6 Major Muscle Groups You Should Target with Your Weight Training

April 28, 2019

by Cathe Friedrich

Strength-training workouts should be balanced so that you work opposing muscle groups as well. For example, you wouldn’t work your quads while ignoring your hamstrings and glutes. To do so would lead to muscle imbalances. The problem with muscle imbalances is that they can lead to injury and muscle strains. When one muscle is weak, another muscle group has to take up the slack. Therefore, workout balance is critical. You also want to work all the major muscle groups in your body so that you have balanced strength. In fact, there are six main muscle groups that you need to strengthen. Let’s look at the best exercises for each.

Arms

Strong arms are important for functional strength. Think about how many times you use your arms to lift items or carry out tasks each day. Plus, you can’t show off weak, thin, flabby arms in a tank top! So, arms are one of the six major muscle groups you should train at least twice per week.

Your arm muscles are activated when you do compound exercises, like deadlifts and push-ups, but you should still include some isolation exercises, like biceps curls and triceps extensions to fine tune the development of these muscles and correct muscle imbalances.

One mistake many people make when strength training the arms is skewing their training toward the biceps. It’s easy to do this because the biceps are the muscles you see, the so-called vanity muscles. But you also need to focus on your triceps to prevent muscle imbalances.

Exercises to consider:

Biceps:

Do a variety of biceps curls & variations. Alternate between the types you do. Some to try include EZ-bar curls, hammer curls with dumbbells, barbell curls, isolation curls, concentration curls, preacher curls, Zottman curls. By switching between dumbbells and barbells and by doing curl variations, you’ll work the biceps at different angles.

Triceps:

Narrow-grip push-ups and triceps dips are two of the best compound exercises for working the triceps. All push-ups work the triceps, but narrow-grip one’s hammer the triceps hardest. Close-grip bench press is another compound exercise that effectively works the triceps. Include isolation exercises too for the triceps. These include triceps kickbacks and “skullcrushers.”

Shoulders

Train your shoulders properly, and you’ll avoid a common postural problem: rounded shoulders. Include exercises that work all three heads of the deltoid, your primary shoulder muscle. Also, include exercises that strengthen the rotator cuff muscles that help stabilize your shoulder. Many people neglect these muscles.

Exercises to consider:

Anterior deltoids: standing and seated overhead presses, barbell military presses, dumbbell front raises

Lateral deltoids: Lateral raises

Posterior deltoids: Dumbbell bent-over reverse flies, dumbbell side lateral raises, barbell rear deltoid rows

You already work your anterior deltoids, to some degree when you do chest exercises, like bench press and push-ups. Make sure your shoulder work is balanced by emphasizing the lateral and posterior heads of the shoulders.

Chest

Women don’t usually aspire to have the bulky chest muscles men do but having strong chest muscles gives you greater functional strength. For example, if you play a sport like golf or tennis, you need strong chest muscles to add power to your swing! So, don’t ignore these large muscles in front of your body.

Exercises to consider:

Barbell and dumbbell bench presses, incline dumbbell flies, push-ups, stability ball push-ups, bent-forward cable crossovers, incline dumbbell pullover, dips.

Core

Why is it so important that your core muscles be strong? It’s from your core that you generate power. The muscles in your core also help to support and stabilize your spine and protect against injury. Core work includes exercises that target the muscles in the back and abs. Too often, people train their abs with exercises like crunches and fail to strengthen the muscles in the back.

Exercises to consider:

Balance abdominal flexion exercises, like crunches, with exercises that require back extensions such as Supermans and bird dogs.

Planks should be part of a core training routine, although a static plank doesn’t work the core muscles through their full range-of-motion. Once you’ve mastered a static plank, add movement by doing more dynamic core variations. How about plank jacks, plank rollouts, walking planks, or stability ball knee tucks? Don’t get too comfy with the standard plank. Try plank variations too!

Legs

Leg training focuses on the muscles in the front and back of the thighs, the quads and hamstrings, respectively. Along with the hamstring, your glutes need work since they’re a large muscle group that helps with stabilization and power generation.

Exercise to consider:

Squats and their variations are a must for strong quads and hamstrings. Include front squats for quad emphasis and back squats to shift the focus to the hamstrings. Lunges are more of a quad-focused exercise, although you can shift more emphasis to the hamstrings and glutes by leaning your body forward slightly when you lunge.

Don’t forget about deadlifts and their variations. Romanian deadlifts are a good option if you have a history of knee problems. They’re particularly effective at targeting the hamstrings and glutes. If you have back problems, sumo squats are a good choice since you hold your torso in a more upright position.

For targeting your glutes, look beyond squats, lunges, and deadlifts and include exercises that specifically work the glutes such as quadruped hip extensions, glute bridges, donkey kicks, and hip thrusts.

Calves

It’s easy to neglect the calves – but don’t. You need strong calf muscles for power and stabilization of your lower body. Plus, a bit of curve to the calf adds symmetry to the legs. Due to anatomical differences, it is easier for some people to develop calves than others. The larger muscle in the calf is called the gastrocnemius, and the smaller is the soleus. If you have a long Achilles tendon and a shorter gastrocnemius muscle, getting calves to grow is harder. If that’s the case, you’ll definitely need these exercises.

Exercise to consider:

Standing calf raises and seated calf raises are basic exercises for building and strengthening the muscles in the calves. Of the two exercises, seated calf raises target the soleus muscle more. Since you need to work both muscles, include seated and standing calf raises in your routine.

Also, plyometric exercises that involve jumping, like squat jumps, depth jumps, and box jumps, work the fast-twitch muscle fibers in the calves. Include plyometrics in your routine can help you get more calf definition and develop greater power capabilities in the lower body.

The Bottom Line

Make sure you’re not neglecting any of these six muscle groups when you train! Keep your workouts balanced and change the exercises you to do target the muscles in different ways. It’ll pay off with a more balanced physique