Before one starts to understand what muscle groups to work together, let’s discuss working out first. When we hear the term “workout,” we think of doing exercises to improve our body and stay healthy.
Of course, this is correct, but if you are a newbie or are unfamiliar with working out and physical fitness, it ends there.
That’s an important word, training. If we have long-term fitness goals in mind and want to see lasting change in ourselves we will have to treat it as such.
Consistency is key and as much as possible you have to stick with whatever training routines you or a personal trainer has set for you.
We hope not to labor the point too much, but especially for people who are new to exercise, the idea of committing to a new routine and lifestyle can be the hardest hurdle to cross. In this article, we’ll explore what muscle groups to workout together.
Table of contents
Muscle Groups
Before we can answer what muscle groups to work together, we will first set up some context about the muscle groups of the human body. On average our muscles make up about 40% of our body weight and are responsible for contracting and moving all of our body parts.
With over 600 distinct muscles in our bodies, it can be difficult to keep track of them. Fortunately, we do not need to, but we may identify the various muscle groups to properly target specific ones during exercise.
There are a few ways that we can classify our skeletal muscle groups. We have opted to categorize them into five (5) primary groupings, which may be further broken into individual muscles. These are the chest muscles, back muscles, arm and shoulder muscles, abdominal muscles, and leg muscles.
Chest Muscles
The main part of our chest is made up of the pectoral muscles. These are made of the pectoralis major and minor. Our chest muscles are responsible for assisting in many common movements, especially relating to our shoulder joints.
Back Muscles
The back is a complicated network of muscles that work together to perform various actions. It comprises five subgroups. These include the Lats, which extend from the back to the sides behind the arms. Rhomboids create a triangle on the upper back. Furthermore, the traps are placed around the back of the shoulders and connect to the neck.
The Teres Muscle is located underneath the lats. Finally, the Spinal Erectors rotate and support our spines. Each group participates in distinct physical tasks, making the back essential for general mobility. Rows and pull-ups are exercises that assist in developing these muscles, which promotes posture, strength, and injury prevention.
The trapezius muscles run the length of the neck and upper back. It also helps to stabilize and move the shoulder. It is essential to strengthen these back muscles for good posture, and injury prevention.
Exercises that target the back, such as pull-ups, deadlifts, and rows, aid in building a strong, well-defined back.
Arm and Shoulder Muscles
Our Arm muscles can be subdivided into three groups. These are the biceps, which are necessary for lifting. They are placed in the front of the upper arm. Next is the Triceps in the back of our upper arms. These allow for the straightening of the elbow joint and stabilizing our shoulders. Lastly, there are the Deltoids or delts. These are the shoulder muscles, which control side motions in the shoulder joint.
Abdominal Muscles
Many people’s favorite, is the abs. The abdominal muscles are responsible for the stability and movement of our core. It also plays a vital role in protecting our internal organs. The movements of our abs provide the power in many activities that require us to swing or turn. Aside from these our abdominal muscles also include the obliques, which are on the sides. They are essential for preserving proper posture since they are employed for lateral core motions.
Leg Muscles
Leg muscles should have a clear purpose. We can split this group into four big muscles. These are; the Hamstrings, which are very large muscles on the upper rear of your thighs, and are mostly used for actions that propel us forward and bend our knees. The Gluteals, or buttocks muscles, come next. These are the largest skeletal muscles in the human body and are key in moving our legs and keeping balance.
Next are the Quadriceps or quads, a group of four large muscles in the front of the thigh. Finally, we have the Gastrocnemius, also known as the calves. These of course are essential in the actions of walking, running, jumping, and more. Now that you’re well-versed with all the major muscles, it’s time to look at what muscle groups to work together.
What Muscle Groups to Work out Together?
Now with the foundational information out of the way, it is time to address the question presented in the title, what muscle groups should you work together? Well as mentioned earlier it will be anaerobic exercises that will be used to achieve hypertrophy (muscle-building) successfully.
As the different groups have different functions, a variety of exercises will be needed to engage the most amount of muscles. It is important to understand this when asking what muscle groups to work together.
Best Muscle Group Combinations to Work Together
As the title suggests, let’s look at the best muscle group combinations to work together. The order in which we work the muscles is important because after training we need rest, and during that time We can concentrate on other groups in future training sessions.
Doing it in the wrong sequence can be detrimental to your overall gains. So to be the most efficient we have to make sure that our exercises engage muscles that complement each other.
Workout Plan Muscle Groups
For a beginner, a three-day split can be a good idea, because it helps you set into a routine. You can start with less intense versions of the exercises, the important part is to get your form right before moving up.
3-Day Split Example
So to answer what muscle groups to work together, here we have laid out an example three-day split workout routine for the major muscle groups that can help you get started in maximizing your gains. You may alter it around based on your specific aims and interests. Because you may be training for a certain appearance or activity, you can concentrate on specific groups more, or if you are training for overall fitness, you may want to follow a more balanced routine.
When organizing your weight training program utilize muscle group splits. You should keep in mind that the larger muscle groups should be trained first in each session; for example, in a chest and triceps exercise, work the chest first. Training the smaller muscles initially may leave them too exhausted to perform larger lifts, making your exercises less effective and increasing your risk of injury.
Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
For the first day, you can focus on exercises for the chest, shoulder, and triceps. These groups of muscles have many related movements and complementary functions that you can take advantage of by choosing some good exercises to work them. If you do intense training with this group, you can opt to rest for a week before training them again.
Some exercises you can do are:
- Incline Chest Press
- Decline Chest Press
- Dumbbell Flat Bench Flys
- Dumbbell Lateral Raises
- Barbell bench presses
- French presses
- Face Pulls
Day 2: Back, Abs, and Biceps
As you travel down from your chest and shoulders, focus on your back and abs. The back and abs also assist improve your form since they are vital for maintaining a firm core. Be sure to exercise both the flexion of these muscles and resisting flexion as this is needed to keep a stable core. In addition, because you just exercised your triceps the day before, you may target your biceps separately.
Some example exercises include:
- Wide grip pull-down
- Crossbody dumbbell hammer curl
- Rowing (reverse grip and upright)
- Overhead bicep curls
- Tricep rope pushdown
- EZ bar skull crusher
- Bent-over row
- Deadlift
- EZ bar curl
Day 3: Legs
Now it’s leg day. Many guys skip leg day since the massive complex motions require a lot of work, and development isn’t as obvious as with the upper body. If you want to do explosive motions with your legs, you must train them, which you have in your lower body.
Here are some such exercises:
- Barbell back squat
- Leg extension
- Dumbbell Split Squat
- Exercises: Calf raises, deadlifts
These are some of the best muscle groups to train together, addressing your question about which muscle groups to work together. In our example, we used a three-day training split. There are numerous options for training splits, such as two-day, four-day, or six-day programs. Many people endure
Types of Exercises
When you think about strength training, you may envision using dumbbells or barbells. However, resistance training can take numerous forms, such as:
- Resistance Band Exercises
- Medicine ball workouts
Exercise options include bodyweight workouts, free weights, and machine exercises.
If you want to incorporate free weight training into your regimen, choose a weight that you can easily lift for 12 to 15 repetitions. As you gain strength, you can decrease the amount of reps while increasing the weight.
Examples for Beginners
When first starting a muscle-building training plan, it may be helpful to take it slowly. This covers both the types of workouts performed and the duration of each.
When first starting, it may be preferable to focus on a handful of muscle groups every day and perform a few easy exercises to target them. This might also vary based on how many days per week the person intends to work out.
For example, a two-day workout may include the legs, back, and abdomen on the first day and the chest, shoulders, and arms on the second. Focusing on these categories while planning a training regimen can help guarantee that each group receives both.
FAQs
Q1. Which muscle groups should be trained together?
For example, a two-day workout may include the legs, back, and abdomen on the first day and the chest, shoulders, and arms on the second. Focusing on these categories when designing a workout regimen may assist in guaranteeing that each group gets enough effort and relaxation throughout the week.
Q2. What are the three basic muscle groups to work out?
The three main muscle groups to work out are the upper body, lower body, and core.
Q3. Which muscles do you regularly train?
Daily core activities, such as planks and leg lifts, improve abdominal strength. Simple daily neck and shoulder exercises, such as tilts and rolls, can help relieve stress and improve flexibility.
Q4. Which workouts go together?
Exercises include pushing and pulling, squatting/hinging, chest/back, biceps/triceps, shoulders/back, and quad/hamstrings.
Q5. Is it okay to work out every muscle?
I recommend upgrading between different muscle groups to allow your body to heal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, when asked which muscle parts to work out together, the conventional order is chest, shoulders, and triceps; back, abs, and biceps; and legs. In the end, though it is still important to talk to a personal trainer at your local gym because they will have a better idea of what can work for you if you are just starting. This is because they can see you, assess what you need to do to achieve your goals and help you find out what muscle groups to work with.