MUSCLE GROUPS THAT YOU SHOULD TRAIN TOGETHER FOR BETTER RESULTS!

Do you want to start fitness, or are you already busy but need to know which muscle groups you should train together for the best result? Time is of the essence, and you cannot train each muscle group separately for the best results. There are different ways to train muscles together. With dumbbells, you can easily train all muscles. Feel free to read this article to know all about it!

WHICH MUSCLE GROUPS ARE THERE?

Your body has three types of muscles: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal. Cardiac muscles are muscles that control your heart. Smooth muscles perform involuntary functions such as constricting blood vessels. Skeletal muscles are the muscles that help your body move and are what you focus on when you exercise. Your body weight consists of 40% skeletal muscle. 

MUSCLE GROUPS SCHEDULE

During exercise, your muscles are divided into the following six muscle groups :

• Chest
• Rug
• Armen
• Abs
• Legs
• Shoulders

These six muscle groups can be subdivided per group into several specific categories:

• Calves (lower leg)
• Hamstrings (back of your thigh)
• Quadriceps (front of your thigh)
• Glutes (buttocks and hips)
• Biceps (front of your upper arm)
• Triceps (back upper arm)
• Forearms

FULL BODY WORKOUT

There is a possibility to train all the above muscle groups in one workout. It is possible to combine exercises. With certain exercises, you train multiple muscle groups simultaneously; these are compound exercises.

Full-body training is especially useful for people with little time and who can only exercise twice a week. Because you train for two days, you ensure that you train all muscle groups twice. If you train more than three times a week, it is better not to do a full-body workout. This ensures that your muscles get too little recovery because you train the same muscle groups within 48/72 hours.

TRAIN DIFFERENT MUSCLE GROUPS

If you want to train more than three days a week, it is wise to train according to a split schedule. With a split schedule, you only train a few specific muscle groups with each workout. Because you now go more often, you have enough time to focus on fewer muscle groups per workout and can easily train the same muscles twice a week.

The advantage is that you get less tired because your workouts contain fewer muscle groups and you prevent overtraining by training a different muscle group on your rest days. This allows you to train every day of the week.

During split training, many first trains a large muscle group such as the back, quadriceps, or chest and combine this with smaller muscle groups such as biceps or calves. Several exercises are done in one training per muscle group to get optimal results and not to be busy for too long. You combine compound exercises with isolation exercises.

A popular split schedule is the push/pull/leg workout. This schedule is popular because the large muscles, such as the chest, back, and quadriceps, are combined with the small muscles with the same movement. Below is an overview of the well-known push/pull/leg training.

Push: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

This is the pressing movement. You push away from all muscle groups, whether with a dumbbell, your weight, or a machine. It is advisable to start with the chest because you also partially do the triceps and shoulders.

Pull: Back and Biceps and Abs

This involves the pulling movement. You pull in all muscle groups. You start with the back exercises and end with the biceps and abs. This is again because you already activate the smaller muscles during the back exercises.

Leg: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, and Calves

Now that you have trained your upper body through pushing and pulling movements, only the muscle groups in your legs are left. With legs, it is less important which muscles you train first because they are all related. It is wise to train your calves last.

EXERCISES FOR SPECIFIC MUSCLE GROUPS

Below are several exercises that focus on one specific muscle group.

CHEST

Chest press: You can use a barbell or dumbbell for this. You perform the exercise by lying on a weight bench and pushing the weights away from you. You can change the position of the bench to train different parts of your chest. Start with a manageable weight, but ensure you perform the exercise properly.

Push-ups: The push-up is the same as the chest press, except that you only use your body weight and push yourself up. You can place your hands/legs on an elevation to train different chest parts. To make this exercise heavier, you can perform the exercise with a resistance band or a weight vest.

RUG

One-arm dumbbell row: This exercise creates a wider back by placing your right knee and right arm on a weight bench, then bringing it back with a dumbbell in your left hand. Then switch sides; this will train the back of your back.

Pull-ups: The pull-up is an exercise in which you train multiple muscle groups. People often do a pull-up to train the back. In addition, you also train your shoulders, abdomen, and your arms. Because you often train the back together with your biceps, this exercise is performed during the pull day. You perform it by pulling yourself up on a pull-up bar. You can make it easier with resistance bands if it’s still too difficult. If it’s too easy, you can put on a weight vest for extra weight.

ARMEN

Bicep curls: You can train your biceps by pulling something towards you. While training your back, you already activate your biceps. This is also often why little attention is paid to training the biceps. The bicep curl has several variants with a dumbbell or barbell. Examples are Hammer curls, reverse curls, or barbell curls.

Triceps dips: Dips are often done at the end of a chest workout. With this, you train your chest and your triceps optimally. You use your weight and lift yourself down by bending slightly forward and extending and bending your elbows.

ABS

Plank: The abdomen is often trained by using your body weight. You perform the plank by lying on your forearms and feet in a plank movement and tightening your abdomen. You don’t do this in sets with repetitions, but for a few seconds. For example, do three sets of 60 seconds. You can easily make the exercise heavier with a weight vest, but also by performing the exercise for longer.

Hanging knee raises: You can perform them by hanging from a pull-up bar or gym ring, holding your knees in front of you at 90 degrees, and contracting your abdomen.

LEGS

Squat: A leg day workout is only complete with squats. You train almost all the muscles in your legs with it, and it is also easy to perform for beginners and advanced users. You perform it by holding a barbell in front of you or behind you and going deep into your knees while keeping your back straight.

Lunges: With lunges, you mainly train your quads. There are several variants: walking dumbbell lunges, reverse lunges or barbell lunges.

SHOULDERS

Seated shoulder press: You sit on a bench with your back straight and lift weights. This can be done using two dumbbells or a barbell with weights.

Front/side raises: You grab light dumbbells and keep your arms straight. With front raises, you move your stretched arms forward. With side raises, you move your stretched arms to the side.

CONCLUSION: TRAIN MUSCLE GROUPS TOGETHER

There are three different muscle groups. During fitness, you focus on the skeletal muscles. Six muscle groups are subdivided when training different muscles. The six muscle groups are chest, back, arms, abs, legs, and shoulders.

If you have less time and you exercise three times or less a week, a full-body workout is perfect to follow. If you exercise more than three times, a split schedule is wise; this prevents you from overtraining. A popular split workout is the push/pull/leg workout.