Follow these 10 steps by Men?s Fitness.com to gain more strength (and essentially, more muscle).

1.) Own the “big four.”
The squat, deadlift, bench press, and shoulder press are the best strength-building exercises, period. The chinup and row are great moves too, but don’t make them the focus of your workout ? they can be assistance lifts to complement the bench and shoulder press, keeping your pulling muscles in balance with the pressing ones.

2.) Use barbells first.
Forget all the fad equipment. The barbell is king, the dumbbell is queen, and everything else is a court jester ? it may have its place, but it’s not essential. Start your workouts with barbell exercises, such as the “big four,” as described above. Barbells let you load a lot of weight, and lifting heavy is the first step toward getting stronger. Once your heaviest strength exercises are out of the way, you can move on to dumbbell and body-weight training.

4.) Maintain a log.
Write down your exercises, sets, reps, and the fate of each workout. Keep track of your best lifts and the most reps you’ve done with a certain weight on an exercise. Constantly strive to improve those numbers.

7.) Add weights slowly.
The main reason people plateau and stop gaining strength is that they go too heavy for too long. Abandon your ego and do your main lifts using 10% less than the most weight you can lift for the given rep range. Increase the weight each session ? but by no more than 10 pounds ? and stick with the same lifts. You’ll rarely plateau again.

To see the entire list of 10, click here.

A lot of beginners (and veterans of the gym for that matter) like to do a variety of exercises and a variety of different movements in efforts to gain muscle. But as the article notes, keeping it simple is key. Doing compound movements and keeping track of your gains is crucial. After that, everything else is just additional.

If you only have access to a barbell, try these workouts from MensFitness.com:

Workout I

1 Front Squat
Sets: 5 Reps: 5 Rest: 90 sec.
Start with the barbell on the supports of a power rack at about shoulder height. Grab the bar overhand and raise your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Now lift the bar off the rack, letting it roll toward your fingers-this is where it should rest throughout the exercise (as long as you keep your elbows raised, you won’t have trouble balancing the bar) [1]. Squat as low as you can [2], and then drive with your legs to return to the starting position. That’s one rep.

2 Snatch
Sets: 5 Reps: 5 Rest: 90 sec.
Place a barbell on the floor and grab it with an overhand grip, hands twice shoulder-width apart. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, crouch down behind it as if you were going to perform a deadlift [1]. Now explosively stand up and raise the bar straight up in front of your torso. When the bar reaches chest level, flip your wrists to face the ceiling and allow the momentum to help you press the bar straight overhead [2]. Reverse the motion to return the bar to the floor. That’s one rep.

3 Barbell Shoulder Press
Sets: 5 Reps: 5 Rest: 90 sec.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower and grab the bar with a slightly wider-than-shoulder- width grip (wrap your thumbs around the bar). To get the bar into position, you can either explosively heave it up off the floor and up to your shoulders, or set the bar at shoulder level on the supports of a power rack. If the bar is on the rack, nudge it off and let it rest against the front of your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, and push your chest out [1]. Begin pressing the bar overhead, retracting your head as the bar rises to keep it out of the way. When the bar passes your head, press it up and slightly backward so that it ends up in line with the back of your head [2]. Hold for a moment, then lower the bar back to your shoulders. That’s one rep.

Check out the other workout by clicking here.

If you?re a hard gainer, these workouts can be beneficial because they?re all compound movements that incorporate more muscle groups.