Working Out The Bigger Muscles First

There is no one workout that fits everyone.  In the past, I used to try certain workout programs that I had seen in magazines.  Some were too extreme, others were uninspiring, and still, others weren’t designed for the desired fitness goals.  While they may have worked to some extent had I stuck with them, they may not have helped me to reach the desired result.  In those moments, it was more about some of the principles applied to designing those workouts that I, and others, have had to take away and adjust to our own needs.  One of those principles is to design your program by working larger muscles, primary muscles, or muscle groups first working your way down to smaller, secondary muscles.  You can do this through a mix of compound exercises, isolation exercises, and single arm/leg exercises.

Compound Exercises

Compound exercises are simply exercises that incorporate the use of multiple muscle groups at the same time. This is a great way to start your program for the day.  Also, if you are short on time that day, compound exercises help you more efficiently work your body to get a good pump in less time.

An upper-body example of this type of exercise would be the bench press.  During the bench press, you need your chest and shoulders firing at their best.  If you are looking at the lower body, a great example is the squat.  If you are working with a Queens personal trainer, they will have many variations of the bench press.  In this case, it would not be wise to do shoulder presses before benching.  During a squat, you are using your glutes, quads, and calves.  If you were to perform calf raises prior to squatting, you will sacrifice strength and balance as your calves will fatigue sooner.

 Isolation Exercises

If you are looking to target a single muscle group or joint, then you would be adding isolation exercises to your program.  If you’ve done your warm-up, or completed your compound exercises, you can move on to isolation exercises.  Examples of these are calf raises, bicep curls, and tricep extensions.  A workout program completely of isolation exercises will take longer to perform, so it is best to make sure you have the time to complete it.  The benefit is that this type of program will allow you to target the muscles that are specific to your training goals. 

Single Arm

Additionally, if you are looking to target specific areas to correct muscular imbalances on one side of the body, you may use single arm or leg exercises.  This is an even greater form of isolation exercise, as it allows you to improve balance and stabilization, as well.  It is best to reach out to one of your local NYC personal trainers if any of these concerns exist.  This will also reduce injury risk.