Weight training haphazardly results in subpar muscular development and fitness performance. By organizing your training on a daily and weekly basis to optimize the order and intensity of muscle cell recruitment, you can reach your training goals much faster. Training smaller muscles before bigger muscles will leave you feeling quite weak when it comes to doing the more difficult exercises for the larger muscles.
Considerations
Small muscles assist many bigger muscle exercises. Chest pressing or pushing exercises always engage your triceps while back exercises engage your biceps. The gastrocnemius muscle in your calves is activated anytime you work your hamstrings because it crosses your knee joints. In designing your workouts, you should also consider the goal of your program. If you want to build bigger and stronger chest and back muscles, work these muscles as the first workout of your week. If your goal is to increase the size or strength of your leg muscles, especially if they are smaller than your chest and back, train your legs as your first workout of the week instead.
Three Weekly Workouts
A typical three-day split weight training routine pairs chest with back, legs with shoulders, and biceps with triceps and abs. Train your bigger chest and back muscles on Monday, saving your legs and shoulder workout for Thursday, followed by your biceps, triceps and abdominal routine on Friday. Giving your biceps and triceps three days of rest from when you somewhat worked them on Monday ensures they can optimally perform when you do exercises specifically for these smaller muscles.
Two Weekly Workouts
Biweekly workouts are generally divided into upper body and lower body routines with two to three days between each session. During your upper body workout, perform your chest and back exercises before your arm exercises. Or, you may pair your muscle groups by training your chest with triceps, your back with biceps, and your shoulders with abdominal exercises. If you pair chest with tricep and back with biceps, do a set for the larger muscle, and then a set for the smaller muscle in every pair of exercises. For instance, do one set of flat dumbbell presses then one set of triceps dumbbell extensions for multiple sets. Leg routines should start with multi-joint quadriceps exercises like squats followed by multi-joint hamstring exercises like dead lifts. Always work your calves at the end of your leg routine.
Circuit Training
A circuit training workout may include exercises for all of your muscle groups or it may be for just your upper body or just your lower body. Furthermore, a circuit training routine may also incorporate aerobic intervals. Circuit exercises are performed one after the other with minimal rest between sets. Regardless of the type of circuit you do, exercises for your larger muscles should be done first followed by exercises for your smaller muscles. Do chest and back exercises at the beginning of your circuit followed by leg exercises then biceps, shoulder, triceps and abdominal exercises. This gives the smaller arm muscles a little bit of time to recover while you train your legs and abdomen.
References
- "Personal Trainer Manual"; American Council on Exercise; 1997
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle; 2000
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults; Joseph Donnelly; 2009
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