Muscle groups

BigBen

New member
I have been reading many posts on this subjest and I haven't seen anyone answer this question specifically.

I know everyones body reacts different, so there is no one routine that works for all. But a trainer I had at my gym told me that working, say chest and triceps, or back and biceps on the same day would not be the best idea and heres why . If you were to do sets on the flat bench, incline, and either decline or flys your triceps would already be worked pretty hard, so if after you did that lifting you went to do tricep extensions, skull crushers, or dips your tri's wouldn't get the best workout because they were already burned from the chest workout earlier. And the same theory for bi's and back because the two can be closely related on most workouts. He told me to seperate those workouts. Does that make sense, or do you think my trainer was wrong? any opinions would be great.
 
BigBen said:
But a trainer I had at my gym told me that working, say chest and triceps, or back and biceps on the same day would not be the best idea and heres why . If you were to do sets on the flat bench, incline, and either decline or flys your triceps would already be worked pretty hard, so if after you did that lifting you went to do tricep extensions, skull crushers, or dips your tri's wouldn't get the best workout because they were already burned from the chest workout earlier. And the same theory for bi's and back because the two can be closely related on most workouts. He told me to seperate those workouts. Does that make sense, or do you think my trainer was wrong? any opinions would be great.

Its not about being right or wrong. It about how your body can work with that style...if it cant, dont do it...if it can, give it a shot. Right now, I personally do Chest & Tris or Back & Bis on same days. I sometimes put arms on the same day, but that is just to keep a variety and keep my body guessing. I make sure I work the larger muscle first, but it kinda warms me up for the smaller muscles if i do them on the same day. I normally have a lot of stamina tho so this works well for me. On the other hand, If i pound my chest one day and do tris the next day...sometimes thats worse for me bc my tris can be sore the next day after a rest. You just have to find out what works for you....dont listen to what everyone says. everyones body is different - its like a science, you just have to figure it out through trial and error.

-athiktos
 
Splitting the groups up like I have been doing is working very well for me for now so I will stick with it until I hit a plateau. Thank you for your advice
 
Chest & Tris
Back & Bis
Those work the best for me, but I don't know about you. Play around with it and see what works best.
 
BigBen said:
Splitting the groups up like I have been doing is working very well for me for now so I will stick with it until I hit a plateau. Thank you for your advice

no sweat...hope i helped some.
 
I avoid doing arms on the same day as chest or back. I prefer to do chest and back on the same day as one big heavy work out.

I do shoulders and arms on a seperate day as a lighter workout using those smaller muscle groups. The weights are kept relatively moderate so that the focus is on form and isolation. The big workout on the chest/back day takes care of size.

Legs get their own day, of course.

Then there's running, sprinting, swimming and circuit.

It works for me, but something else may work for you.
 
Like everyone else said it's not about being right or wrong. It's about what works for your body. Some people get better results working them together, some work better separating them. Right now I'm doing better keeping them separated.
 
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