Muscle Groups

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When it comes to weightlifting, the muscles in your body fall into 1 of the 6 sections of muscles. The chest, back, bicep, tricep, legs, and abs or core muscles. These 6 sections of muscles show the focus of weightlifting, which muscles are the most important, and the purpose of them.

Chest

The Pectoralis muscle more commonly known as the chest muscle contains 3 muscles, the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and Serratus anterior. The Image below depicts the location of the muscles, highlighting the size those particular muscles cover.

This image shows the different categories of the chest muscle.

Exercises to target the Upper Chest include:

  • Incline barbell bench press
  • Incline dumbbell bench press
  • Low to high cable flies

Exercises to target the middle Chest include:

  • Barbell bench press
  • Dumbbell bench press
  • Mid-level cable flies

Exercises to target the lower chest include:

  • Body weight dips
  • decline barbell bench press
  • High to low cable flies

Back

The back is broken down into 5 basic muscles. The latissimus dorsi, more commonly called the lat, the trapezius, more commonly known as the trap, covers the middle and upper back. Then there are the levator scapulae, rhomboid minor and major. These 3 muscles exist underneath the trapezius and are very small.

The image depicts the basic anatomy of the back muscles.

Exercises to target the back muscles:

  • Bent over barbell rows
  • Cable pullovers
  • Lat pulldowns
  • Machine rows
  • T-bar rows

Arms

The arms contain a wide variety of muscles, but the arms are broken down into 2 basic muscles. The biceps, which lies on the front of the upper arm. The triceps, which lies on the back of the arm.

Biceps

The technical name for the Bicep is the bicep brachii. The bicep consists of 2 different muscles or more commonly called heads. There is the long head and short head. The growth of the short head makes the bicep grow wider, while the long head focuses on the height. The bicep is located on the inside of the arm.

Exercises to target the bicep include:

  • Dumbbell curls
  • EZ bar curls
  • Barbell curls
  • Cable curls
  • Dumbbell hammer curls
  • Cross body hammer curls

Triceps

The technical name for the triceps is the Triceps Brachii. The triceps is divided into 3 portions or heads, the medial, lateral, and long head. The long head being the biggest and medial the smallest. The tricep is located on the outside of the arm and the muscle contains 75% of the muscles in the arm. So, if your goal is to have larger arms, look to grow your triceps.

Exercises to target the triceps include:

  • Skull crushers
  • Reverse grip tricep pushdowns
  • Bodyweight dips
  • Close grip bench press
  • Tricep pushdowns
  • Dumbbell triceps kickbacks

Shoulders

The shoulder is basically broken down into 3 muscles. The Deltoids, commonly called the delts. There is the front delt, side delt, and rear delt. The side delt is the largest covering most of the side of the shoulder. The rear dealt is the smallest delt muscle being on the back of the shoulder. The front delt is on the front side of the shoulder just above the pectoralis major.

The image shows where the different muscles are located in the shoulder. Rear deltoid is blue, side deltoid is green, and front deltoid is red.

Exercises to target the shoulder:

  • Dumbbell or barbell shoulder press
  • Lateral raises
  • Front raises
  • Rear delt flies, dumbbell or machine
  • Machine shoulder press

Legs

The leg consists of numerous muscles, but the major muscles are the quadricep, hamstring, groin, butt, and calves. The quadricep or most commonly called the quad covers the entire front of the leg. The hamstring covers almost the entire backside of the leg. The groin sits on the inside of the leg in between the quad and hamstring. The gluteus maximus is the technical term for the butt. The calf muscles is at the bottom of the leg, just above the ankle.

Shows the basic muscles and locations present in the quadricep and hamstring.

Exercises to target the legs:

  • Barbell squat
  • Barbell or dumbbell RDL (Romanian deadlift)
  • Bulgarian split squats
  • Machine leg curls
  • Machine leg extensions
  • Hip abductors and adductors
  • Weighted calf raises

Abdominal

The abdominal muscles, commonly referred to as the abs are a series of muscles located in the abdomen commonly called the core muscles. The core is consisting of 3 basic muscles, the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques. The rectus abdominis is the largest of the core muscles, it also consists of what is considered the 6 pack. Exercising your abs creates stability and safety in your lifts, preventing injury.

Exercises to target the core muscles include:

  • Sit-ups
  • Russian twists
  • Planks
  • Leg lifts
  • Crunches
  • Mountain climbers

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