muscle groups

Workout targeting different svalové partie for effective muscle training.

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Introduction

Choosing which muscle groups to train and how to group them into workouts is one of the most important decisions for progress, consistency and injury prevention. Your ideal split depends on your goals (strength, hypertrophy, athleticism), time availability, recovery capacity and training experience. Below is a practical guide to help you decide which muscle groups to train together and how to structure effective weekly routines.

Core principles

  • Training frequency: Research shows training each muscle group 2–3 times per week generally produces the best hypertrophy and strength responses for most people. If you only have 2–3 sessions per week, full-body or upper/lower splits are efficient. If you train 4–6 times, you can use more focused splits.
  • Volume and intensity: Volume (sets x reps) drives growth, but must be balanced with intensity and recovery. Aim for 10–20 working sets per muscle per week depending on experience and goals, distributed across sessions.
  • Exercise selection: Prioritize compound movements (squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, pulls) for efficiency and systemic stimulus. Add isolation exercises to target lagging areas or to manage fatigue.
  • Recovery and progression: Progress gradually (add load, reps or sets) and allow adequate sleep, nutrition and rest days to avoid overtraining.

Common splits and when to use them

  • Full-body (2–4x/week): Best for beginners, time-constrained people, or when you want high frequency. Each session includes 1–2 compound lifts per major muscle group.
  • Upper/Lower (4x/week): Great balance of frequency and volume. Allows heavier focus on legs and upper body while training each twice weekly.
  • Push/Pull/Legs (3–6x/week): Flexible and popular. Push = chest/shoulders/triceps; Pull = back/biceps; Legs = quads/hamstrings/glutes/calves. Good for intermediate trainees.
  • Body-part split (bro split, 4–6x/week): Each major muscle group trained once per week with high per-session volume. Works for advanced lifters who manage higher total weekly volume and recovery strategies.
  • Hybrid or athletic splits: Combine strength, conditioning and mobility tailored to sport or performance goals.

How to group muscle groups in a session

  • Natural synergies: Group muscles that work together on compound movements to minimize fatigue transfer. Example: chest, shoulders and triceps for a push day; back and biceps for a pull day.
  • Avoid fighting fatigue: Don’t pair two large, taxing groups back-to-back if you’ll sacrifice performance. For example, heavy deadlifts (posterior chain) followed immediately by intense leg work can be counterproductive.
  • Balance push/pull volume: Ensure antagonistic muscles (e.g., chest vs. upper back) receive comparable volume to reduce postural imbalances.
  • Prioritize weak points: Train lagging muscles earlier in the session when you’re freshest.

Sample weekly routines

3-day full-body (beginner)

  • Day 1: Squat, bench press, barbell row, core
  • Day 2: Rest or active recovery
  • Day 3: Romanian deadlift, overhead press, pull-ups, accessory
  • Day 4: Rest
  • Day 5: Front squat or lunges, incline press, single-arm row, core

4-day upper/lower (intermediate)

  • Day 1: Upper A — bench press, incline DB, rows, pull-ups, triceps
  • Day 2: Lower A — squat, RDL, lunges, calf raises, core
  • Day 3: Rest
  • Day 4: Upper B — overhead press, chest flyes, lat pulldown, biceps
  • Day 5: Lower B — deadlift, leg press, hamstring curl, core
  • Days 6–7: Rest or light activity

5-day push/pull/legs split (advanced)

  • Day 1: Push (heavy) — bench, OHP, dips, lateral raises
  • Day 2: Pull (heavy) — deadlift, rows, face pulls, hammer curls
  • Day 3: Legs (volume) — squats, leg press, leg curls, calves
  • Day 4: Push (volume) — incline, DB press, triceps extensions
  • Day 5: Pull (volume) — chin-ups, single-arm rows, rear delts
  • Days 6–7: Recovery

Programming tips

  • Warm-up and mobility: Begin sessions with dynamic warm-ups and movement-specific ramps to improve performance and reduce injury risk.
  • Order of exercises: Do big compound lifts first, then accessory and isolation movements.
  • Auto-regulation: Adjust load or volume based on daily readiness. Some days you’ll lift heavy; others focus on technique.
  • Track progress: Record weights, sets and reps. If progress stalls, change a variable (volume, frequency, intensity) before overhauling the program.
  • Deloads: Schedule a lighter week every 4–8 weeks depending on volume and intensity to consolidate gains and recover.

Recovery and nutrition

  • Protein and calories: For muscle growth, consume sufficient protein (≈1.6–2.2 g/kg/day) and a calorie surplus if you want to gain mass. For maintenance or fat loss, retain protein and adjust calories accordingly.
  • Sleep and stress management: Sleep quality strongly influences recovery and adaptation. Aim for 7–9 hours nightly.
  • Active recovery: Low-intensity cardio, mobility work and soft-tissue care help maintain readiness without impairing gains.

Practical reasons to choose one split over another

  • Time available: Short sessions favor full-body or focused upper/lower plans. If you can train more often, spread volume across more days to keep sessions shorter and fresher.
  • Training goals: Strength-focused lifters often use lower-frequency, high-intensity blocks for main lifts; hypertrophy-focused lifters use moderate loads and higher weekly volume with more frequency.
  • Personal preference and enjoyment: The best program is the one you can stick with consistently. Choose a split that fits your schedule and motivates you to continue.

Conclusion

If you want a deeper guide on how to divide muscle groups across different training sessions, see this practical walkthrough on how to split muscle groups into workouts: how to split muscle groups into workouts.

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Illustration showing various svalové partie for fitness training

Jaké svalové partie budete procvičovat?

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Which muscle groups will you train?

Deciding which muscle groups to work on each session is one of the most important choices in building an effective training plan. The right split depends on your goals, experience, available time, and recovery capacity. This article walks through the core principles, popular splits, sample weekly plans, exercise selection, and practical tips to help you pick the best approach.

Core principles

  • Goal first: Prioritize strength, hypertrophy (muscle growth), fat loss, or athletic performance. Each goal shifts volume, intensity, and exercise choice.
  • Frequency matters: Hitting a muscle 2–3 times per week is generally optimal for most people seeking hypertrophy and strength. Beginners may benefit more from full-body sessions, while advanced lifters sometimes require more focused splits.
  • Volume is king: Total weekly effective sets per muscle drive progress. For hypertrophy, a common target is 10–20 sets per muscle per week, adjusted by experience and recovery.
  • Intensity and progression: Track weights, reps, or sets (progressive overload). Regularly increase load or volume to continue adapting.
  • Recovery: Sleep, nutrition, and stress management determine how much volume you can handle. Schedule easier sessions or rest days when needed.

Popular splits and when to use them

  • Full-body (3×/week): Best for beginners, time-crunched lifters, or anyone wanting high frequency with moderate volume per session. Each workout hits all major muscle groups.
  • Upper/Lower (4×/week): Great balance of frequency and volume. Allows heavier sessions and more focused accessory work.
  • Push/Pull/Legs (3–6×/week): Very flexible. Can be arranged as a 3-day rotation or doubled to 6 days for higher volume and specialization.
  • Bodypart (bro-split) (4–6×/week): One or two muscles per session (e.g., chest day, back day). Often used by advanced bodybuilders to target specific muscles with high volume, but usually lowers weekly frequency per muscle unless doubled.
  • Hybrid/Strength-focused: Combine heavy compound-focused strength days with accessory hypertrophy days (e.g., heavy squat/bench/deadlift days plus higher-rep accessory workouts).

Sample weekly templates

  • Beginner (full-body, 3 days)

    • Day A: Squat, Bench Press, Row, Overhead Press, Core
    • Day B: Deadlift, Pull-Up, Lunges, Dips, Core
    • Day C: Front Squat, Incline Press, Single-arm Row, Hamstring Curls, Mobility

  • Intermediate (upper/lower, 4 days)

    • Upper 1: Bench, Row, Incline DB Press, Lat Pulldown, Biceps
    • Lower 1: Squat, Romanian Deadlift, Leg Press, Calves, Core
    • Upper 2: Overhead Press, Pull-Up, Chest Fly, Rear Delt, Triceps
    • Lower 2: Deadlift, Front Squat, Lunges, Hamstrings, Calves

  • Advanced (PPL 6 days)

    • Push: Heavy bench/press + triceps and shoulders
    • Pull: Heavy row/deadlift + biceps and rear delts
    • Legs: Heavy squat/deadlift variations + quads/hamstrings/calves
    • Repeat with lighter/higher-rep variations on the second half of the week

Choosing exercises per muscle group

  • Chest: Bench press (barbell), dumbbell press, incline variations, chest flyes.
  • Back: Deadlift, barbell row, single-arm row, pull-ups, lat pulldowns.
  • Legs: Squat, lunges, leg press, Romanian deadlift, hamstring curls, calf raises.
  • Shoulders: Overhead press, lateral raises, face pulls, rear delt flyes.
  • Arms: Close-grip pressing and dips for triceps; curls (barbell, dumbbell, hammer) for biceps.
  • Core: Planks, anti-rotation holds, hanging leg raises, weighted crunches.

Balance compound lifts (multi-joint) for strength and mass with isolation work for detail and addressing weaknesses.

Volume, intensity, and progression guidelines

  • Beginners: 8–12 total sets per muscle per week can be enough to start making progress.
  • Intermediate/advanced: 12–20+ sets per muscle per week, spread across 2–3 sessions.
  • Reps and load: Use 4–6 reps for strength-focused sets, 6–12 for hypertrophy, and 12–20+ for endurance or metabolic conditioning. Mix rep ranges across the week.
  • Progressive overload: Add small increments in weight, extra reps, or extra sets over weeks. Deload every 4–12 weeks depending on training intensity.

Recovery and injury prevention

  • Warm up dynamically before heavy lifts and include mobility work to maintain joint health.
  • Rotate emphasis to avoid overuse (e.g., alternate heavy and lighter weeks or vary exercise selection).
  • Prioritize sleep and protein intake (rough guideline: 1.6–2.2 g/kg bodyweight for most trainees).
  • If a joint or muscle is persistently sore, reduce volume and address technique or imbalances.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Training by "feel" only: Without tracking load and volume, it’s hard to manage progression.
  • Too much isolation too early: Beginners should emphasize compound movements first.
  • Overtraining individual muscles: Hitting the same muscle every day with high volume can stall progress.
  • Neglecting weaker muscles: If a bodypart lags, increase its frequency and prioritize it early in a session.

How to decide what to prioritize

  1. Identify your main goal (strength, size, aesthetics, endurance).
  2. Pick a realistic training frequency based on weekly availability and recovery.
  3. Allocate weekly volume per muscle according to priority (e.g., 15–20 sets for priority muscles, 8–12 for maintenance).
  4. Choose a split that lets you hit frequencies and volumes consistently.
  5. Track results and adjust every 4–8 weeks.

Conclusion

If you want a clear, practical guide to dividing muscle groups across workouts, check this helpful resource on how to correctly split muscle groups into workouts. It offers templates and principles you can adapt to your schedule and goals.

Jaké svalové partie budete procvičovat? Read More »

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