Muscles - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

radiofolds7 · 07-10-2003, 07:32 AM

I'm on a full body lifting routine twice a week on wednesday and saturday. I do Bench, Military Press, Incline, Toe Raises(Sit and Stand), Crunches, Leg lifts, Curls, Upright Rows, Lateral Raises, Skull Crushers, Lunges, and Squats. Should I be doing exercises that work similar muscles after each other? For instance, Should I bench press and then do Incline Press next because they work similary muscles? Or should I do the exercises further apart (e. g. Bench, Toe Raise, Squat, Incline Press)? What is better for me and why?

Naxis · 07-10-2003, 08:40 AM

It's kind of tough to say... If you work related muscle groups together, you will fatigue them faster. What this means is that if you do bench and then move to shoulders,, the shoulders' role in the bench has already put significant stress on them, and you will not be able to lift as much as you might have if you started fresh. On the plus side, those muscle fibers already have a pump going and it will be like pulling an extra set for them.

Conversely, working unrelated muscle groups back to back allows for more recovery time and will probably increase your lifts. Not to mention that you can do squats during the rest period between benching sets (for example) and cut your gym time in half as well as keeping the workout aerobic.

So it depends on how you feel about it, how your body responds and what your goals are. If you're lifting HEAVY I would recommend the latter, but probably not doing 2 exercises between sets.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

radiofolds7 · 07-10-2003, 11:46 AM

Thanks. But what about people who are on splits? I'm lifting somewhat heavy (6-8 reps x 3 sets) Don't people on splits work only a few muscles each day to train them more?

Naxis · 07-10-2003, 12:19 PM

Yep. I have a 4 day split currently. Looks like this:

Sun: chest/tri
Mon: cardio
Tue: legs
Wed: shoulders/abs
Thurs: cardio
Fri: Back/Bi
Sat: cardio or outside activity.

Theres a lot of ways to run a split... none are necessarily "right" but sometimes you just need to change things up. For a 3 day split, you might try something like:

1: chest/tri/shoulders
2: legs/abs
3: back/bi/calves

or

1: chest/back
2: legs/shoulders/calves
3: bi/tri/abs

Just examples...

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

[This message has been edited by Naxis (edited 07-10-2003).]

linux123 · 07-10-2003, 12:25 PM

Hi Naxis, could you please list the specific exercises you do on your chest/tri, shoulders/abs, and back/bi days. thx