Compound exercises are key in building overall functional strength. Personal trainer Natalie McClure shares her favorite exercises and strategies for increasing strength efficiently.
“To help build muscle faster, use compound exercises – lifts that work multiple muscles a time – instead of focusing on vanity exercises like biceps curls. Compound exercises like the flat bench chest press, dead-lift, squat, or pull-up, recruit multiple muscle groups all at once, making your training more efficient and effective. You will get your work in in less time, as well gain mass faster. Also, if you only have a limited amount of time to work out, make sure that you are performing total body workouts with each session. This way if you only have 3 days a week to get to the gym, you can be sure to hit each muscle group 3 times that week. Perform at least 3 sets per exercise to make the most out of your workout.”
Natalie’s tip was originally featured on EliteManMagazine.com. Read the full article here.
Natalie’s personal training philosophy
Fitness is a life-long journey. If we give too much to our fitness lives and don’t balance out the reality of our day-to-day lives, we will get caught in unrealistic expectations that we can’t maintain.
It’s all about pairing the best you’ve got in that hour-long workout with the realities of career, family, daily commute, bills, pets, delicious meals, etc., to make fitness a sustainable piece of the puzzle.
Hyatt Training is a collective of the most professional and experienced independent personal trainers in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about our personal trainers or to set up a free consultation to see how they could help you, email us at Go@HyattTraining.com.
