Compound exercises can be described as any movement that works multiple muscle groups at the same time. If your goal is overall fitness, strength, fat loss and muscle mass then you really need to start using these types of exercises. For the purpose of this article we will discuss some of the exercises you need to use in your routine.

1) Dead lift – The dead lift is the single most important exercise for strength and conditioning. Muscles worked by this exercise include hamstrings, lower back, upper back, core, traps, forearms and gluteus maximus. When doing this exercise try to do 5-8 reps.

2) Overhead Squats – Start by placing the bar over your head in a fully extended military press position. Slowly squat down and then squat up. You can pick how many reps you are comfortable with doing. Muscles worked by this exercise include quadriceps, gluteus maximus, deltoids, core and lower back.

3) Pull ups – A lot of people seem to hate doing this. I hate to be the one to break it to you but pull downs on a machine are not the same thing as pull ups with your own body weight. To do this exercise properly start with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width. Make sure that you are pulling with your arms and not swinging your legs to use momentum to get your head over the bar. Muscles worked by this exercise include biceps, forearms, traps, lats and rear deltoids.

4)Flat bench press -  This could easily be everyone’s most common exercise. No surprises here on how to do this. Simply lay flat on the bench with your hands a little wider than shoulder width and press the bar to the sky and lower the bar slowly to your chest. Muscles worked by this exercise include chest, shoulders and triceps.

There are many other compound exercises that can be discussed but the examples above are a great way of adding things into your current routine.