Everyone probably knows that every strength sport has its mandatory lifts. To name a few Powerlifting has the big three that include a one rep max on the deadlift, squat and bench press. If we move on to the Olympic lifts in which anyone who spectates this sport would know it consists of the big two: the Snatch and Clean and Jerk, hell even Strongmen are known for a multitude of similar lifts every time (stone lifting, wheeled vehicle pulls, heavy carries, and even squat and deadlift variations).
well, wheres bodybuilding in all of this? what are our lifts? I know we have to have a better reputation than hammer strength lifts curling variants. for every sport aforementioned, we bodybuilders can easily carve ourselves out from the same type of movements all strength athletes use (which i have promoted for years BTW).
Although by doing so, I do not think this would capture the essence of TRUE bodybuilding, The hardcore bodybuilder, the artist of its "self flesh". The most successful bodybuilders I have ever created or read on has attributed most of their success to heavy compound lifts that allowed them to strongly connect to their bodies, (usually also accompanied by isolation movements which is another story)
When mentioning the bodybuilder lifts,I must first describe that all muscle groups should be addressed and The lifts should be adjusted to meet ones unique physiology.
in addition I would recommend the bragging right of "max lifts" to be accompanied by number of reps. naming a new 1 rep max is great, it will lead to strong POTENTIAL in getting bigger, but as a bodybuilding coach I also would like to see people tracking the best 2,3,4,5 or whatever rep max. Extremely HEAVY weight with relatively high reps (i.e 5-12+ reps) is a recipe i have long noticed to be the fore-front of every physique athletes success.
If everyone wants to know the lifts i believe to be the bread and butter of a great bodybuilder, I would definitely list the big 10 as:
1. The Incline Barbell press
2. The Flat bench dumbbell Press
3. weighted pull-up
4. Bent-over Barbell row
5. Overhead barbell press
6. weighted dip
7. Squat (of course)
8. Dead-lift
9. Barbell curl (we are bodybuilders right)
10. skull crushers
Nothing revolutionary here but by knowing these are the tools of choice by the most prominent of our breed, its a good list of the “Must dos” to add to any ones training arsenal.
I do have a reason for creating this article and I have personally hand picked these movements as the 10 lifts for a reason which I will elaborate on in future postings.
for the time being,what I would like everyone to do is name some of their greatest records recorded for their "Big 10" If you got up a pair of 150 lb dumbbells for 4 reps or a max single of 600 on the deadlift just let us know.
any questions on the writing or my training philosophy just post away.
