Article on what body parts to train together

[clinthammer]

Hi,

I've been trying to find articles on what body parts to train together... chest/biceps, back, shoulder + triceps, legs etc...

I want to read up and find out what he most efficient combination is..

Or maybe someone here can help me out..

for my workout I am doing chest + biceps, back and abs, shoulder+ triceps, legs + abs.

Thanks,
CD

[PureMotivation]

Well i think all bb'ers will tell you, what works for one person wont necessarily work for another. there is no formula that absolutely works for every person. You must experiment and find out what works best for you. Then you must switch it up so you're not doing the same routine over and over again so your msucle don't adapt to it. Here are a couple routines i have used, Chest/Tri's, Back/Bi's, Shoulders, Legs - I used this routine for a long time its a basic routine that works well for me. Chest/Back, Tri's/Bi's, Shoulders/Legs - This one i also like because it is great for supersetting and HIT workouts. This split i just recently started, Chest/Bi's, Shoulder/Tri's, Back/Traps, Legs - So far I like it and im gonna stick with it for a little while. Anyways I hope this helps you some, just remember you have to try alot of things and find what works for you.
-Adam

[Enoptix]

There isn't any one program that you want to stick to forever. It's always good to change things up.... but here are some commonly used splits..

Agonist/Antagonist (Pulling and stretching):
-Chest and Back
-Bicep and Tricep
-Abs and Lower back
In this set up, one muscle contracts while the other (opposite) muscle stretches.

Complimentary (Work together):
-Chest and Tricep
-Back and Bicep
Here, we have both muscles working together.
Whenever you do a pressing motion for your chest, your tricep is also contracting. Same for back. If you pull backwards (like in a row) you'll be using oyur biceps also.

Non-competeing (Do not compliment each other):
-Chest and Bicep
-Back and Tricep
Opposite of the Complimentary type. These muscle do not effect each other (usually).

If you noticed, I did not list shoulders or legs in any of the groupings. This is because the legs are usually worked on a day by themselves in entirity. Shoulders are usually paired with abs since shoulders are not opposite of anything. So this might look like a weeks workout routine for complimentary:

Mon: Shoulders/Abs
Tues: Chest/Tri
Wed: Core Strength (not complimentary)
Thurs: Back/Bi
Fri: Legs

[Dominik]

The only thing I'd add to what enoptix said is that shoulders share a close compound relationship with chest in the sense you'll be engaging the triceps and upper pecs while doing shoulder presses and with chest presses you'll be engaging the triceps and delts. And both employ "push" force movements.

So I connect the two groups. I make sure with my workouts I either train them several days apart (for example if I do chest on a Monday I'd do shoulders perhaps on Thursday) or I train them together. Since training the delts is my favorite workout I don't mix it with my chest workout.

[HardGainer82]

I do:
Chest/Hams/Biceps/Calves
Quads/Shoulders/Traps/Calves
Back/Triceps/Forearms/Calves

This is what works for me, but it took a long time to get there, and it's pretty tailored to my routine(boxing, etc.)