5 Killer Barbell Exercises To Perform at Home

August 5 2014

5 Killer Barbell Exercises To Perform at Home

Want to achieve a full-body workout without investing in an expensive gym membership? Using nothing more than a barbell, bench, and some plate weights, you can perform a killer exercise that targets all of the major muscle groups. In this post, we’re going to reveal the top 5 barbell exercises to perform at home.

#1) Chest Presses

The single most popular barbell exercise is the chest press. This exercise is performed by laying down on a bench and lifting the weighted barbell from your chest to the full extension of your arms, at which point you gradually bring it back down and repeat.

Check out our previous post for some tips on how to safely perform barbell chest presses at home.

#2) Bicep Curls

To perform a barbell bicep curl, place your arms along your side and hold the barbell underhanded. Now lift the barbell up to your chest and bring it back down. Try to keep your upper body as still as possible when performing this exercise, as shifting your center of gravity will reduce its effectiveness while leaving you susceptible to injury.

#3) Squats

Another killer barbell exercise to perform at home are squats. These are performed by placing a weighted barbell behind your neck on your shoulders and bending your knees until your thighs are almost parallel to the ground, at which point you can bring your body back up; rinse and repeat.

Note: avoid bending your back when performing squats. Your spine will have a natural curve to it, but this doesn’t give you the green light to bend it unnaturally.

#4) Upright Rows

To perform this exercise, grab a weighted barbell with an overhand grip while standing up and raise it up to your chest. The key difference between the upright row and bicep curl is how you grip the barbell. Being that upright rows require an overhand grip, you must use your chest and shoulder muscles to raise it rather than your biceps.

#5) Deadlifts

Deadlfts are unique in the sense that you don’t actually move your arms. With the weighted barbell placed on the ground, grab it using an overhand grip and stand up.

These are just a few of the dozens of different barbell exercises that can be performed at home (or at the gym). Regardless of which one you perform, remember to keep your body as straight as possible to promote greater efficiency and muscle use. Allowing your body to “swag” can make the exercises easier, but at the same time you will be cheating yourself out of a beneficial workout.