Top 7 Gym Workouts for Men

If you’re a guy new to the gym scene, knowing what exercises to do to get results can be daunting – especially when it comes to building muscle.

Check out our 7 original gym exercises for men to help get you started.

Suspended push up

The benefits of suspension training systems have been promoted far and wide by many personal trainers.

Due to the instability of the suspension strap handles, you are actively accelerating more muscle fibers than you would with a regular push up, equating to more strength and muscle development. 

How to:

Leaning into the straps, take a handle in each hand and move into a push-up plank position. With your arms fully extended and a good posture, you should be as close to parallel to the ground as you can manage.

Allow your elbows to flex as you descend slowly, maintaining a straight, rigid torso.

Continue until your elbows reach a 90 degree angle, pausing before you extend to return to the starting position.

Swiss ball rollout

If you’re set on carving out a 6 pack, the swiss ball rollout is an excellent place to start. This is one of the best gym exercises for men to build ripped, lean muscle, putting increased tension on the abdominal muscles.

Use this in place of a crunch.

How to:

Sit on your knees in front of a Swiss ball and place forearms and fists on the ball.

Slowly roll the ball forward, straightening arms and extending your body as far as you can whilst keeping your core braced and your lower back naturally arched. Take care not to let your lower back collapse.

Use your abdominal muscles to pull the ball back to your knees.

Barbell bicep curls

The go-to exercise for anyone looking to start building bigger arms, barbell bicep curls not only work your biceps, but your forearms and shoulders.

How to:

Grasp a barbell with an underhand grip, ensuring each hand is shoulder width apart.

Stand straight up with your feet together, back straight and arms fully extended in the direction of your legs. Make sure the bar is not touching your body.

Slowly curl the bar up as you keep your eyes facing forward, your elbows tucked in at the sides, and your body completely still. Only your biceps should be moving.

Squeeze your biceps hard at the top of the movement before slowly lowering it down to your starting position.

Chin up

You’ll be working out a whole lot of muscles when you add chin ups to your routine. Enjoy increased back strength, arm strength, and a faster metabolism.

How to:

Grasp the pull-up bar with an underhand grip, hands placed slightly closer than shoulder width apart. Keep your torso as straight as possible as you create a curvature on your lower back and stick your chest out.

Breathe out and concentrate on using your biceps to pull your torso up until your head is around the level of the pull-up bar. Keep the elbows close to the body.

Squeeze biceps in the concentrated position before slowly lowering your torso back to the starting position.

* If you are new to this exercise and do not have the strength to yet perform it, use a pull-up assist machine.

Dumbbell overhead triceps extension

A single-joint exercise, the tricep extension provides variety in your workout to avoid hitting plateaus in your workout. Plus, it’ll add to your killer arms.

How to:

Sitting on a 90 degree bench, hold a dumbbell above your head with both hands, making sure it’s secure by gripping it with palms facing upward. Keep your feet flat on the floor and your back straight.

Slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head as far as possible, moving only your elbow joints. Keep your head up and your eyes facing forward.

Pause before extending your arms back to the start position.

Incline dumbbell row

Dumbbell incline rows emphasise your rhomboids, middle and lower back, as well as your biceps and forearms.

How to:

Lean into an incline bench with a neutral grip.

Take a dumbbell in each hand with the arms straight.

Retract your shoulder blades and flex the elbows to row the dumbbells to your side. Do this with one weight at a time, if you wish.

Pause at the top of movement before returning to start position.

Calf raises

Missing leg day is a definite no-no; make sure you incorporate calf raises for lower leg definition.

How to:

Stand near a wall, supporting yourself with your hands against the wall.

Lift one foot off the ground, pointing it behind you. Rise up on the other foot, placing your weight on the ball and lifting as high as you can go.

Lower yourself back down to the ground. Do not allow your heel to touch the ground between reps.

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