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People go to the gym with different fitness goals, but one of the most common one is building muscles and getting stronger. The weighted workout is especially common in workout sessions, as it helps build muscles and strengthens the body.
The weights people often opt to build muscles with are dumbbells and barbells. You can do many exercises with these weights, targeting different muscles, resulting in muscle gain.
Weighted workout also entails other benefits, like toning the body, boosting metabolism, burning calories and enhancing fitness.
Weighted Workouts for Building Muscle
Here are six best-weighted workouts you can add to your regime to build muscle:
1) Dumbbell Step Up
It's a great weighted workout for building muscle, targeting your posterior chains and quads. This intermediate-level workout also helps build greater stability in the body by targeting your legs unilaterally.
How to do it?
Place a plyo box or bench in front of you, and hold a pair of dumbbells in both hands at your sides and straightened arms. Make sure to maintain an upright back and engaged core.
Step on the box with your right foot before bringing the left one onto the box beside the right foot. Step back on the ground with your left foot by bending your right knee. Bring your right leg back to the ground beside the left leg. Repeat.
2) Arnold Press
The Arnold press is one of the most efficient weighted workouts for building muscle. It was a much-used move by bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger for his workout sessions. This weighted workout can help you get broad shoulders and a muscular chest.
How to do it?
Clutch a pair of dumbbells with both hands, and position them in front of your shoulders with bent elbows and palms facing the body. Bring both arms laterally to the sides before pressing your arms towards the ceiling with extended arms and palms opposite to your body. Bring your hands back to the starting position before repeating.
3) Leg Press
The leg press is a dynamic weighted workout for building lower body muscles. It particularly targets the quads, hamstrings, gluteus maximus and calves.
How to do it?
Position yourself in the leg press machine with your heels flat and knees in line with your feet. With braced abdominals, drive the platform away from you with your feet while extending your legs.
Make sure to keep your back and head flat on the seat pad. Pause at the top position for a couple of seconds before bringing your legs to the starting position by gradually bending your knees.
4) Goblet Squat
Besides building muscle, a goblet squat can also help increase the range of motion by working on several muscle groups in the body.
How to do it?
Start with your feet wider than hip distance, and hold a kettlebell or dumbbell with both hands in front of your chest and elbows bent.
Throughout the movement, keep your core engaged, back neutral and eyes facing the front. Hinge your hips, and bend your knees to descend into a squat position. Bring your body back to the standing position by pressing through your heels. Repeat.
5) Barbell Pullover
A barbell pullover is an underutilized yet effective weighted workout that helps building the muscles of the upper body by targeting the chest, shoulders, upper arms and back. This workout also helps strengthen the upper body muscles, giving the body a shredded and ripped look.
How to do it?
Lie flat on a bench while grasping a barbell with a grip wider than shoulder distance. Bring the barbe;; over your chestline with extended arms. Bring it back over and behind your head by bending your elbows till you feel a good stretch on your lats. Bring the bar to the starting position with controlled movement, and repeat.
6) Dumbbell Upright Row
The dumbbell upright row is some of the best-weighted workouts you can do to build muscle, whether you're a novice or advanced exerciser. This exercise helps improve muscle symmetry by targeting both sides unilaterally and building upper body strength.
How to do it?
Clutch a pair of dumbbells in both hands, with slightly bent knees. Press your feet on the ground for a good stable foot position. Position the dumbbells in the front with elbows slightly bent and palms angled towards the legs.
Start the upward movement of your hands, and bring the dumbbells towards your lower chest. Pause for a couple of seconds at the top position before slowly straightening your arms and bringing the weights back to their starting position.
