Which muscle groups to train together. How to combine muscle groups during training? Types of combinations of muscle groups

The question of which muscles should be trained how many times a week worries not only beginners in strength training, but also more experienced athletes.

After all, everyone wants to achieve results as quickly as possible.

Narrow-minded people think: the more often the better. The smarter ones realize that it’s not so simple.

After all, training any muscle group too often can negate all your efforts. Too rare and can slow down muscle growth, which could be much faster. So where is the golden mean? Let's try to figure it out.

What is fitness? Fitness is nothing more than the body’s adaptation to external influences. In other words, if a stressful (unusual) load occurs on the body, then it responds to this by increasing its motor qualities (be it strength, endurance, dexterity, and so on).

So, to adapt to this or that stress, any body needs time. As soon as the body has adapted to this load, it becomes habitual for it, and for further growth of results, even more severe stress is required.

So that's what I'm getting at with all this. It is the time it takes to adapt to a new stress load that determines how often you can train a particular muscle and train in general. This period of time is different for everyone. But there are certain patterns...

Through many experiments, physiologists came to the conclusion that the first negative changes in muscles occur no earlier than 7 days after stopping training. I'll say it again. THE FIRST negative changes occur NO EARLIER than 7 days later. Negative changes here mean muscle detraining (decreased volume, strength, endurance, and so on). That is, the very initial decrease in these physical qualities can be recorded after 7 days, and after 8, and later.

Mike Mentzer (famous bodybuilder, writer and philosopher) went even further in his book “Supertraining” (download link). He suggests training one muscle group every 10 to 12 days. Provided that the training is “impactful”. And he is close to the truth. After all, the harder the workout, the more time the muscles need to recover. It turns out that if you follow a scientific approach to training, then one muscle group should be trained no more than once a week. And this is, in principle, true. Please note that I do not consider options for using anabolic steroids, where recovery is much faster.

Is it possible to train the same muscle group more than once a week? In principle, you can do it 2 times a week. But one workout should be hard, and the second should be easy. Otherwise, the body will not have time to recover. And you can’t train all muscle groups at the same time twice a week. You can select one or two lagging groups. Not more. 2 times a week is the limit, exceeding which will, at best, lead you to stop increasing your results. This is the opinion of science and my personal opinion based on coaching experience.

If you train 2 times a week and get quite tired at work, then train each muscle group only 1 time a week. You can do it once every 10 days (as Mentzer advises). I have conducted such experiments more than once and noticed positive results. This is done simply. If you train 2 times a week, 3 workouts are compiled and done one by one. Thus, you will do each workout approximately once every 10 days.

Learn how to properly combine and train multiple muscle groups for maximum workout results.

All the information in this article will be devoted to training, in which several muscle groups are pumped one after another in one workout. This information on how to correctly combine muscle groups during training will be very useful for beginners and will be an assistant for already experienced gym goers.

With separate training, 1 muscle group is trained in 1 week; if specific muscles lag far behind in development from other areas, then 2 workouts of one muscle group per week are allowed.

Below we will provide various options and diagrams on how to correctly combine muscle groups in training, it all depends on the number of workouts during the week, and the sequence of training muscle groups should be strictly followed.

Types of combinations of muscle groups

Each person is individual, for some, 2 workouts a week are a joy due to lack of time, finances, or simply enough, while others need 5 workouts weekly, so in order for everyone to get the right answer for effective training, various types and schemes are provided combinations of muscle groups.

Add abs at the end of the workout, I won’t include them in the diagrams below, but remember that you can’t go anywhere without them.

To achieve maximum training results, take note of the correct order of execution and a detailed description of all exercises for all muscle groups supported by videos:

Hi all. In today's article, I will tell you about the correct sequence of exercises in the gym for the most effective gain of muscle mass and strength.

Let me open the curtain: the correct sequence (order) of performing exercises in the gym directly determines how your muscles will develop. And in order for them to develop as best as possible (and faster), you need the correct order (sequence) of exercises in training.

Therefore, we immediately remember the basic rule: you must start training with basic exercises (multi-joint), and finish (and this depends on the experience of a particular athlete) with isolating (single-joint) exercises.

This is not done lightly. In short, without going into detail, basic exercises (multi-joint) are heavy basic exercises that grow muscles much better than isolating (single-joint) exercises.

In addition, strength growth is very important for gaining muscle mass... in other words, these two parameters are directly proportional. Do you understand? And what kind of strength can we talk about if you first tire one of the muscles that will participate in the basic exercise with an isolating exercise? ... you simply simply won’t be able to give it your all and show the maximum result.

An example of the above: a person trained his biceps, and then went to do pull-ups, that is, to train his back. That's it, that's a gross mistake. Having tired the biceps, it will not be able to properly train the back, because when we train the back, our biceps also works to its fullest. But many people don’t know this... so remember once and for all: we always start with the big ones and end with the small ones, for example: chest then deltoids, back then biceps... But not the other way around, i.e. for example, deltoids then chest, or biceps then back... Do you understand? It is not right!!!

Conclusion: Absolutely always start your workout with large muscles (such as: chest, back, legs; small muscles are: deltoids, biceps, triceps, abs, calves, forearm) and absolutely always start your workout with basic exercises.

In special cases, you can start with isolation exercises

In some cases, it is really advisable to start training with an isolation exercise, and not with a basic one! The main thing is that you understand why you are doing this. And you can do this for two reasons:

No. 1. To specifically (consciously) pre-tire the working muscle.

This technique is most often used only by advanced athletes (consciously).

Example: a person has weak pecs and strong triceps (typical me). Consequently, such a person can specifically tire out his strong triceps (with an isolating exercise) in order to then “break through” his pecs in the basic exercise, loading them (pumping) to the maximum. Comprendo?

In other words, we do all this crap so that strong triceps do not steal the load from the chest. That's all! For example, such a person does a barbell bench press while lying on an inclined bench, but his triceps, not his pecs, work first! As a result, they steal (steal) almost the entire load from the chest, not allowing them to grow... this is why a person can use this technique to tire out a strong chest and pump up his weak pecs)).

No. 2. To warm up/warm up the working muscles, ligaments and joints, and prepare them for more forceful work, thereby minimizing the chance of injury to the maximum.

A striking example: do an isolating exercise - with light weight, in a large number of repetitions (20-30-40), thereby warming up the knee joints, and only then move on to the basic exercise - squats with a barbell on the shoulders or.

Somehow like this. In other cases (and this is the majority), it is imperative to start training with heavy basic (multi-joint) exercises. And not everyone can finish isolating, and not everyone can finish isolating; it all depends on your training experience. In other words, beginners can concentrate only on the base, and completely eliminate any isolation. I don’t seem to be a beginner, but I still work like this)), seriously, there is no isolation at all - no!!!

More advanced (and experienced) athletes, of course, decide for themselves, however, as a rule (as practice shows) they use one, maximum 2 isolating movements at the end of the workout.

Professionals (I mean, those who are under the pharma) decide for themselves, but frankly speaking, between us, then isolation can work a hundred times better for them than the base)). I'm serious.. but this is only for those who are on pharmaceuticals, for naturals (those who do not use anabolic steroids) this will definitely not work 100%, so they need to concentrate on the base.

Sequence of muscle groups in training

Just in case, for those people who cannot correctly create a split program for themselves (the correct sequence of exercises and muscle groups on specific days), I have compiled for you “training schemes” (this is the first article, there are only compiled training programs without explanations of what and how), and here is the second article (in it I explain in detail what and how to do, it’s better to read it): “The best bodybuilding training programs”<= переходите по ссылке и смотрите.

Antagonist muscle groups during training

Antagonists are muscles that have the opposite effect on one or another part of the body; you can read more about this in the main article: “What are antagonist muscles? ”

Examples of muscle ligaments (antagonist groups):

• Chest + back or vice versa back + chest (no difference)
• Biceps + triceps (by the way, triceps + biceps = will not work (bad), because when bending your arm you always have to overcome the resistance of the triceps trying to contract, as a result of which you will not be able to train your biceps with 100% efficiency).
• Legs: quadriceps + hamstrings

Article last updated: 12/31/2014

Our body consists of many muscle groups. In the training process they are divided into main and auxiliary. The main ones are the chest, back, shoulders, legs, arms and abs. Each of them contains a large number of auxiliary muscles, which are included in the work along with the large muscles.

Professional bodybuilders can afford to devote one day to training one main group in order to work it out and achieve maximum proportionality in order to show themselves in all their glory in competitions. As you understand, pros train almost every day. For beginners or gym enthusiasts, daily training will not bring any benefit, since the body of an ordinary person will not have time to recover after training, which can lead to negative results. In addition, people who engage in bodybuilding at an amateur level have many everyday worries, such as work, study, etc. Because of this, a person is simply not able to fully devote himself to training. While the pros live from bodybuilding, this is their main income and because of this, athletes go to the gym as if they were going to work.

So you understand, professional bodybuilders resort to the use of pharmacological support in order to recover faster, improve anabolic processes in the body, etc. Therefore, they go to the gym every day, without harm to themselves.

In order to achieve the maximum effect from training, you need to divide the training of the main muscle groups into separate days. However, this raises the question - which muscles should be trained together and how to combine them? Today, the three-day split is the most common among beginners and experienced athletes. That is, you divide the training into three days, say Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is an ideal option to build muscle mass as quickly as possible and completely restore the muscle. A little later, when you are more experienced, you can break the training into four days, dedicating one day, for example, to training your arms or shoulders. For more information on how to properly create a training program, see here.

There are several options, based on which you can understand which muscles to train together. Here is one of the most common examples today:

Example No. 1

This is a fairly widely used option, in which everything is quite simple and logical. Look, we take the main muscle groups and break them down into three days: day 1 – chest; day 2 – back; day 3 – legs. After that, we add smaller muscles that are directly involved in training the main muscle, with the exception of the leg and shoulder combination. For example, take the same chest workout, which is based on repelling exercises. That is, take the same bench press or dumbbell press and so on. All of them involve pushing (squeezing) weight away from the chest, and as we know, the triceps are responsible for this function in the arm muscles. So he takes direct part in chest training.

The same goes for the back and biceps. If in chest training, we push (squeeze) the weight away from ourselves, then in back training, we pull the weight towards ourselves, and, as you know, not only the back muscles are responsible for this movement, but also the biceps, which helps to pull the weight and increase the amplitude movements.

As for the third day of training, the shoulders are not involved in leg training, but this is the only day that can be allocated for high-quality pumping of the deltoids. As you know, the deltoids consist of the front, middle and rear beams; if you want to pump up your shoulders, you need to train them together, in one day.

Thus, by combining training in this way, we tire out the secondary muscles quite well beforehand, and then work them out efficiently.

Example No. 2

The second option is less common, however, also has its fans. Many people believe that training the main muscle and the secondary one, which is directly involved in the movement, such as the chest and triceps, back and biceps, is at least stupid, since having first tired the secondary muscle (biceps or triceps), we will no longer be able to pump them properly . In principle, for some people this is quite relevant. Remember that everyone's body is different, and everyone may react differently to one or another type of training, so you can experiment and try both complexes to determine for yourself which one is right for you. In addition, the program still needs to be changed at least once every 1-2 months.

MUSCLE TRAININGANTAGONISTS

Many people believe that antagonist training is the most effective for building muscle mass, and this is true. Such training involves working out two antagonist muscles in one day. These are the muscles that are located parallel to each other, that is, back - chest, biceps - triceps, hamstrings - quadriceps. You can read more about training antagonist muscles here.

An example of such a training plan

Having trained according to this plan, I can say that this is a pretty good solution if you need to change the program, try something new. This complex is suitable for fairly experienced athletes, as it requires a lot of energy and strength to recover, but for a beginner it is better to train according to the first or second example.

Personally, I recommend training according to the plan presented below. He absorbed a little from the training of the antagonists and from the first standard plan. It can be used by experienced athletes with at least 1 year of experience.

Gym workout plan

FULL BODY WORKOUT

In this embodiment, you can combine all the muscles at the same time, only in a certain sequence. If you are a beginner athlete, you can use a workout that includes working all major muscle groups in one session. As you remember, at the beginning of the article we said that for beginning athletes the best option is to break the workout into splits, that is, train each major muscle group separately. As for a full-body workout, this is a fairly energy-intensive plan, but if you approach the process wisely, you can balance your activities.

Whole body training is needed in order to prepare a novice athlete, namely his muscles, for a further increase in loads, that is, to improve his overall physical fitness. The workout itself does not consist of twenty exercises, as you might think, it includes basic exercises, thanks to which we can pump up and use the main, secondary and various auxiliary muscle groups in the process. Training does not take much time if you train intensively, without half an hour of rest and hack work. You can find out more about full body training here

Find out which muscle groups are best combined during training to achieve maximum effect in muscle growth.

The content of the article:

Many novice athletes are not satisfied with the results obtained in training. By the way, it is the low rate of progress or its complete absence that pushes a person to use sports pharmacology. If in professional sports you cannot do without this, then at the amateur level it is very possible, because the priority should be health, not muscle size.

However, we digress, and today’s article will answer the popular question, which muscles should be trained together and first of all? There are many options for conducting classes and it all depends on your priorities, goals, training experience, etc. Now we will look at the most popular options for combining muscle group training. Let's start with the simplest and end with a complex system that is suitable for those who plan to achieve high results and possibly take part in competitions.

Which muscles should you train together?

Fullbody

This type of combination involves training all the muscles of the body in each lesson. This system should be used by beginner athletes, performing two or three sets of each movement. Do not be alarmed by the relatively low intensity of such activities. If you have not exercised before, your body needs time to adapt to new living conditions. If you follow all the principles of bodybuilding, then at the first stage the fullbody will be an excellent choice, and you will progress quite quickly.

At first, your main task will be to teach the body to rationally use its own capabilities. Let us also remind you that you should devote the first month of training to mastering the technical nuances of performing basic exercises. You should not immediately progress the working weight, because if the technique of performing the movements is disrupted, they will not be effective.

Classes should be carried out three times a week, giving the body about 48 hours to recover. Another reason for the low intensity of training at the initial stage of the lesson is the ability to minimize pain in the muscles after completion of the workout. Choose one basic exercise for each muscle group and perform it in two or three sets. The number of repetitions in each approach should be from 10 to 12.

Top bottom

This system is also called a two-day split. We recommend switching to it after a fullbody. The essence of the system is simple - the body is divided into top and bottom. After that, in one lesson you work the muscles of the upper body, and in the second you pump your legs. Each group will have to perform two movements. Moreover, during the week you can train for five days. Perform three sets of each exercise, and the number of repetitions can be as follows:

• For weight gain - from 10 to 12.
• To increase strength parameters - from 6 to 8.

Three day split

This training system will be your next step towards creating an attractive body. Each muscle group will be pumped three times during the week. The simplest division of the body into groups is the following principle:

• Pulling muscles.
• Pushing muscles.
• Legs.

• Shoulders, chest and triceps.
• Legs.
• Biceps and back.

Four day split

This is already a fairly serious training system, which involves a significant increase in the intensity of training. By doing a four-day split over the course of a week, each muscle group will have about 72 hours to recover. The training schedule might look like this:

• 1st day- biceps and back.
• 2nd day- triceps and chest.
• 3rd day- rest.
• 4th day- legs.
• 5th day- shoulders.
• 6th and 7th days- rest.

Five day split

This system will be an excellent choice for experienced athletes who can be called gym fans. It is very similar to the previous split, it’s just that the body is divided not into four, but into five groups. You can alternate training throughout the week in the following order: back, chest, legs, shoulders, triceps together with biceps. The remaining two days are for rest. You may have noticed that in none of the systems did we mention the abs and calf muscles. This is because small muscles recover quickly and you can work on them every other day.

Which muscles should you train first?

Today’s topic, which muscles need to be trained together and first of all, we decided to divide into two parts. You already know the principles of creating splits. By and large, the body needs to be pumped harmoniously. However, depending on gender, people try to give preference to one or another muscle group. It is quite obvious that girls pay special attention to their legs and especially their buttocks. For guys, the chest, arms and abs are more important. The rules for training these muscles will now be discussed.

Buttocks

Today, many blue-collar jobs involve sedentary work. This has an extremely negative effect on the condition of the buttock muscles. Moreover, this statement is true not only for women, but also for men. Another thing is that during training girls pay much more attention to working on this part of the body. Guys, in principle, just need to train their legs. But for girls who want to have firm buttocks with an appetizing shape, the following information will be very useful.

An excellent solution for you would be to combine hyperextension and lunges into one series. Lunges can be considered one of the best movements for the muscles of the buttocks. This is due not only to their active work, but also to high-quality stretching. The quadriceps and hamstrings are worked at the same time. Hyperextension, in turn, allows you to provide an isolated load specifically on the buttocks.

Girls should start training their buttocks by doing deep squats or leg presses in the Hackenschmidt machine. Do two or three sets of 8–10 repetitions. After this comes the turn of the superset:

1. Lunges- two or three sets with 8–10 repetitions each.
2. Hyperextension- 2–3 sets with 8–10 repetitions each.

Breast

Do not assume that pectoral muscles are important only for men. Girls should also pay attention to this group, because it allows you to raise your bust and make it more elastic. The chest muscles can be divided into three sections: middle, upper and lower. It is generally accepted that it is most difficult to pump up the upper section efficiently.

The first will include the following movements:

1. Dumbbell presses (barbells) on an incline bench (the angle is directed upward) - two or three sets with 1012 repetitions each.
2. Raising and closing hands in a crossover- two sets of 10 repetitions each.

1. Incline Dumbbell Flyes- one or two sets of 8–10 repetitions.
2. Incline Dumbbell Presses, Reverse Incline- one set with 8–10 repetitions each.

Abdominal muscles

The abs are part of the core muscle group, which is responsible for stabilizing the body. Many athletes are confident that the more actively they pump up their abs, the faster the long-awaited six-pack will appear. But you must remember that the abs will look beautiful only if there is a minimum amount of fat deposits in the abdominal area. This suggests that you need to pay close attention to your nutrition program as well as your workouts.

For abdominal muscle training to produce results, we recommend using a few simple tips:

1. In each set you need to perform from 15 to 20 repetitions and no more.
2. It is necessary to progress the load using weights for this.
3. Work on a muscle group once or twice a week, because the muscles need time to recover.
4. Work your lower abs first.

1. Hanging Leg Raises- two or three sets of 10–15 repetitions each.
2. Classic crunches with similar intensity.

Hands

Another muscle group that is important not only for men, but also for women. If everything is clear with the guys, then by pumping up their arms, girls will be able to eliminate sagging skin. Despite some differences in physiology that exist between the sexes, the principles of training remain unchanged.

In this regard, I would like to once again remind dear ladies that you should not be afraid to pump your arms. This is simply impossible due to the minimal testosterone content in the female body. In addition, there are differences in the composition of muscle fibers.

More about which muscles need to be trained together and which ones first: