4 Day Split Legs and Back Legs and Chest Legas and Biceps Legs and Triceps

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The success of any hypertrophy or muscle-building session hangs on your ability to train the right muscle groups at the right time. We cannot stress that point enough. Pairing complimentary muscle groups will result in the activation of more muscle fibres and, as you continue, equates to more strength and more muscle.

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So while swapping from the bench press to bent-over row might appear to be a safe choice when you spot a vacant barbell and the only benches you can see are either in use or have been very recently sweated on, working the wrong combination of muscles is detrimental to your goal of a functional and beach-ready body.

"One of the biggest mistakes gym goers make is exercising two major muscle groups in the same workout," says PT Gavin Walsh. "For example, combining leg and back exercises requires too much energy and is a drain on the nervous system.

"The biggest mistake gym goers make is exercising two major muscle groups in the same workout"

"After going all out training the first muscle group, you won't able to lift with the same level of intensity when working the second."

Why? Because the muscle groups don't operate individually. Yes, a chest press primarily pounds your pectorals, but it also works your shoulders and triceps at the same time.

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To stimulate maximum growth in both muscle groups, Walsh recommends adopting the principles of bodybuilding workouts. Try hammering one major muscle group (chest, legs and back) per workout and supplement this work by splitting the rest of your session into moves that target two smaller muscle groups (biceps, triceps, hamstrings, calves, abs and shoulders).

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The Best Muscle Group Combinations

Here's the perfect combination to build serious muscle, ensuring you get the most out of your workouts and continue to see improvements with no threat of a performance plateau. Structure your week's workouts around this 3-day split principle, resting for at least a day after you've completed all three.

Here, we've put several exercises to work through on each day. Each are typical 'bodybuilding' exercises that have been tried-and-tested to pack on muscle fast. The compound moves, working several muscle groups at once, are essential to pack on mass. Think squats, deadlifts and the bench press. Try this to begin with.

3-day split:

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

• Incline Chest Press, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Decline Chest Press, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Dumbbell Flat Bench Flys, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 3 sets of 12 reps
• Face Pulls, 3 sets of 12 reps
  

Back, Biceps and Abs

• Wide grip pull-down, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Bent-over row, 3 sets of 12 reps
• Deadlift, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• EZ bar curl, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Crossbody dumbbell hammer curl, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Tricep rope pushdown, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• EZ bar skull crusher, 3 sets of 12 reps
  

Hamstrings, Quads and Calves

• Barbell back squat, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Leg extension, 3 sets of 12 reps
  
• Dumbbell split squat, 3 sets of 12 reps
• Calf raises, 3 sets of max reps

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4 Day Split Legs and Back Legs and Chest Legas and Biceps Legs and Triceps

Source: https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a750068/which-muscle-groups-should-i-work-out-on-the-same-day/

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