The BIG 5 – The Smart Way to More Strength

The Big 5 are among the most effective exercises in strength training, as they activate many muscle groups simultaneously. If you want to build a strong and athletic body in the long run, you should focus on theseBasic exercises. Your training will be particularly efficient if you dedicate each exercise to a single day of the week - so five exercises on five days.

What is meant by basic exercises?

The English term "Multi-Joint-Exercise" hits the nail on the head: it refers to exercises involving multiple joints and muscle groups working simultaneously. This is what makes compound exercises so effective and efficient in training.

The basic exercises, or the Big 5, have been around since people started training strength intentionally. They owe their great popularity to various reasons. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made them a regular part of his training routine in the 1970s. Throughout his active career as a bodybuilder he consistently relied on these exercises to build maximum muscle mass and functional strength - with resounding success: He won the title of "Mr. Olympia" a total of seven times, the most prestigious bodybuilding competition of the IFBB worldwide.

Maximum training stimuli

If you train many muscles at the same time, something magical happens: Your body releases a variety of growth hormones in a short period of time, such as testosterone and others of the superfamily of growth hormones (GH). This is exactly the key to visible training results and that's why the Big 5 are so powerful. They challenge your entire body, ensure real development, and cannot be replaced by anything.

If you want to train efficiently, you should focus on maximum training stimuli - and no exercise combination delivers better than these five classics.

Of course, you can also train smaller muscle groups additionally if you feel like it. But for your progress, the big movements - bench press, squats & co bring real results. Those who want to stay motivated in the long term focus on the essentials and keep the training compact and effective. Less is often more here.

Full body workout with just five exercises?

Yes, the Big 5 cover all major muscle groups - either directly or supportively: legs,core,stomach, back and arms are intensively challenged. Especially the lower back works hard during deadlifts, while engaging the abdominal muscles during squats.

Even the arms are not neglected in the Big 5 training. Thebiceps is activated during lat pulldowns and deadlifts, the triceps during bench press and shoulder press.

A separate abdominal or arm workout is often not necessary at all.

More than just muscle power - Holistic body control

The Big 5 not only promote muscle building, but also improve your intra- and intermuscular coordination. This means that your muscles and muscle chains work together more harmoniously. This improved muscle coordination has a positive effect on your body awareness and at the same time reduces the risk of injury - both in sports and in everyday life.

Intensive training thanks to smart weekly planning

With MIKE5-Training efficiency is a top priority. That's why only one basic exercise is scheduled per day - and that's exactly what makes the training so effective. You give your all for a strength exercise in a short amount of time, create strong muscle stimuli, and give your body sufficient recovery afterwards.

This clever principle utilizes supercompensation for noticeable progress in the shortest time.

Conclusion

Those who want to train in a targeted, time-saving, and effective way are best advised with the Big 5. Due to the high muscular involvement and the associated hormone response, a positive change in the body quickly becomes apparent. This not only increases training motivation but also makes it easier to stick with it - even with a busy schedule.