The Main Workouts — Verte Brio

When you first began lifting, what did you think the most prominent workouts were? Most people will say: bench press, dumbbell curls, lunges, and jogging on the treadmill for a few hours.

Most people are wrong. There is a lot more to fitness than that.

The essentials of any major workout routine will include: deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, and bench presses. Followed closely by pull-ups, dips, good mornings, and bent over rows. There are many variations of these exercises with different benefits, but for a beginner, the basic form will suffice.

Uninformed beginners will usually see these happening around them at the gym, but they’ll be too afraid to try them. Often thinking, “That looks dangerous.” This phrase is also thrown around a lot: “I’d squat, but I have bad knees.”

People tend to fear what they don’t understand. Which is why we value informed decision making at Verte Brio.

The first thing to understand is foundation. If you want to get bigger, you want to focus on all your muscles. Which is why we don’t put our focus on isolation workouts. It’s also why we don’t skip certain days (think about how many people you know skip leg day). We want our foundation to be strong all the way through, so we focus on compound workouts.

Compound workouts involve more than one major muscle group. For example, the deadlift takes into account your back (upper and lower), your hamstrings, your core, and your grip. By incorporating all of these, your body gets a much more valuable workout than it would have through an isolation workout, or even several isolation workouts. This is how you build an overall strong foundation. By hitting everything and making sure your body is balanced. This is what will provide your initial strength and mass, and from this, you can continue to build.

The second key notion is form. People are afraid to hit these workouts because it looks complicated or it’s allegedly “easy to mess up and hurt yourself.” How do we conquer fear? With a little education.

Research the workouts. Below we’ll have videos detailing how to perform each of these workouts. You can also look up each exercise and note the muscles that they hit.

Ask for help. You’d be surprised by the number of people at the gym willing to spot you when you’re attempting heavy weight.

Know your limits. Don’t attempt higher weight when you can’t maintain form at lower ones, and especially not when your muscles are tired and aching. No one’s going to be impressed by you hurting yourself.

If you are really new to the gym and don’t have any friends willing to show you the ropes, then take advantage of professional trainers. Either hire an independent trainer or see if your gym provides one-on-one training services (which most gyms do). Some even give you a free session when you sign up, so that is the time to ask for help with your form.

It’s harrowing how many people lift with improper form. You’ll often see people attempting awkward squats or dangerously swinging up during deadlifts/bench presses. This is a recipe for disaster, namely injured backs and pulled muscles. Master form while you’re doing very little weight. That way, when you get to heavier weights, you’ll already have the form down. Safe is steady, and steady is fast. There’s never any need to rush in physical fitness.

Below you’ll find each of the workouts. Click on the images to find videos that will explain how to perform each one.