For the best result, it's important to focus on one specific muscle group during your training session. If you work on one muscle group at a time, this activates multiple muscle fibres and you end up automatically working out several muscles. You also ensure that you have enough energy left for the rest of your workout and you don't use up all your energy at once. Follow our tips for a great, effective training session!
Work on muscle groups
One of the biggest mistakes made by gym goers is training two big muscle groups in the same training session. Combining leg and back exercises, for example, requires a lot of energy and puts pressure on the nervous system. If you have fully trained the first muscle group during the first round, you won't be capable of doing this again with the same intensity for a different muscle group in the second round. This is because muscle groups do not work on their own. With bench presses, for example, you mainly work on your chest muscles, but at the same time you are working on your shoulders and triceps.
Which muscles should I work on together?
In order to maximise growth, it's best to focus on just one major muscle group each session (chest, legs or back). Supplement your workout with exercises that focus on two smaller muscle groups (biceps, triceps, hamstrings, calves, abs and shoulders).
Work on muscle groups across three days:
The perfect combination for each training session to get the most out of your workout and to build serious muscles is presented below. Spread these sessions over three days, potentially with a rest day in-between.
- Chest, shoulders and triceps
- Back, biceps and abs
- Hamstrings, quadriceps, butt and calves
If you are a real die-hard with some experience under your belt, you could do the different training sessions back to back (one each day). It's good to schedule at least one rest day after completing the three workouts. This gives your muscles time to recover and you can come back twice as hard. That way, each time you get one step closer to the result you are looking for!
