The larger a muscle group, the more muscle fibers it contains. Larger muscle groups are made up of vast networks of sheets of muscles. Smaller muscle groups contain much less muscle sheets. When you train a large muscle group, you use compound movements and are able to move much more weight. Let’s learn more about the differences between the two.

Large Body Parts

These muscle groups include the back, chest, and legs. They require 12 to 20 sets to adequately stimulate them for growth. Large body parts should be trained first in the workout, followed by one smaller body part. Large compound movements should be used first with larger body parts, followed by isolation movements for the finishing touch. Barbells and dumbbells are very useful for making large body parts do the most work. Large body parts should only be trained once per week. If you find you have the energy to train them again in the same week, it means you didn’t train them hard enough the first time. Repetition ranges for large body parts should be in the 8 to 12 range. After training a large body part, your body may need additional food (in terms of extra caloric intake) or recovery time (in terms of

Small Body Parts

These muscle groups include the biceps, triceps, shoulders, abs, calves, and forearms. They require 6 to 12 sets to adequately stimulate them for muscular growth. Smaller body parts can be stacked (two of them trained per workout), or one of them trained following a large body part. The use of local compound movements (such as barbell military press and barbell biceps curls) should be used first on smaller body parts, followed by isolation exercises involving dumbbells, machines, and cables. Smaller body parts can be trained twice in the same week, as they recover faster due to their smaller size. Repetition ranges for smaller body parts such as arms and shoulders should be in the 10 to 15 range. Diet and recovery methods should remain constant on small pat days as they do on rest days. It’s only when training large body parts that some adjustments may have to be made.

Training Frequency

Most bodybuilders can only get away with training large body parts once per week. There will always be exception. Users of anabolic steroids will be able to train more often and recover faster. Some people blessed with master genetics might recovery fast enough. And of course, those who aren’t going all out on chest or leg day, may feel recovered enough three days later to do it again. But the general rule is that large body parts involve so many muscle fibers that they need 6 days of recovery. Additionally, the compound movements required to train the larger body parts place a great deal of strain upon the central nervous system. Over-taxing your system twice per week can lead to suppressed immune system function and illness. However, smaller body parts can usually be trained twice per week with little issue.

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