There are countless exercises you can use in the gym, and in fact there's nothing to stop you from making up your own variations ensuring that there are in fact limitless different things for you to do there. While this is of course a good thing, it can also make it somewhat difficult sometimes to pick the move that you want to use on any given day. Here then are some of the most powerful moves that have a place in almost any workout. These are the moves that make up the backbone of weightlifting and getting into shape, and so it's crucial that you familiarise yourself with them.
The Bench Press: The bench press is the station that you often really need to queue to get a go on in the gym. One of the 'big three' compound movements, this is a move that works almost every muscle in your upper body and puts you in an 'anabolic state' for maximum hypertrophy (muscle growth). Simply lift the weight off the rack situated at the end of the bench, preferably with help from a spotter, then lower it slowly to your body before you press it back up.
To see faster hypertrophy still, the best technique is to perform fewer repetitions of a greater weight, while the opposite is the most effective for toning up. Most bench presses can be adjusted allowing you to sit more upright or lie back more so that you can work your upper or lower pectorals muscles. An additional bench variation is the leaning bench press which gets you bringing one side of the weight down more than the other and then alternating. There are many more variations too so get creative!
Push Ups: Push ups are maybe the most simple and fundamental bodyweight exercise you can do in the gym and they're also very practical - what with being a move you can do wherever you are and with zero gym equipment but still having a very impressive effect on the whole body. Press ups are best known for training the chest but additionally work the triceps, the deltoids, traps, the stomach, serratus muscles and the legs (the legs and abs might not look like they're involved, but as you have to hold your body straight they in fact are... ).
On top of this there are also many different variations that many people are not familiar with, e.g. weighted push ups where you obviously have a heavy object (like a backpack filled up with weights) weighing you down as you do the press ups, leaning push ups where you have to go down further on one side each time to use one pec more than the other, or press ups where you use push up stands (which you should be able to find in your gym).
Squat:
The wise gym goer should never forget the squat which will train the entire lower body and which will engage every muscle in the legs. What makes the squat so very important is the fact that the legs are such large muscle groups and simply by training them all together like this you will be able to encourage the body to burn much more fat and to go into an anabolic state for greater muscle development.
