Never forget the basic exercises

Basic exercises rules

There are a lot of pictures going around the internet joking about squats. Like this picture for example.

And there is a lot of jokes about skipping leg day. And hilarious humor about leg day going around the Internet. Lets get serious from now on. No more pictures of the Joker.

The basic exercises that I am refering to is bench press, deadlift and squats. In the "Gym Exercises" page on this blog you can see detailed information on how they are done.

These power exercises are important to build a good base. Some even consider them to be so superior that they basically only do those. And I can agree that by doing all these exercises, you basically get the entire body activated. Not in the best way though, that is why you do all the other exercises as well. By doing exercises that targets specific smaller muscles, they are growing more. 

All the "easier" exercises, targeting smaller parts of your body is important. Strengthening the smaller muscles in the body will allow you to lift heavier weights with less chance of injury. 

For the Chest Day I like to start out with the benchpress to be able to lift heavier weights than I would have otherwise. Then I do some other exercises like incline dumbbell press and some kind of flyes movement, in the pec deck or with dumbbells.

When it comes to legs I would definitely suggest starting with squats if you are doing it with free weights. Since it is such a big exercise that demands so much balance that after doing a few tough exercises - you run the risk of injury if you are already tired.

Deadlift is more of an exercise I can throw in during my back day, I don't have to start with it. I would not do any exercise that targets the lower back before I start with deadlift though. Personally I feel that it is my weak point when it comes to the deadlift and the part I feel I might injure if I am already too tired.

So if you are unsure of how to perform the exercises, check out some videos on pro personal trainers doing them. Or ask people working at your gym for help. No questions are dumb. It only shows a drive to learn, to develop your workout routines - and that is respect!

But whatever you do, don't skip them just because you are unsure about how to perform them. I did that mistake for a long time actually. Luckily for me I had played soccer for a lot of years that my legs were well trained automatically. Later on I had to learn all of the basic exercises to workout my legs though. 
And that was like going back to the basics, being a beginner all over again. So now I am doing squats and hacksquats as a routine in my leg workouts.