When we are repeat offenders of exercise that is a good thing right. Yes of course it is, maintaining a fitness program can only be good for your health. But are you giving all your muscles a fair crack of the whip or do you favor those arms or pecs, do they get more attention than those calves or glutes.
Well if this is the case then its time to change, all the muscle groups need attention during our workouts, whether you are building muscle or toning muscle. Our bodies are split up in major muscle groups, although there are a collection of muscles that make up each group we will just look at the group itself and the type of exercises that are beneficial to that particular group.
Listing from the top of the body to the lower:
Shoulders
The shoulders are commonly known as the Deltoids or Delts and contain muscles such as Levator Scapulae and Trapezius. The type of exercises that are good for the shoulders are the shoulder press and pull ups. The Delts consist of front, side and rear muscles and there are different exercises to to work each angle.
Chest
The chest muscles are commonly known as the Pectoralis Major and the Pectoralis Minor or the Pecs. The type of exercises that hit those Pecs are Bench pressing or push ups. When bench pressing, adjusting the incline of the bench will isolate higher and lower Pec stimulation.
Back
The back muscles are commonly known as the Latissimus Dorsi or Lats. The type of exercise that will get those Lats going is bent over rowing or pull ups.
Arms
The arms muscles are known as Biceps Brachii or Biceps, the Triceps Brachii or Triceps and then you’ve got the Brachioradialis or one of the forearm muscles. Good exercises for the arms are Bicep Curl and Tricep extensions. Forearms can be hit by a forearm curl.
Stomach
The stomach muscles are known as the Rectus Abdominis or Transverse Abdominis or just Abdominals or Abs. There are also the Internal and External Obliques which run up the side of the Abs. The classic exercise for the Abs is crunches and there are different types of leg raises that hit the lower Abs.
Legs
The upper legs are known as the Quadriceps femoris or Quads, there are also the biceps femoris on the back of the upper leg and others like the adductors on the inner thighs. Some good exercises for these are leg extensions for those Quads and legs curls for those Biceps.
The lower legs known as the Tibialis Posterior and the Soleus make up some of the calf muscles. A great exercise for these is the Calf raise.
These are the general muscle groups and some exercises to effect them. To get more information on muscles, exercise and general fitness take a look at exercise weights a great resource for fitness information.
