I get asked often how I build my workouts. What exercises should I do first? What muscle group should I train first? What’s the biggest muscle? What should I focus on the most? What’s a good workout split?
(Hint: Hover over this image to pin it to Pinterest for a quick reminder later!)
When strength training, start with your biggest muscle groups. Here are a few of your bigger muscle groups:
- Glutes
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Back
- Chest
- Shoulders
Also, make sure to do your compound exercises in the beginning as well. Those are the exercises that will touch multiple muscle groups at the same time. Think squats, deadlifts and pull-ups.
After you’ve hit your large muscle groups, you can focus on the smaller ones. A couple of your smaller muscle groups are:
- Biceps
- Calves
- Forearms
The reason you should work your large muscle groups first is because you will have the intensity needed for these powerhouse muscles in the beginning of your workout instead of the end when you’re already fatigued. You need to focus on the biggest muscles in order to see the best results. Yes, bicep curls are the staple to every gym rat, however your bicep is a much smaller muscle than your tricep. If you were to focus primarily on your biceps on arm day, your body compensation won’t change as much as you want it to. Triceps take up 2/3 the muscle in your arms, so hit your triceps HARD!!!
For example, on leg day, I’d suggest doing your workouts similar to this:
Glutes > Quads > Hamstrings > Calves
On Upper Body days, I’d suggest organizing your workouts in this order:
Chest > Back > Shoulders > Triceps > Biceps > Abs
Obviously there are a TON of other muslces in the human body but this is just a suggestion with some of the main ones.
Did you know the glutes are the biggest muscle in the human body? On leg days, make sure to hit those squats and dead-lifts FIRST!!!
Happy training!
xoxo
