by Wayne Clist

Created on: July 08, 2009   Last Updated: July 09, 2009

The building of muscle is a sometimes laborious but always rewarding process. it can be a time consuming challenge and the saying Rome wasn't built in a day could have been coined explicitly for building muscle mass, however there is little as rewarding as being confident enough in your physique to show it off to the world. Whatever the reasoning for building muscle, whether it is simply to increase your overall well being and fitness or to sculpt your body into a modern day representation of Adonis, the routines involved follow a similar path.

The most consistent way to build muscle mass is to use workouts designed around the core or compound exercises in conjunction with heavier weights and lower rep ranges. it is widely accepted knowledge that the optimum repetition range for building muscle mass is between the six to ten rep range, therefore it stands to reason that to effectively build muscle the best workouts will make use of heavier weights and between 6 to 10 repetitions. Aim to do all exercises in workouts at that range and make sure that the right fuel is used, foods high in protein and starchy, slow release carbohydrates and the results will soon speak for themselves.

There are four of what would commonly be considered the best exercises by far for simply building dense muscle mass and these are the compound or multi joint exercises. A compound exercise can be defined as one that uses more than one joint and moves the weight through more than one plane of movement. Probably the best example, as evidenced by its nickname, the king of exercises, is the squat or deep knee bend. A movement designed to focus on the core or trunk of the body and thigh or quadriceps specifically, it involves the use of a barbel. Resting the barbell across the shoulders and keeping the back and legs straight, simply bend the knees lowering your trunk until the thighs are directly parallel to the floor and then return to the starting position using the power in your thigh muscle, driving your heels through the floor. The squat is an excellent exercise for building all over muscle mass due to the usually heavy weights involved and as with all compound movements, the use of stabilizing muscles to keep the weight in a stable position throughout the plane of movement.

Another one of the best exercises to use for building muscle mass, keeping to the lower body and core or trunk, is the dead lift. One of the three power lifts, it again involves the use of a barbell. This time the

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