If you are a newbie to the gym, all the equipment may look confusing. Now I am sure over time, you can watch others use the equipment and get the hang of how to use it but not necessarily will you know when to use it. In other words which muscle group are benefiting.

You see, most workouts consist of focusing on one muscle at a time. Generally you should not do one exercise for chest, followed by an exercise for legs and then followed by an exercise for back. It just doesn’t maximize the intensity of your workout. You should perform the entire workout on a given body part or muscle group before moving to the next.

Okay, so which exercises hit which muscle groups? I will detail that out below but keep in mind this is a shopping list that you choose. Also, this list is not all encompassing. I'm sure I could add a dozen more exercises but I will just list some of the basics. Also I will not list the machines for the specific muscle groups below. The machines are self defining. BUT you should add some of those machines to your routine. By the way some of these exercises can be seen in pictorial format under the link, Training Photos. Here goes the basics:

Chest

• Flat Bench Press-Barbell
• Incline Bench Press-Barbell
• Decline Bench Press-Barbell
• Dumbbell flies with flat, incline or decline bench
• Standing Cable Crossover Flies

Back

• Wide Grip Pull Ups using body weight (hands forward)
• Wide Grip Seated Cable Pull down
• T bar rows
• Bent over barbell rows
• Seated Cable Row
• One arm dumbbell rows

Shoulders

• Seated Bench Barbell Presses
• Seated Bench Dumbbell Presses
• Side lateral flies-Dumbbells
• Front Alternating flies- Dumbbells
• Seated bent over (chest on legs) flies –Dumbbells
• Barbell Shrugs
• Dumbbell Shrugs

Biceps

• Barbell Curls- straight bar or E Z bar
• Dumbbell Curls Standing or Seated
• Preacher Bench Barbell or Dumbbell curls
• Standing Cable curls
• One Arm Concentration Curls
• Alternate Dumbbel Curls

Triceps

• Skull Crushers (got to love this name, 20 years ago it was call lying French press). Ask someone how to do Skull Crushers. Barbell is usually the E Z bar
• Dips- Like a gymnast, the body on parallel bars dipping up and down.
• Cable Tricep pushdowns
• Bent Over Tricep kick backs
• Close grip bench press (hits inside of chest too)
• Behind the Head One Arm Extensions

Forearms

• Forward Forearm curls
• Reverse Forearm curls

Abdominals

• Sit ups
• Crunches
• Leg lifts
• Side twists

I am going to break my rule here and mention machines for legs since many have become so basic and necessary to great leg workout.

Legs- Quadriceps

• Squats- Barbell behind head
• Front Squats- Barbell in front of heads
• Lunges with Dumbbells in hands
• Leg Extension Machine
• Hack Squat Machine
• Leg Press Machine in umpteen varieties

Legs- Hamstrings

• Stiff legged dead lift (stretches hamstrings) Barbell normally
• Leg Curl Machine

Calves

• Standing Calf with Dumbbells (on block)
• Standing Calf Machine
• Seated Calf Machine

Here you go. Act like pro when you hit the gym confidently knowing what you are doing.

"Sweat eventually hardens to Muscle".....Scott

 

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