Your muscles grow to meet the demands placed upon them.
Exercises to gain muscle must provide that added demand.
If you only lift ten pounds, then your muscles will size themselves to let you lift those ten pounds efficiently.
If your routine changes and you begin to routinely lift twenty pounds, your muscles will adapt to the increased resistance and grow until they can help you to efficiently lift the new weight.
It's fairly simple, if you want your muscles to grow, you will have to challenge them with additional exercise to gain muscle; resistance above what they have become used to.
There are myriad exercises recommended for building up muscle, but the traditional resistance exercises described below are all you'll need to effectively grow you muscles.
The Bench Press This exercise is recognized by nearly everyone as probably the best exercise to gain muscle.
It's superb for building up the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Bench presses can be performed using either barbells or dumbbells.
The traditional bench press is performed by lying on your back on a bench, holding the barbell or dumbbells above your chest with arms extended fully, lowering the weight to your chest, and pushing it back up to the starting position.
Bent Over Rows These exercises are key to building up your upper back muscles: the rhomboids, the trapezius, and the latissimus dorsi.
Performing bent over rows begins by gripping a barbell or dumbbells in your hands and bending your body forward until your upper body is parallel to the ground.
In that position, hold the weight near the ground with your arms extended.
Bend up your arms bringing the weights up toward the lower part of your chest.
Once your hands have been lifted to the height of your upper body, lower the weights slowly, and repeat the process.
The Shoulder Press This is a great exercise to gain muscle mass on your triceps and shoulders.
First, get into position.
Either sit or stand upright and hold a barbell or a set of dumbbells with your hands in front of your shoulders.
Now, to perform the actual shoulder press, repeatedly push the weight or weights directly upward and then lower them back down to your shoulders.
The Biceps Curls These are great exercises to gain muscle.
They are directed at building those much looked at muscles on the front of your upper arms.
While either sitting or standing, hold dumbbells down at your sides with the palms of your hands facing your body.
Flex both arms and lift the weights up toward your shoulders, turning your palms to face your shoulders as you lift.
After your arms are fully flexed, lower them back down and begin the process again, repeating as many times as you wish.
The Squats These exercises to gain muscle, which are really little more than standing up, are popular because they work on multiple muscle groups at the same time, particularly the upper legs, buttocks, and the lower back.
Performing squats is simple.
Stand with your feet placed apart to the width of your shoulders with your toes pointed directly forward.
Hold a barbell behind your neck across your upper back, or hold a set of dumbbells at your sides.
By flexing your hips and knees, with your upper body straight and perpendicular to the ground, lower your body into what would be a sitting position until your upper legs are parallel to the ground, and then stand back up.
Repeat this motion for a long as you wish.