The best way to add muscle is to do compound exercises. Compound exercises are the kind of exercise that work more than one muscle group and although compound exercises are harder to do they tend to have a bigger payback in muscle mass gained.
If you are looked to lose compound exercises are also good as they tend to concentrate on the massive muscle groups that will help to increase your metabolism.
One thing to really concentrate on when doing compound exercises is to make sure that you are controlling the on the up as well as down part of the rep so that you do not cheat and not use those weaker muscles at all.
Slow and controlled is the message when doing these exercises
A great example of the difference between an isolated exercise and a compound exercise is Flyes, which are very isolated to your pectoral muscles compared to bench presses which hit your pecs, deltoids, and triceps.
So know that you know the difference here is that list. Here are the best compound exercises.
5 Best Compound Exercises
Bench press
As already mentioned bench presses are great as they will work all of your chest, shoulders and triceps. There are three kinds of bench press. Inclined bench presses get the upper part of your chest and shoulders more, flat bench presses hit all of your chest and declines (when you are using a decline bench) are best for the lower part of your chest and triceps although doing too many decline bench presses will really give you a saggy looking chest.
Military press
This is the classic exercise where you sit upright and push a barbell up from behind your neck straight up above your head.
Military presses push your anterior deltoid (front of shoulder) and again your triceps and are a great mass gainer for both.
Squats
Doing squats are great for all of your core muscles as well as the muscles in your legs. This is perhaps the toughest and best workout for gaining mass ever devised.
As you likely know the biggest muscles in your body are your quadriceps on the front of your legs. To do squats properly you need to take care that you lower back is not bowed in or out and to do this a belt or lower helps most.
Also when doing squats I have found that my calves do not extend far enough so I have always rested my heels on a block of wood.
Rowing
Using a machine row is a great way to work your whole back and is hard to emulate doing free weights. This exercise works all of your back muscles, upper and lower and also work your biceps.
After doing a few sets of rows your whole back will be sore. Doing rows it is again important to protect your lower back by making sure that you do not twist it in any direction.
Pullups
Pullups are done by holding a barbell with both hands fairly close together and then pulling up towards your chin. Pullups work your biceps, rear deltoids and your traps.
Traps are the muscles on either side of the top of your back beside you neck.
This a great exercise I find for opening up and strengthening the very top of my body.
How Best to do Compound Exercises
OK now that you know the best compound exercises there is one thing that is important to note and that is the locking out of your joints. Over years of lifting weights locking out at the tops of bench presses or squats or really any exercise can lead to joint problems.
On every rep try to get right to the end of the extension until you are about to lock your joint and then stop. Locking your joints is bad and is one thing to really remember especially when lifting the heavyweights that compound exercises allow you to lift.
I believe that if you do nothing but the best compound exercises in every workout making them the core then you will get bigger faster with lots of strength gains
Related posts:
Best Weight Lifting Exercises 
Best Chest Exercises 
Best Triceps Exercises 
Three Angles of Bench Press
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