For those of you who haven’t been an avid gym goer throughout the colder months and are only just starting to think about getting bigger for the summer, here are three powerful exercises you can do to help you look more muscly this season.

Body Weight Pull Ups

There are multiple types of pull ups you can try. This is a wide grip pull up. For this, your hands need to be positioned as far apart on the handles as possible before letting your arms lift you off of the floor. This is the hardest of all the pull ups to achieve, but if practised regularly you should start to see a bigger ‘V shaped back’. If you’re not very confident with pull ups, start by simply dangling on the handles. This will build up your resistance and strength so in time you’ll be able to start completing pull ups.

Muscles hit: Latissimus, Mid-back, Rear Deltoids, Biceps, Forearms & Core.

Barbell Deadlift

First of all, when performing deadlifts position your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart pointing slightly out to the side. Place your hands on the bar in a wide reaching position as above. As you can see, my hands are placed alternate ways around. This is more of a personal preference but I feel you have better greater grip on the bar like this which makes it easier to lift up. Bring the bar up to your thigh while keeping your arms straight. Make sure your shoulders are back, hips are forward whilst squeezing your glutes.

Muscles hit: Hamstrings, Calves, Gluteus Maximus & Lower Back.

Barbell Squat

When performing a barbell squat place your feet in the same position as the previous exercise. When squatting, make sure you can see your toes, your knees don’t want to be hanging over them. Keep your feet firm on the ground and don’t let your heels creep up. Position your hands wide across the bar, your back should be straight, stick your bum out and go as low to the floor as possible.

Muscles hit: Quadriceps, Calves, Gluteus Maximus & Hamstrings.

These three exercises will hit almost all of your main muscle groups giving you quick explosive results, great if you haven’t got long before your holiday!

What are your favourite summer muscle building exercises?