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A great muscular appearance is the ultimate goal of many gym-goers, but one major mistake they tend to make is to train all the muscle groups together. People include resistance and strength training into one workout session, believing that doing them together will help them build more muscle quickly.
However, the truth is, you can’t just get muscular by simply combining exercises and targeting all your muscles in an hour-long training session. Rather, it is recommended to target individual muscle groups, which are solely responsible for giving a bigger physique.
So, if your goal is to get a chiselled and muscular appearance, make sure you target these muscles during your workouts.
1) Latissimus dorsi (back)
Latissimus dorsi or lats are the large muscles of your upper back situated on the outside and below your armpit. When targeted correctly with the right exercises, lats tend to develop and bulge outward, giving you a broad and muscular appearance.
Some of the best exercises to work on your lats include:
- Seated cable rows
- Lat pulldowns
- Lat pulls with band
- Barbell rows
- Dumbbell pullovers
- Pull-ups
- One-arm row,
2) Glutes
Glutes are basically the muscles of your butt. Glute muscles include gluteus maximus, minimus and medius. If you want a rounded and nice butt, the first thing you should do is work to get low body fat and develop your glute muscles.
Some of the best exercises to work on your glutes include:
- Leg press
- Deadlifts
- Bridge
- Leg press
- Step-ups
- Lunges
- Hip thrust
- One-legged deadlift
- Hip extensions.
3) Pectoral muscles (chest)
The pectoral muscles or pecs are the major muscles of your chest and include the pectoralis major and minor muscles. For a good-looking upper body, well-defined pecs are of utmost importance.
Some of the best exercises to work on your pecs include:
- Bench press
- Decline press
- Dumbbell chest press
- Push-ups
- Chest fly with dumbbells.
4) Quadriceps
The quadriceps or quads are your thigh muscles. These include vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris. People today are obsessed with working on their upper body, but if you want an overall bigger physique, building your lower body, especially your legs, is equally important.
Some of the best quad exercises include:
- Squat and its variations, including barbell squat, dumbbell squat, sumo squat, etc.
- Wall sits.
5) Biceps
Biceps brachii and bicep muscles in your arms are important muscles that should be worked on regularly, as they give a bulkier look and more width.
Some of the best exercises for biceps include:
- Cable curls
- Arm curls
- Bent over row
- Incline dumbbell curl
- Chin-up
- Hammer curl
- EZ-bar preacher curl,
6) Triceps
Triceps are your upper arm muscles, which make your arm look bigger, even with normal sized bicep muscles.
Some of the best exercises for triceps include:
- Triceps extensions
- Diamond push-ups
- Kickbacks
- Dips
- Overhead triceps extensions
- Rope pushdowns
- Bar pushdowns.
7) Abdominal muscles
The abdominal muscles, also called abs, are the favourite muscle groups of almost all gym-goers. Although you may work out to achieve six or eight pack abs, genetics can also determine the size of this muscle group. The major abdominal muscle is the rectus abdominis.
Some of the best exercises to work on your abs include:
- Crunches
- Deadlifts
- Bicycle crunch
- Hanging leg raises
- Bent over rows
- Sit-ups
- Seated cable rows
- Wheel rollouts
- Squats.
8) Hamstrings
Your hamstrings are made up of various muscles, such as the semimembranosus, biceps femoris and semitendinosus. These muscles run along the back of your thighs and go all the way from your hips to your knees. Your hamstrings are responsible for extending your leg straight and for bending your knees.
Some of the best exercises for hamstrings include:
- Leg curls
- Razor curls
- Toes elevated dumbbell RDL
- Single leg stability ball curl
- Hamstring slide,
9) Deltoid muscles (shoulders)
Deltoid muscles, also called delts, are compound and large shoulder muscles that largely include the front, rear and middle deltoids. They go with your back, chest and arm muscles to give you a strong upper-body look.
Some of the best exercises for delts include:
- Side lateral raise
- Overhead press with a barbell
- One-arm press
- Arnold press
- Band overhead press
- Front raise
- Reverse fly.
Now that you know which muscles to primarily work on, plan your workout routine in a way that you work on these muscles every day. Your workout routine doesn’t need to be complicated; rather, it should include exercises particularly targeting individual muscles and muscle groups.
