The best muscle groups to work together

If you are starting out with or wanting to improve your strength training, you are probably wondering ‘what are the best muscle groups to work together?’ Some people choose to do full-body some days or focus on pure cardio other days. If you are looking to lean out, tone your body or build muscle it is helpful to focus on training specific muscle groups together for effective strength training sessions every time.

Since you are focusing on specific muscle groups in each session, the guidelines for each session are different than full-body days.

Here are a few guidelines for strength training:

• Stay consistent with strength training every week. Train a minimum of twice a week.
• If you are looking to tone, complete more reps at a lower weight.
• If you are looking to build muscle, complete fewer reps at a higher weight.
• Don’t work the same muscle group two days in a row.
• Complete each work out to your maximum capacity.
• Stretch before and after each session.

Many people find it easier to focus on one part of the body at a time for strength training so that during the next sessions (during that 2-day wait period), they can focus on other muscle groups and areas of the body. It is also helpful and has been proven to be beneficial via research studies that by activating the opposing muscle (agonist/antagonist), you complete more effective exercises.

Best muscle groups to exercise together

Let’s go on to learn good muscle groups to work out together.

Chest, Abdominals and Back

Chest and back exercises complement each other as they are an example of agonist/antagonist muscle groups. Here you can focus on upper body exercises and engage your abdominals throughout each move and set.

Bicep/Triceps and Shoulders

The bicep/triceps muscle groups are an example of agonist/antagonist workouts. To work out these muscle groups together one can, for example, utilize some weight machines and barbells.

What are good muscle groups to work out together? Legs and Glutes

Whether you are doing weight lifting, using machines at the gym, or using your bodyweight, many exercises give you the opportunity to work both your legs and glutes. Equipment-free exercises include drop squats and lateral lunges, and at the gym you can use the leg press, leg extension and seated leg curl machines. When using machines, you can make adjustments to engage your glutes more intensely.

Note: When you work out each of these muscle groups, your abdominals should be engaged and supporting your back. This will help to strengthen your back and even improve your posture with proper alignment and form.

These are just a few of the muscle groups to exercise together, and depending on how often you want to be strength training, you can adjust accordingly.