7 Best Barbell Exercises for Beginners to Strengthen and Tone Your Entire Body
Whether you’re new to barbells, new to weight lifting, or new to the gym entirely, the barbell—a.k.a, that long pole with the big weighted plates attached to either side—can be a little bit intimidating. It’s big, unwieldy and it can seem like only the savviest gym goers really know how to use it.
Well, today that changes! As Charlie Mejia, a certified personal trainer in the Bay Area explains: “Don’t be intimidated. The more you can experiment with different modalities, the better it is for your body.” Learning to master some basic exercises on the barbell will help you challenge your body and your mind.
The barbell’s benefits are clear—it allows you to lift heavy weights. Lifting heavier weights has been associated with improved endurance, better cognition and more fat burning since it continues to help you burn calories well after your workout is over.
With that in mind, here are 7 beginner barbell exercises to strengthen and tone your entire body.
Best Barbell Exercises
1. Back Squat
A classic barbell exercise, the back squat works your glutes and quads. Mejia’s best tip is to master the movement without any weight at all, master it with just the bar, and then add weight. “Once you’ve mastered bodyweight and the bar, start adding 5 or 10 pounds to the bar while you get acclimated,” he explains.
And if you’re a beginner at barbell exercises, you might be surprised by how challenging these moves are with just the bar! According to Mejia, “Most standard barbells are 45 pounds, but some gyms have even heavier ones.” His advice is to not push too hard too soon. “It might be tough to keep your balance the first time using a barbell, it’s a top-heavy piece of equipment,” he continues.
Try it out:
Head to the squat rack and position the barbell just below shoulder height.
Duck underneath the bar and push up on it with the back of your shoulders, behind your head until it lifts up. Step a few feet away from the rack.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, making sure your heels are heavy on the ground.
Push your hips back and bend your legs until you are in a low squat, but don’t go past a 90-degree angle.
Push through your heels and stand back up. Try 5 sets of 5 reps each.
As Mejia explains, “It’s helpful to have a mirror for this move,” saying to make sure you can see your own eyes and your chest while you squat.
Related: How to Use Different Bars At the Gym
2. Bent-Over Row
If you want a killer back and biceps, the bent-over row is perfect for gaining strength and definition. It’s a great barbell exercise for beginners because you can easily place the bar on the ground if you start to feel unsteady, or like the bar is too heavy. Unlike the back squat, “You shouldn’t be looking at yourself while doing it,“ says Mejia. Instead, “Think of your head as an extension of the spine. Your eyes and chest should be straight ahead and facing the ground,” he says.
Try it out:
Grab a barbell with both hands, palms facing forwards you, and hold it in front of your body while standing.
Spread your feet shoulder-width apart, tighten your core, and hinge at the hips until your eyes are facing the floor. Allow the barbell to hang in front of your body.
Slowly bend your arms, pulling the barbell towards the pocket of your hip, and keep your elbows to your sides. Try 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
According to Mejia, “A common mistake is to pull the bar towards your chest or shoulder line, so double check to make sure it’s not too high!”
3. Deadlift
Ah, the deadlift. You either love it or you hate it! According to Mejia, “This barbell exercise is one of the most beneficial for gaining strength, but it can also be the most detrimental if you’re not doing it properly.” If you get too zealous as a beginner, you might overdo it and you risk straining your back. And yet, deadlifts are worth learning how to do right, as they target your glutes, hamstrings, abs, and back.
Try it today:
Start by standing straight up with the barbell on the floor in front of you. Stand with your back flat, and make sure your shoulder blades are pinched.
Next, bend the knees and hinge forward with your back straight and engaged, grabbing onto the barbell at shoulder width.
Slowly pick up the barbell and allow your legs to assume its weight first. Then, you can stand up fully.
Repeat this, allowing your body to hinge up and down like a seesaw. Try 4 sets of 6 reps each.
4. Hip Thrust
A hip thrust is a great way to engage not just the glutes but your core as well. “This move also helps encourage mobility in the hips,” says Mejia, which can be helpful for people of all ages and activity levels. Majia suggests doing this move on a bench, and while he still encourages trying it without weights first, especially if you’re a beginner, once you master the move he recommends adding significant weight. “You’re very stable in this position, so you can use more weight than with other moves where you’re lifting the barbell over your head or positioning it behind your back,” he says.
Try it today:
Sit down on a bench with the barbell across your upper legs, almost to the hip. Then, slide down so your upper back rests on the bench and extend your legs, moving the barbell to your hips.
Keep your legs at a 90-degree angle since according to Mejia, “When your feet are too close to your body, it stresses the knees”
Slowly lower your hips so that your butt almost grazes the floor, then engage the abs and glutes and bring your hips back up to be level with your shoulders and chest. Try 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Related: 125+ Free Streaming Workouts to Do From Home
5. Push Press
This movement targets your shoulders and arms and can be great for increasing upper body strength. Mejia urges you to start with just the bar for this movement, considering you’ll be lifting the weight directly over your head. It’s also important to keep your posture in mind. “Think about the fact that the weight is pushing directly down to the ground above you, so your spine needs to be straight,” says Mejia. He says to make sure your hips are tucked under throughout the entire movement, which should help you prevent the dreaded “booty pop”, or curving of the spine. “This might not feel bad in the moment, but over time it can give you back issues,” he explains.
Try it out:
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and walk up to the bar. Grab it from underneath with your fingertips, and rest it on the front of your shoulders. If you’re doing it right, you’ll be looking at the back of your elbows.
Then, bending your knees and tucking your hips, press the bar up over your head, straightening your arms.
Pause for a second, then lower the bar slowly back down to your shoulders.
Make sure your spine is neutral throughout the entire movement. Try 3 sets of 8 reps.
6. Bench Press
Along with the back squat, the bench press might be the most classic of all barbell exercises. “With any chest press, the most important thing is to actually press from your chest,” says Mejia. And while that might seem obvious, when we’re pressing up while lying down, it’s very natural for the bar to migrate up, closer to the shoulder. Why? As Mejia explains, “The body will always try to recruit other muscles to make it easier to lift, and in this case, that’s the shoulders” he continues.
Try it out:
Lie flat on your back on a bench, gripping the bar with your hands at about shoulder-width apart.
In a controlled movement, bring the bar down to your chest, keeping your elbows tucked in so your hands are directly above them when the bar is at its lowest position.
Then, extend your arms again, breathing out while you push the bar back up. Try 5 steps of 3 reps each.
If the barbell is too heavy, you can always do a chest press with dumbbells. In fact, “Using dumbbells can help you prevent recruiting the shoulders into the movement,” says Mejia.
7. Rollout
You might not immediately consider ab exercises when you think about barbells, but Mejia was taking someone through a beginner barbell series, a rollout would be part of it. through a barbell series with a client new to weightlifting, a rollout would be part of it. As he explains it, “This is a great movement for stabilizing and targeting the core.” For beginners, Mejia recommends starting on the knees and focusing on keeping your back engaged and hips tucked under, instead of sagging down.
Try it out:
Put two 25 lb plates on either end of a barbell. Kneel down in front of it, grabbing the bar with an overhand grip at about shoulder-width. Lead forward so that your head and shoulders are over the barbell and slowly, with control, roll the bar out as far as you can without sacrificing your form.
Then, slowly return to your original kneeling position. Try doing 3 steps of 8 reps.
Getting out of your comfort zone in the gym is a great way to challenge your body and your mind. Mastering the barbell is a big step on the way to more confidence and ease at the gym.
Next up: 20 Best Workout Apps: The Best Free and Paid Workout Apps for Your Fitness Goals
Sources:
Charlie Mejia, certified personal trainer in the Bay Area
Beattie K, Kenny IC, Lyons M, Carson BP. The effect of strength training on performance in endurance athletes. Sports Med. 2014;44(6):845-865. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0157-y
Landrigan JF, Bell T, Crowe M, Clay OJ, Mirman D. Lifting cognition: a meta-analysis of effects of resistance exercise on cognition. Psychol Res. 2020;84(5):1167-1183. doi:10.1007/s00426-019-01145-x
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