The human body has an incredible number of muscles and muscle fibers that can be trained, built, and improved to increase athletic performance. However, it is critical for one to exercise each group of muscles so that no single group is left as a weak link. Having imbalanced muscles can lead to various different types of injuries, so it is best to simply keep a workout program well rounded and leave no stone unturned. The following groups are the main ones that are most important to build for athletics and weight lifting. The first group (from the top down) is the Chest Group. This group of muscles includes the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor, which are often referred to as "pecs". These muscles are used in pushing exercises such as, or course, push-ups. They can also, however, be strengthened by ...

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The Triple Shot is a training technique which allows the bodybuilder to stimulate each muscle group from the three most important angles. It’s not a super-set, which is designed for fast blood loading. And it’s not a giant set, designed for complete muscle annihilation. Rather, the Triple Shot is a technique designed to isolate the three largest parts of a muscle group, then delivering the three most effective movements for hitting these areas. The goal, of course, is the most possible muscle group stimulation leading to growth. Let’s check out routines for some of your muscle groups. Chest Flat bench press, immediately followed by incline dumbbell flyes, immediately followed by decline bench press. Keep the weight heavy enough to challenge you for 6 to 10 repetitions on all sets. Back Deadlifts, immediately followed by lat pulldowns, ...

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This is one of the many muscle tissues of the body many bodybuilders tend to notoriously ignore. It may be due to lack of emphasis on training them or their significance in the whole being of the whole body is virtually unknown. This write up is aimed at describing what the hamstrings really are, their functions and the workout exercises that can be employed to keep them strong and well toned. In the sport oriented media it is often to hear that this or that athlete is out with a hamstring injury. This is merely because under developed hamstrings are very susceptible to injuries especially during the leg exercises. The hamstrings described: These are the muscles of the legs that originate just under the knees on the back side and they run from there through the back side of the thighs up to the ...

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Most days, you probably don’t see them. You might think about them once a week at the tail end of a very tough front thigh workout, but they still don’t warrant much more then a few sets of leg curls with moderate intensity while you’re planning the next meal and post-workout shake. They are the hamstrings, the red-haired stepchild of bodybuilders everywhere. They are ignored, neglected, and forgotten – until you get onstage. Only then will a team of bodybuilding judges very quickly bring you back to reality with a very sobering reminder of how important they are for bodybuilding success, as they hand you a 5th place trophy and aware a much weaker opponent (albeit for his better hamstring development) the trophy you truly deserved. Still, it’s not time to panic. You can still ...

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Are you looking for a way to hit those quadriceps and hamstrings quickly, and then get the heck out of the gym? If so, then you have some to the right place. The following workout will allow you to target both sides of the upper thigh muscles, and do so in a manner which will stimulate both the fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. The next time you’re facing a time crunch and really want to hit the legs in a new way, give this routine a shot! It will deliver a full workout in minimal time.   Leg extensions, immediately followed with leg curls It’s time for a quick workout, and this includes a quick warm-up. You don’t need to utilize the treadmill or elliptical to warm up your legs today. Instead, you can use 1 ...

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When it comes to the hamstrings, most bodybuilders aren’t all that creative in the movements they select. Most of the time, it is leg curls, plain and simple. Trainers might vary the repetitions and sets they use, but the movement is typically the only one used by many bodybuilders in their pursuit of muscle building greatness of the rear thigh variety. The problem occurs, however, when the legs become used to this machine and they stop responding. When this happens, it is time to discover some new movements for hitting your hamstrings. One-legged hamstring curls These can be completed on any standard leg curl machine. Complete your standard 12 repetitions with 60% of the weight using only one leg. Then force the other leg to complete that many repetitions. It’s that simple. A bit ...

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Leg day is perhaps the most important day of your training week. Not only are the legs nearly a complete half of your body squeezed into a single training day, but they contain the two largest sets of muscle groups in the body, the glutes and quadriceps. Properly training muscle groups such as biceps and shoulders are easy – you show up in a tank top and knock out your exercises. Adequately stimulating the legs requires a fair deal of preparation before the workout begins. Here are some tips for showing up better prepared in the gym the next time leg day rolls around! Dress for war Plan your leg day attire more closely than you do any other day. Start with some heavy duty clothes, such as shorts or training pants, that can withstand the demand you’re ...

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If you have reached the level of elite bodybuilder, you probably already possess a fairly firm grasp of what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to building muscle. You know how to add mass to your frame. You know how to get in peak shape for competition. And you know how to target lagging body parts. There are times, however, when even your years of experience and learning can’t help you address a lagging body part as you reach the upper echelon of your sport. Usually, it’s a body part that went unnoticed in the early years of your career, and then became a major weakness that was hard to correct as a more elite bodybuilder. For many bodybuilders, this lagging muscle group is the hamstrings, or the leg biceps. Located on the ...

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Many bodybuilders frequently notice that their back workouts hamper their ability to perform as well as needed on leg day. It’s true that some back exercises do require the hamstrings remain fully flexed while supporting a great deal of weight. Deadlifts are an extremely heavy compound movement which forces the trainer to keep the hamstrings fully flexed throughout. Hyperextensions are another movement which results in the hamstrings briefly receiving the brunt of your body weight (along with any plate you are holding as well), which can leave the hamstrings very pumped at the end of back day. Your initial reaction might be one of optimistic surprise. After all, who wouldn’t want to add a quick pump to their hamstrings to see some new progress? Training them twice a week means they’ll grow twice as fast, ...

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If you made a list of muscle groups and asked bodybuilders to rank them based upon their training intensity, what do you think their answers would reveal? Very likely, if they were completely honest, arms and chest would rank near the very top. Abdominals would be up there too, as everyone digs a sexy six pack. As the list descended, you’d see muscle groups like shoulders, quadriceps, lats, traps, forearms, and calves. Then, most likely at the absolute bottom of this list, you’d probably find hamstrings. Ah yes, hamstrings – the muscle group we rarely see and even more rarely train. Hamstrings aren’t a wildly popular muscle group, even among bodybuilders who are judged upon complete development. Bodybuilders tend to toss in a few sets of leg curls at the conclusion of their quadriceps training ...

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