Oh boy.

There are so many different opinions out there, you may have heard that you should exercise these muscles and should not work on those muscles.  So how do you know which opinion is accurate.  Clearly the correct opinion is mine….duh.  So the correct answer to this dilemma is:

YOU SHOULD WORK ALL OF YOUR MUSCLES !

 

“But Mike, that’s 650 different muscles.  I don’t have that kind of time.”  I meant you should work all the major muscle groups.  “But Mike, which muscles are considered major?”  Glad you asked.  Below is a list of major muscles that should be worked each week and some example exercises that will do the trick.

Chest – Bench press, Incline bench press, Dumbbell Flys, Chest press Machine

Shoulders – Military Press, Dumbbell lateral raise, upright rows, rear deltoid fly

Triceps – Triceps push down, Dips, Triceps extension machine, Lying triceps extension

Lower Back – Dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, Lower back extension, good mornings

Upper Back (rhomboids) – Low Rows, Bent over rows, Dumbbell 1 arm row, T-bar row

Lats – Lat pull down, Dumbbell pullover, pull ups

Traps – Dumbell shrugs, Barbell shrugs

Bicep – Bar curls, Preacher curl, Dumbbell hammer curl

Quads – Squats, Leg press, Lunges, Leg extentions

Hamstrings – Prone leg curl, seated leg curl, straight leg dead lift

Calves – Standing calf extension, calf extension (on leg press)

Abs – crunches, leg lifts, seated twists, abdominal machine

 

“But Mike, Why should I work all of those muscle groups instead of just the few that I consider my problem areas?”

Good question.  The best reason for implementing any fitness program is to maximize your quality of life.  With that very important goal in mind, working all the major muscle groups will:

 

Maximize fat loss

The more toned, strong muscle you have the more calories/fat your body will burn naturally.  So why would you not want all of your muscles to be on the fat burning train. WOOT, WOOT.

Injury Prevention

Well developed strong muscles are less likely to get injured than out of shape, atrophied muscles.  Strong muscles also do a better job of supporting your joints making injuries and pain less likely.  As a bonus, weight lifting also strengthens your bones and connective tissue again reducing the risk of injury.

The only “real” Fountain of Youth

While there’s no such thing as a real Fountain of Youth, obtaining and maintaining full body strength is the next best thing.  As we age (beyond 30 something) we naturally start to lose muscle mass & strength.  Weight lifting is the only way to fight this natural process.

“But Mike, I don’t do anything that requires strength in my triceps so I’m gonna skip that muscle group.  Is that OK?”

I hear things like this from time to time and I sorta get the thought process, but the answer is NO it’s not OK.  You may think you don’t use a body part very much, but I’m here to tell you that you use all your body parts more than you think.  If you need more convincing, think back to the last time you had an injury.  Remember how that thing hurt at times you didn’t even think you were using that area of you body.  Conclusion, every body part is important.

 

In the future I will write more about how to maximize your strength training program.  But for today my goal is to sell you on the importance of strengthening all your major muscle groups and insisting on having solid muscular balance.