Building a solid foundation of strength and power throughout the entire body offers myriad benefits for the bodybuilder, athlete, casual lifter, and anyone with a physically demanding job. The ability to push and pull heavier weights, particularly in multijoint, free-weight lifts, will most certainly manifest into increased muscle mass, improved athletic performance, enhanced work capacity, and perhaps most important, a better quality of life.

While isolation movements certainly have their place in many training regimens, they cannot compare with the basic compound exercises (for building true functional strength or power) simply because these types of movements require more balance and coordination, allow for the use of greater poundage, involve multiple muscle groups (performing in concert), and work the body in a manner more specific to real-world human movement. Here are eight of my favorites.