The big three, barbell bench press, barbell row, and barbell squats, the core of any push, pull, or lower body routine, yet they can leave you lacking as to their effectiveness when done in their usual form and placement in a given program.
Done at the beginning of a workout they waste time and energy better spent on focusing on weaknesses first then following up with them after to add the magnitude and momentum they are capable of inducing with their correct placing in a exercise sequence to bring about some pretty amazing improvements in development.
Taking barbell bench press first, this exercise is called the king of upper body exercises, it involves the pectorals, deltoids, triceps, even the latissimus and trapezius, but that is the problem there is too much involvement yet not enough work with the front head of the deltoids, the long head of the triceps, and the lower/outer sections of the pectorals getting the brunt of the load leaving lopsided development that sometimes goes unchecked until the trainer finally realizes his mistake and tries to rectify things by concentrating on the lacking areas to find he cannot fully balance out his development due to the strong areas now so dominant they take over most of the stimulation even in a movement designed to minimize their involvement.
The trainer failed to realize that the bench press is an exercise that is the epitome of basic, working the most basic parts of each involved muscle group and that these would have readily progressed even with relatively indirect exercise movements and would have stayed in line with weaker and harder to reach aspects of their respective muscle group.
Exhausting a muscle with a basic exercise first before moving on to more isolated movements that take precision performance in perfect form to harvest specific results in a limited scope of work area is like using metal cutting snips all day until your forearms burn with fatigue then attempting to work on a intricate needle point project.
Barbell row is the same, the back will readily thicken faster than it will widen, so doing rowing work before width work will doom you to a thick narrow back with limited detail and even when working for width first, chins are not the best choice for a beginning exercise because of the lack of total control over how the lats are contracted.
With barbell squats the problem being the top section of the thighs near the groin and hips and the gluteus maximus are the more powerful areas and take the lions share of available stimulus with the lower back suffering to keep the body upright upon ascending which can cause a chronic over training of the spinal erectors as they are being worked hard on both back and leg training days.
Also training thighs hard with squats first can lead to rather lackluster calf training later on in the workout and spotty hamstring development that in most cases have a few uninspired sets of leg curls thrown at them.
So how do we best use the big three, the tripod of core exercises to their ultimate potential? Starting with barbell bench press, this exercise should be dethroned soon after passing rank beginner status to be regulated to tricep training in the form of the close grip version which is an excellent tricep builder especially if done after more isolated tricep movements.
In chest training replace bench press with incline work because most people have a hard time building any appreciable size and development to their upper and inner pectorals and if this point is not acknowledged you will end up with big bottom heavy droopy looking man boobs instead of a set of smooth thick square pectorals with fullness along the inner edges where they meet and thickness up to the clavicle at the base of the neck, a complete look.
The best movement to begin with is incline dumbbell bench press because of the extended range of motion possible and the extreme stretch at the bottom, but caution must be taken to use a weight that you can totally control, allowing you to push smoothly out of the bottom position to full lockout above you, touching the bells together without body shifting and twisting to man handle them up and barely being able to control their descent as this will lead to injury of the front deltoid, front rotor cuffs, and pectoral tendon attachments, remember, maintain total control at all points of range of motion.
Hurly burly training is best left to ego maniacs and mental midgets.
With barbell rows, do them after width work and use a manageable weight, there is no need for excessive poundages as you are lifting at a mechanical disadvantage and the goal is to target the latissimus not beat up the lower back that should be acting only as a stabilizer.
Keep knees slightly bent with your upper body remaining bent over parallel to the floor while keeping a slight upward arch in your lower back and pull the bar up and back so that it slides against the front of your upper thighs on its way to making contact with your pelvis at this point squeeze your back muscles hard before letting the bar descend under total control to arms length, fully straightening the arms.
By moving the barbell under total control at a deliberately slow speed and contracting hard at the top and fully straightening the arms at the bottom you ensure superior stimulation and development without the risk of lower back injury while bent over in a precarious position and without having to use excessive amounts of weight that leave you exhausted but under trained, straining tendons and small ligament attachments unnecessarily.
With barbell squats lose the ego and about half the poundage and see some satisfying improvements in development.
Do yourself a favor and do calves first then hamstrings and put some thought and effort into them before tackling quadriceps.
Don't worry they won't take away from the intensity needed for thigh training because of their comparatively isolated nature but will enhance the effect by pumping blood into the legs and joints, preventing hamstring pulls, warming up the knee joints and giving the mind a chance to ready itself for the rigors of a hard quadricep work out.
Of course even with the work done beforehand you still need to warm up the quadriceps directly.
A few things about squats that will turn them into a truly phenomenal result producing exercise is as follows, do them last in your leg workout, do a full movement, going from standing to descending until your hamstrings touch but not rest against the calves, ascending smoothly out of a dead stop with no bounce at the bottom to get you started and locking out without the knees snapping shut with a jarring effect.
Be in total control at all points of ascension and descending.
Keep your upper body as vertical as possible throughout the whole range of motion, maintaining a good arch in the lower back even when the going gets tough.
If your ankles lack sufficient flexibility rest your heels on a one inch thick board or two thick barbell plates.
By following this advise you will give the calves and hamstrings the attention and intensity they need to keep up with the stronger larger quadriceps to a build balanced set of legs and by putting squats last and adhering to ultra strict form going through the fullest range of movement possible while controlling the weight completely in as vertical as possible upper body position you keep glute involvement to a minimum and ensure direct intense quadricep stimulation resulting in complete looking development and safeguard your lower back from injury by using a poundage that tires out the thighs not the back while pushing the previously worked calves and hamstrings beyond a level possible while doing them after quadriceps, a win win situation for all muscle groups involved.
There you are, the big three taken to their ultimate conclusion of reduced poundage, increased stimulation in complete safety while delivering the desired results of complete and balanced development.