15 Best Barbell Exercises for Weight Loss & Lean Mass

When it comes to torching plenty of calories while developing strength, endurance, and muscle mass, there’s no better equipment than the barbells.

Barbells provide a great range of motion and allow us to perform various exercises to train the entire body.

In this article, I’ll share the 10 best barbell exercises that kindle a plethora of calories, increase weight loss, enhance cardiovascular fitness, and improve overall body composition.

Whether you’re male or female, pair these barbell weight loss exercises with bodyweight cardio, other resistance exercises, and a low-calorie meal plan to achieve your best shape over time.

Top 15 Barbell Exercises for Weight Loss and Lean Mass

1. Jammer
2. Front Lunges
3. Clean and Press
4. Sumo Deadlift High Pull
5. Push Press
6. Bench Press
7. Standard Deadlift
8. Squat to Overhead Press
9. Bent-over Row
10. Barbell Hang Snatch
11. Seated Barbell Oblique Twist
12. Hip Thrust
13. Barbell Hack Squat
14. Landmine Oblique Twist
15. Trap Bar Farmers Walk

These exercises will be challenging, but they are efficient and can help you speed up your fat loss over time.

Let’s see how to perform each exercise with step-by-step instructions.

1. Barbell Jammer

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Intermediate

The barbell jammer is a full-body compound exercise that works primarily on the legs, glutes, chest, core, shoulders, and arms.

Steps to do it:

1. Place one end of the bar in the corner of the wall and insert the weights into another end.
2. Grab the end of a barbell and stand in the shoulder-width stance with your arms crossed in front of your chest.
3. Lean your body slightly forward while keeping your spine in a neutral position.
4. Perform a squat, and as you return to the standing position, press the bar up until your arms are straight and your heels are off the floor.
5. Pause for a moment, then return to the squat position. That’s your one rep!

2. Barbell Lunges

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Legs and Glutes	Intermediate

The barbell lunges strengthen and tone lower body muscles and maximize calorie burning.

It primarily strengthens quads and hamstrings and helps build solid legs.

Steps to do it:

1. Grab a barbell, place it on the back of your shoulder, and stand in the lunge stance.
2. Bend your knees simultaneously until your rear knee is close to the ground.
3. Press into the floor with your front foot to stand back.
4. Make sure your knees don’t pass your toes.

3. Clean and Press

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push-Pull	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Advanced

The clean & press is a full-body barbell exercise that bolsters the legs, arms, and shoulders. It fires up decent calories and boosts strength, power, and speed. 

Steps to do it:

1. Stand upright with your shin close to the bar. Bend your knees and grab the bar firmly with an overhand grip with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Brace your abdominal muscles and pull the bar toward your chest.
3. Once the bar reaches your chest height, slightly bend at your hips and then rotate your elbows to bring the bar on your front shoulders so your palms are facing up and elbows under the bar.
4. Extend your knees and press the bar overhead until your arms are straight.
5. Reverse the movement to complete one repetition.

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4. Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Pull	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Advanced

The Sumo deadlift high pull is a quick and high-intense movement that enhances calories burned, increases strength and explosiveness, and works throughout the body.

Steps to do it:

1. Place a bar close to your shin and stand upright with your feet two times wider than hip-width apart and toes pointing slightly outward.
2. Bend at your knees and grab the bar firmly with an overhand grip with your hands a couple of inches shorter than shoulder-width. Your back should remain flat during the entire workout.
3. Brace your core, inhale, and press your feet into the floor to slowly stand up and pull the bar up toward your neck at the same time.
4. Shrugging your shoulders, pull your arms up as high as possible or until the bar is close to your neck.
5. Return to the start and repeat.
6. Perform each rep as fast as possible.

5. Barbell Push Press

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Shoulder, Abs, and Legs	Intermediate

The push press is a high-intensity barbell exercise that improves aerobic and anaerobic fitness, increases weight loss, and builds muscle.

Steps to do it:

1. Grab a loaded bar, place it on the front of your shoulder, and stand straight in the hip-width stance.
2. Keep your hands just outside of your shoulders with your palms facing up and elbows pointing down.
3. Lower your torso by bending your hips and knees until you reach a half-squat position.
4. Extending your knees and hips, explosively press the bar overhead until your legs and arms are straight.
5. Return the bar on your shoulder and repeat the same steps for the desired number of times.
6. Do the entire movement at a quick pace.

6. Barbell Bench Press

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Chest, Shoulder & Triceps	Intermediate

You can do as many fancy exercises as you like, but basic ones are always effective. And the bench press is one of them. The bench press primarily hits the pectoral muscles and helps build a muscular torso.

Steps to do it:

1. Put the desired weights into the bar and lay down on the bench with your chest directly under the bar.
2. Firmly grab the bar width so your hands are two times wider than hip-width apart.
3. Lift the bar off the rack and lower it down just over your chest.
4. Press the bar toward your chest until your arms are straight.
5. Pause, and then lower it down and repeat for the desired number of times.
6. Complete as many reps as you like.

You can perform the incline bench press in the same way on a 30-degree incline bench.

7. Barbell Deadlift

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Pull	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Intermediate

Whether you want to lose weight, build muscles, or enhance lifting ability, the deadlift plays a key role in achieving all of these.

The deadlift increases muscular power, improves the quality of life, and decreases the risk of health issues in obese and overweight individuals – concluded in a study published by Sports Basel.¹ Muscular Power during a Lifting Task Increases after Three Months of Resistance Training in Overweight and Obese Individuals – NCBI Journal

To perform the deadlift, you must learn the proper form; if you know it, excellent! But if you want to know the appropriate technique, watch the video above.

8. Squat to Overhead Press

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Intermediate

It is a multi-movement compound exercise that involves a front squat and overhead press.

This exercise work throughout the body from the quadriceps to the shoulders and helps build strength, and muscle and promote cardiovascular health.

Steps to do it:

1. Grab a bar with your hands and place it on the front part of your shoulders.
2. Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart.
3. Perform a squat and then press the bar over your head until your arms are straight.
4. Do 16 to 20 repetitions in a couple of sets.

9. Bent-over Row

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Pull	Compound	Back, Abs, and Biceps	Intermediate

The bent-over row targets the lats, traps, and infraspinatus, and helps build a broader and shredded back.

Steps to do it:

1. Grab a barbell with an underhand grip (hands shoulder-width apart).
2. Bend your torso forward with your arms straight underneath your chest.
3. Keep your back straight, brace your core, inhale, and pull the bar toward your stomach.
4. Pause for a brief moment, then lower it to the start.

10. Barbell Hang Snatch

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Pull	Compound	Integrated Full Body	Intermediate

The barbell hang snatch is a total body exercise that annihilates plenty of calories and increases strength, power, and explosiveness.

Steps to do it:

1. Holding a bar with an overhand grip, stand straight in the hip-width stance. And keep your hands just outside your hips with your palms facing in. That’s the starting position.
2. Keeping your arms straight, slightly lower the bar just above your knees and then explosively pull the bar up until it comes in the bottom of the overhead squat.
3. Lastly, press the bar up until your arms and knees are fully extended.
4. Lower the bar to the start and repeat for the desired number of times.

11. Seated Barbell Torso Twist

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Twist	Isolation	Abs & Shoulder	Intermediate

The torso twist is an excellent exercise to hit the abdominal area and help build strong abs and obliques.

Having a firm core provides stability to the torso and lower back and helps you perform better during other lifts.

Steps to do it:

• Place an empty barbell on the back of your shoulder, grab it with your hands, and sit on the edge of a flat bench with your torso upright and feet flat on the floor. That’s the setup.
• Twist your torso from the right to the left and vice versa. Do it as many times as you like.

12. Hip Thrust

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Hamstrings, Glute, & Core	Intermediate

The hip thrust primarily targets the gluteal muscles and helps build a firm butt. It also strengthens the hamstrings, lower back, and abdominal muscles which are important for a strong physique.

Steps to do it:

1. Place your upper back on the edge of a flat bench while keeping your feet flat on the floor.
2. Put a pad on your hip for extra safety, and ask your gym mates to place the bar on it.
3. Brace your core and thrust your hips upward as quickly as possible.
4. Once you reach your top, pause for a moment, then return to the start.
5. Focus on squeezing your glutes throughout the movement.

13. Barbell Hack Squat

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Thighs and Glutes	Intermediate

The barbell hack squat is an excellent variation to hit the quadriceps muscles and forge leg muscles.

It also torches decent calories in a quick time and helps lose weight over time.

Steps to do it:

1. Put the loaded bar on the floor and stand against (in a shoulder-width stance) it with your heels close to it.
2. Pushing your hips back, slightly bend your knees, and grab the bar with an overhand grip.
3. Push through your feet and return to the standing position until your hips are fully extended. That’s one rep.

Related: 5 Best Squats for Weight Loss

14. Barbell Oblique Twist

Force Type	Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Push	Compound	Abs & Shoulder	Intermediate

The landmine oblique twist is a core-strengthening exercise that primarily hits the external and internal obliques and improves the appearance of your abs.

Steps to do it:

1. Position one end of the bar at an appropriate place and grab the opposite end.
2. Hold the end of the barbell and stand in a shoulder-width stance.
3. Take a few inches back and keep your arms straight in front of your head.
4. Twist the bar to your left side until it reaches your hips level.
5. Pause for a moment and bring the barbell to the starting point.
6. Now, twist the bar to the opposite side to complete the first rep.

15. Trap Bar Farmers Walk

Mechanics	Target Muscles	Level
Compound	Full Body	Intermediate

The farmer walk is a total body exercise that requires you to grab one dumbbell in each hand or l0aded trap bar and walk as far or long as possible.

It bolsters muscles throughout the body, especially arms, and helps improve strength and conditioning.

Steps to do it:

• Put the desired weight into the trap bar, grab its handle, and walk as far or long as possible.
• Take a little break and repeat.

45-Minute Full Body Barbell Workout for Fat Loss

You can pair this barbell weight loss routine with dumbbell, machine, and bodyweight exercises to maximize your results.

Summary

• Duration: 30 to 45 minutes
• Frequency: 3 days a week
• Rest between sets: 1-3 minutes
• Prefer time to workout: Afternoon or Evening (do whenever suits you the most.)

Instructions

• Perform as many rounds as possible in 30 to 45 minutes.
• You can make any changes you like.

Day 1 – Monday

• 5 Lunges (Right Leg)
• 10 Bench Presses
• 5 Lunges (Left Leg)
• 5 Oblique Twists (Right Side)
• 10 Bent-over Rows
• 5 Oblique Twists (Left Side)

Day 2 – Wednesday

• 20 steps Farmers Walk
• 8 Deadlifts
• 10 Push Presses
• 10 Seated Oblique Twists (5/side)
• 10 Hip Thrusts

Day 3 – Friday

• 5 Jammers
• 5 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
• 5 Bent-over Rows
• 5 Barbell Hack Squats
• 5 Bench Presses

References

• 1
  Muscular Power during a Lifting Task Increases after Three Months of Resistance Training in Overweight and Obese Individuals – NCBI Journal