Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Major and Minor Muscle Groups

   If you are into fitness as I am you have undoubtedly come across some discussion pertaining to major and minor muscle groups and how many of each to exercise each day and how to effectively exercise these muscles. It can get fairly confusing because there are major muscles and major muscle groups. The two are not the same. And yes it is important to exercise each accordingly but it should not be an obsession. So I want to focus today's blog on clarifying the topic.
   The body has five (5) major muscle groups. Chest, Back, (Arms & Shoulders), Abs, (Legs & Buttocks). Some people have a different classification system including more or less but this is a fairly standard list of the major muscle groups of the body. That said, the minor muscle groups are fairly easy to classify. For example legs and buttocks are major muscle groups but you have the underused section of your legs- inner thighs and hips that are underused. These are called abductors.
 Your arms are a major muscle group but you have your forearms, biceps, and triceps can and should be isolated. The goal therefore is to work your major muscles without neglecting your minor muscles and vice- versa, work your minor muscle groups while not neglecting your major muscle groups. Keep in mind they are your minor muscle groups that usually cause injury because of their underuse.
   The best way to exercise your major muscles is through compound movements, basically, these are movements that exercise more than one muscle or muscle group at a time. Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans are examples. And of course minor muscle groups are best exercised using muscle isolation techniques. I hope this helps. Next I will put together a training schedule to assist you in exercising both major and minor groups. As always, if you have questions, inbox me or leave your questions and or comments on my blog. Thanks you for your participation. We now have over 500 viewers of by blog and I am excited as new viewership continues. Talk to you soon!

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