Which Exercises Are The Best

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Article Title:

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Which Exercises Are The Best

Article Description:

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In weight training, there is a variety of exercises that one can

choose from to sculpt the body of your dreams. Results in

bodybuilding or body sculpting are generally measured in body

composition changes; increased muscle mass or tone, depending on

the goal, along with decreases in body fat.

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1346 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2008-01-09 11:36:00

Written By: Hugo A

Copyright: 2008

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Which Exercises Are The Best

Copyright © 2008 Hugo A

Body RE-Engineering

http://www.losefatandgainmuscle.com

In weight training, there is a variety of exercises that one can

choose from to sculpt the body of your dreams. Results in

bodybuilding or body sculpting are generally measured in body

composition changes; increased muscle mass or tone, depending on

the goal, along with decreases in body fat. The speed at which

such changes are acquired depends on the training protocol used,

the nutrition plan followed and the amount of rest (good night

sleep) that the trainee gets.

In order for a training protocol to work at peak efficiency, not

only must it be periodized or cycled but it also must include

exercises that give you the most stimulation in the minimum

amount of time.

Different exercises provide different levels of stimulation.

Exercises like the leg extensions, while excellent for sculpting

the lower part of the quadriceps, produce less of a stimulating

effect than an exercise like the squat. The efficacy of an

exercise really depends on the exercise's ability to involve the

maximum amount of muscle fibers and also on its ability to

provide a neuromuscular stimulation (NMS).

Neuromuscular stimulation is of crucial importance as it is the

nervous system that ultimately sends a signal to the brain

requesting to start the muscle growth process. Having said that,

how do we determine what the stimulation factor of each exercise

is? Such will be the topic of the next section.

The NMS Classes

In order to rate what the NMS of each exercise is, I borrowed the

Class rating system used for classifying the speed of DSL systems

(technology used to achieve high speed connections to the

Internet through your phone line) and tailored it to fit my

purpose. In this system a Class 1 technology has lower speeds

than a Class 2 technology.

Therefore, in our exercise rating system composed of four

classes, a Class 1 exercise yields the lowest NMS (this class is

composed of variable resistance machine type of exercises) while

a Class 4 exercise yields the highest NMS and is therefore the

hardest but most stimulating one. In each class we may also have

subclasses such as Class 1a and Class 1b. A Class 1a exercise

will yield less NMS than a Class 1b.

Class 1a

Class 1a exercises are composed of isolation (one joint)

exercises performed in variable resistance machines (such as

Nautilus) where the whole movement of the exercise is controlled.

These type of exercises provide the least amount of stimulation

as stabilizer muscles do not need to get involved since the

machine takes care of the stabilization process. An example of

such an exercise would be the machine curl.

Class 1b

Class 1b exercises are compound (multi-joint) movements performed

in a variable resistance machine. An example of such movement

would be the incline bench press performed in a Hammer Strength

machine. Since the movement is a compound one, more muscles get

involved and therefore the neuromuscular stimulation is higher

than that offered by a machine curl for instance. However, the

fact that the machine takes care of the stabilization issues

limits the growth offered by the exercise.

Class 2a

Class 2a exercises are composed of isolation (one joint)

exercises performed with non-variable resistance machines. An

example of such exercise would be the leg extension exercise

performed in one of those leg extensions attachments that come

with the benches that are sold for home gyms. These attachments

lack the pulleys and the cams that would make the exercise a

variable resistance exercise. Therefore, the muscles need to get

more involved in the movement, something that as a result

provides better stimulation.

Class 2b

Class 2b exercises are composed of basic (multi-joint) exercises

performed with non-variable resistance machines. An example of

such would be the bench press unit that is attached to the

Universal type of machines or a leg press machine that contains

no pulleys or cams that would make the exercise easier. Since

there are no pulleys or cams to make the exercise easier as you

lift the weight, the NMS is higher.

Class 3a

Class 3a exercises are isolation (one joint) exercises performed

with free weights. An example of such exercise would be a

concentration curl performed with a dumbbell. It is still not

very clear whether a multi joint exercise performed on a machine

offers the same amount or better NMS than the one offered by a

free weight isolation exercise. However, for the purposes of this

discussion, we will assume that the free weight isolation

exercise provides more stimulation as stabilizer muscles come

into play (especially if you do the exercise standing up).

Class 3b

Class 3b exercises, as you probably guessed by now, are multi

jointed basic exercises performed with barbell free weights.

Class 3c

Class 3c exercises are multi jointed basic exercises performed

with dumbbell free weights. The barbell exercises provide less

NMS as the movement is more restrained as opposed to dumbbells

where the weights can go in all types of directions unless all of

your stabilizer muscles jump in and constrain the movement.

Because of this, dumbbells provide the highest NMS in this

category.

Class 4

Finally, Class 4 exercises, the king of exercises, are free

weight exercises where your body moves through space. In other

words, any exercise where your torso is the one moving, such as

squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, close grip chins, pushups, lunges,

and dips, will provide the most stimulation possible and

therefore, the fastest results. Haven't you seen at the gym how

many people do great amounts of weights in a pulldown machine but

have trouble doing pull-ups?

The reason for this is that in order for you to perform these

type of exercises you need to be capable of not only carrying the

added resistance but also involving your bodyweight as well.

Therefore, many muscles are called into play in order to perform

this feat. If you look at it, by performing dips, chinups, squats

and deadlifts you are really hitting every single muscle in your

body! These exercises not only give you fast results, but they

also create functional strength; in other words strength that can

be used for your daily activities.

If you are great at performing pull-ups and you go to perform a

pulldown you'll see how easy the task of performing a pulldown

is. As a matter of fact, depending on your pull-up strength, you

might be able to lift the whole stack in most pulldown machines.

However, the reverse in not true. While you may be very good at

performing pulldowns you may not be able to perform many pull-ups

as the strength gained in the pulldown exercise is not as

transferable as the one gained in a pull-up. Again, the reason

for this phenomenon is NMS.

Conclusion

Now that you know what exercises are the ones that give you the

most bang for your buck, then my recommendations are the

following:

If you follow very low volume routines (3-7 sets per bodyparts),

please choose only exercises in the Class 3b, 3c and 4 region.

If you follow a medium volume type of routine (8-13 sets per

bodypart), stick mostly to Class 3b, 3c and 4 type of exercises

but for those bodyparts where you perform 12 or 13 sets, you may

want to incorporate 2 or 3 sets at either the beginning or at the

end of the workout from one of the lower classes. This is

especially true for legs in which a leg extension movement at the

beginning of the workout is a great tool for pre-exhausting the

quads or at the end of the workout serves as a great finishing

movement.

For high volume routines (14-20 sets per bodypart) you can get

away with having 1/3 of your routine composed of lower class

(Classes 3a and below) exercises.

Remember, convincing your body to grow and develop muscle is not

an easy task. However it becomes an impossible one if you choose

exercises that do not provide a significant NMS effect.

Therefore, always choose exercises from the higher classes in

order to show your body that you mean business.

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Hugo CFT, ISSN, SPN, BSCE. is a lifetime natural

bodybuilder, a multi certified personal trainer, and a

best selling author with a successful franchise of books

called " The Body Sculpting Bibles " which collectively have

sold over a million copies worldwide. Hugo is also the author

of the " Body Re-Engineering " system which teaches you how to

gain lean muscle mass and get lean without drugs, or expensive

supplements. For more information visit http://www.losefatandgainmuscle.com

or his personal website at http://www.hugorivera.net