Muscle Bulging Barbell Workout with Allo

Bench Press

When you think barbell exercises, you probably think about the bench press. This is a great exercise to work nearly all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and upper arms. 

Like many barbell exercises, it’s important to load your weights so that you won’t get overloaded during your set. It’s also always best to work with a spotter, but especially when you’re upping your weight.

1. Set the weight on the barbell and position yourself on the bench so that the barbell is resting in the rack above your neck. 
2. Grip the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and root your feet into the ground.
3. Keep your core tight as you lift the bar off the rack and bring it over your chest just around shoulder height.
4. Maintain control as you slowly lower the bar towards your chest and push your elbows out to the side, but don’t let them dip below the bench. 
5. Push the barbell straight back up as you exhale, but be careful not to lock your elbows at the top of the motion.
6. Repeat for 8-10 reps.
7. Repeat for 3 sets.

Overhead Press

The overhead press is pretty similar to the bench press in the action but the change in posture from horizontal to vertical shifts the target focus into different parts of your arm and shoulder muscles. 

Because you don’t have the support of the bench under you, proper posture is key for this exercise to avoid straining your back. Also similar to the bench press, you’ll want to start off lighter than you might think to make sure you are getting your posture and form down right before adding the strain of a heavier weight. 

1. Place your feet shoulder-width apart then grab your barbell and lift it up to your chest with the bar resting on the heels of your hands and your elbows pointing down. 
2. Push the weight up over your head as you exhale.
3. Lock your elbows and shrug your shoulders up toward your ears.
4. Hold here for a moment before relaxing your shoulders and releasing the weight back down to your chest. 
5. Repeat for 8-10 reps.
6. Repeat for 3 sets.

Barbell Row

The barbell row is another great standing barbell exercise. Just like with the overhead press, posture and form here are key.

Instead of lifting the weight above your head, you will be bending over slightly in order to pull the weight up without risking bumping the bar against your body. Because of this, it’s important to keep your back straight and the easiest way to do that is to focus on keeping your chest up and your hips down. 

1. Start off holding the barbell at arm's length with an overhand grip, palms facing down, with your feet shoulder-width apart, and keep your knees slightly bent as you hinge from your hips to bring your torso nearly level with the ground.
2. Instead of lifting with your arms, squeeze your back muscles and shoulders together as you drive your elbows up and lift the barbell to your chest. 
3. Pause at the top of the motion for a moment before slowly releasing the barbell back down to the start position. 
4. Repeat for 10 reps.
5. Repeat for 3 sets.

Barbell Curl

The barbell curl will finish out the upper body portion of the barbell workout. Curls are a great way to target your biceps as well as maintain good mobility in your elbow joint. 

While you can easily do a barbell curl with a standard straight bar, there are specialized curl bars that your gym might have that could be easier on your wrists. You can also do a barbell curl with the bar attachment on a cable machine in there aren’t any free weights available. 

1. Stand up straight with your feet planted hip-width apart and hold the barbell down by your hips with your arms straight and your palms facing up.
2. Keep your knees soft as you hinge from your elbow to bring the bar up toward your chest.
3. Hold at the top of the motion for a moment before slowly releasing the weight back down.
4. Repeat for 10-12 reps.
5. Repeat for 3 sets.

Barbell Squat

Switching focus now to your lower body, we’ll start with one of the most popular and hard-hitting barbell exercises, the backloaded barbell squat. 

If you are just starting out with strength training or have any concerns about knees or other joint issues in your legs, make sure to do these with a spotter or use an auto-racking squat rack. Start as light as just using the bar by itself and move up in the smallest possible increments to make sure you can handle the weight.

Feel free to set this up as a lower body superset with the deadlifts in the next exercise. 

1. Set the weight on your barbell and set it onto a squat rack somewhere close to chin height. 
2. Step under the bar and position the middle of the bar in line with your spine but low enough that it is resting on your shoulders, not your neck. 
3. Lift the bar off the rack and step into position with your legs either shoulder-width apart and toes slightly pointed out for a standard squat or out wide and toes fully turned out for a sumo squat. 
4. Engage your core as you hinge from the hips and bend your knees to sink down into the squat making sure to keep your back straight, chest high, and head up.
5. Pause at the bottom of the motion for just a moment before pushing through the heels of your feet to drive yourself back up to the start position.
6. Repeat for 10-12 reps. 
7. Repeat for 3 sets.

Barbell Deadlift

Barbell deadlifts are a great way to target your hamstrings and quads as well as your lower legs. Since this is another barbell exercise where you will be bending over, posture and form are super important. 

The best part about using a barbell for deadlifts is that you can get much closer to your legs for the best possible form compared to other options like dumbbells or kettlebells. 

You can keep the barbell deadlifts as your final exercise or add a few planks at the end to get some targeted attention on your core.

1. With the bar on the ground loaded to your weight, place your feet under the bar with your feet shoulder-width apart. 
2. Bend your knees to reach down and grab the barbell about shoulder-width apart with either an overhand grip, palms facing down, or a split grip with one hand flipped, palm facing up.
3. Stick your hips out as you straighten your back and lift your chest, then drive through your heels to lift the weight with your legs, letting your arms stay extended.
4. Squeeze your glutes together as you drive your hips forward and hold at the top of the motion.
5. Maintain control as you bend your knees, and drive your hips back and down to touch the weight back to the ground.
6. Repeat for 10-12 reps.
7. Repeat for 3 sets.