How Should Anabolic Exercises Be?
Before talking about detailed information that concerns how an anabolic exercise should be like, we feel obliged to talk to you about getting bigger. Actually gaining size sounds easy, but it’s not, our body is not designed to have bigger muscles (huge arms, bigger chest, bigger legs …) it’s designed to survive, so building bigger muscles is complicated not only due to the real objective of a human organism but also due to the non-compatibility of human bodies (because it varies from person to person).
But the one common thing is that to gain muscles you should workout and only the right exercises will help you to achieve that goal, what I mean by right exercises is the ones that break down the muscle tissue and release the hormones that put your body on an anabolic state. These exercises are mainly compound exercises that train major muscle groups and also smaller groups.
Top Anabolic Exercises
We have chosen a list of the top anabolic exercises: front squat, pull-ups, Romanian deadlifts, incline barbell bench press, standing dumbbell shoulder press, one-arm dumbbell rows, dumbbell hammer curls, farmers walk, and dips.
- Squat
Let’s talk about front squat, you will certainly ask why we chose the front squat and not the traditional back squat. Well they’re both anabolic exercises that put more size on your muscles but front squat has a small surplus regarding the traditional one. Front squat as an anabolic exercise works out not only your quads but also your deltoids and abs. Front squatters also may find that their quads are build quickly and that their abs and obliques are tighter. - Pull-ups
I bet that many “bodybuilders” don’t perform pull-ups at the gym, but what they don’t know is that pull-ups are a major anabolic exercise. Actually, this exercise offers more hormonal responses than the other workouts which lead your body to an anabolic state. Moreover it enhances your body strength therefore more size gain and a greater upper bodybuilding (rear deltoids and forearms, stronger abdominal area due to the body control). - Romanian Dead Lift
Romanian dead lifts are, in my opinion, the greatest anabolic exercise so far, why? It’s easy to answer. Anabolic exercises are designed to work out major and small muscle groups at the same time; they’re also called compound exercises. However the dead lifts train the entire body (back, shoulders, abs, legs, butt, arms and traps). - Chest Press
Chest press is everyone’s favorite workout, it increases strength and it’s great for building chest (one the classics). But if you want to add mass and enhance your muscle size incline barbell chest press is your solution. In fact, it’s an amazing anabolic exercise because it trains and adds mass to your whole chest including your upper chest the thing that is not possible with chest press. - Dumbbell Shoulders Press
Why dumbbell shoulders press and not barbell shoulders press? It’s barely the same thing as that they’re both considered as an anabolic exercise but the dumbbells have more advantages that the barbell. How? Dumbbell shoulders press are more safely in the higher rep ranges, it can be used more efficiently than the barbell as it gives you a natural arc move while lifting up the weights and moreover provides to your shoulders an unilateral pressing work out. - Hammer Curl
Hammer curl is an amazing anabolic exercise that builds your arms and gives you bigger ones, it hits the biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis muscles. It also helps you to building your forearms by adding some fat grips to the weights. - One Arm Dumbbell Row
The one arm dumbbell row is a great exercise for your back if you aim to build a massive one. This anabolic exercise is useful when performed with high-rep or low-rep ranges and it also balances out the asymmetries. Moreover as every bodybuilder know, dumbbells workout or unilateral workout increases your strength more than training with the barbell and training the both sides at the same time because, actually, unilateral workout hits every possible muscle fiber. - The Farmer’s walk
The farmer’s walk is a great anabolic exercise, if you lift heavy this exercise trains about every muscle in your body, it is also considered as the perfect finisher for your mass building program because it adds size to your whole body and keep your capacity level high for your next intensity workouts.
These anabolic exercises should be trained with:
– High intensity training
– Training with relatively low repetitions
– Training with progressively heavier weights
– Sufficient rest periods
– Plateau and phase training
– Forced reps
