another classic, the Barbell Back Squat has been used for years to gain power and strength in the legs. The best part about the Barbell Back Squat is that it allows you to overload the squat movement to achieve significant increases in muscular strength, size and power. If you are looking for a change in your exercise routine, the Barbell Back Squat also has many variations, which you can learn about here.
Front Squat
Many lifters are looking to develop power Quadriceps and Glutes, and the Front Squat will help you to do that. We like the Front Squat because in addition to increasing the size and strength of the Quadriceps, it also will challenge mobility and can help lifters to progress to Olympic lifts. Having the Barbell in front of the body places less stress on the back and engages the core. As well, the Front Squat can be performed using different grips, as explained here.
Barbell Lunge
The Barbell Lunge is a fantastic way to build muscle strength and size in the legs. We love lunges because the movement pattern will transfer over to walking and running. As well, as you are loading the bones when helps to produce optimal joint and bone health. One of the main reasons why the Barbell Lunge is great for building optimal strength is because it is a unilateral exercise that allows you to use a relatively heavy weight and place less stress on the spine.
If you are looking to correct or prevent muscular imbalance in the legs, and increase muscle size and strength, the Barbell Lunge is for you! Learn how to perform the Barbell Lunge here, as well as its variations such as the Reverse Barbell Lunge, Walking Barbell Lunge and Overhead Barbell Lunge.
Barbell Abs Exercises
In general, you could argue that almost every exercise you perform is a core exercise. Many of the Barbell exercises listed in this article will engage and strengthen the abs. Here are a few extra Barbell exercises that primarily target the core.
Landmine Rainbow
The Landmine Rainbow will challenge the entire body but focuses on every layer of the abs and the lower back. What we love about this exercise is that you can adjust it to suit beginners or advanced lifters depending on the size of the range of motion that you choose.
Barbell Rollout
The Barbell Rollout uses the bar to help you roll the upper body towards and away from you. There is no doubt that this exercise will engage the abdomen, especially the Rectus Abdominus. A great benefit of all core exercises is that they also engage the lower back. Be careful when including the Barbell Rollout in your training as this is an advanced exercise for those with a very strong core, know your body!
