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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.


Additional Article Information:
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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 Rivera
Copyright: 2008
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Which Exercises Are The Best
Copyright (c) 2008 Hugo A Rivera
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 Rivera 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


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