What Body Part Should You Workout First?
Contents
If you’re new to working out, you might be wondering what body part you should start with. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started.
Introduction
Working out is a great way to stay healthy and fit, but it can be hard to know where to start. Depending on your specific goals and needs, the order in which you do certain exercises can also be important. To avoid injury while giving each muscle group the attention it deserves, many fitness experts recommend that you begin with large muscle groups and work down to smaller ones. Using this guide, you should be able to develop an effective workout routine that gives your body the exercise it needs.
Recognizing which body parts are classified as large or small muscles will help determine which exercises should come first when creating your plan. Generally speaking, a large muscle group includes the chest, back, shoulders and legs while smaller muscles are those mainly used for compound arm and abdominal movements. Starting with larger muscles will provide more support for other body parts during increased exertion sessions such as running or weight training. This order also helps ensure that more difficult exercises are completed when your energy levels are highest and can help provide balance over time when mixing up workouts between different days throughout the week.
To get started on building a fitness routine that’s right for you, consider exploring these five basic categories of exercise: stretching/flexibility for warm-up; cardio for endurance; resistance training for strength; core strengthening ; and balance/stability drills . Each of these will play a role in establishing an effective workout routine that is safe while helping you reach your goals — no matter what they may be!
Benefits of Working Out
Working out is one of the best ways to stay healthy and fit. It can improve your overall health and wellness, boost your energy levels, and help you build muscle and strength. There’s no single answer to what body part you should work out first, but understanding the specific benefits of each type of exercise will help you decide. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of exercising different parts of the body and how they can impact your overall fitness goals.
Improved Physical Health
Working out not only improves physical health, but also offers a variety of mental and emotional benefits. Regular exercise helps to prevent numerous physical illnesses from heart disease to diabetes, strengthens your immune system and helps fight fatigue. Working out has also been linked to improved mood, better sleep, increased energy levels and greater confidence.
Additionally, working out can help improve body control and coordination as well as physical posture. Taking routine breaks throughout the day to perform any exercise – whether it’s walking around the block or taking the stairs instead of the elevator – will result in improved overall physical health. When deciding which body part to work out first, start by addressing major muscle groups such as legs, arms and chest in order to build the foundation for a strong physique. Don’t forget your core! Building up abdominal strength will help stabilize your body during all types of movements.
Improved Mental Health
Regular physical activity can have a profoundly positive impact on your mental health and feelings of wellbeing. When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For example, the feeling that follows a runner’s high is said to be triggered by endorphins.
Exercising regularly may help boost self-esteem and can even reduce symptoms among people suffering from certain types of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. Other potential mental benefits include improved sleep, reduced stress levels, and improved focus and concentration. Working out can also increase cognitive performance during difficult tests or other activities that require deep thinking.
Workout Order
Ordering your workouts can be very important in maximizing the effectiveness of your workouts. Knowing which body part to work out first can make a big difference in the progress you make and in the health of your muscles. However, knowing which body parts to target first can be a bit confusing. This article will give you some insight into the proper workout order.
Upper Body
When you begin an upper body workout the order of how you execute each exercise can significantly impact the result of your completed workout. Generally, when working out your upper body, there are two stages: pushing exercises and pulling exercises. Pushing exercises involve muscles that help move a weight away from your body, such as chest presses or shoulder presses. Pulling exercises involve muscles that help move a weight towards your body, like rows or pull-ups. To maximize gains in strength and muscle mass it is important to perform pushing exercises before pulling exercises so the stronger muscles are recruited first when performing multi-joint pulling activities like rows or pull-ups.
For a typical upper body workout you may schedule exercises like chest press, shoulder press, lateral raises, bent over rows/single arm rows and bicep curls/triceps extensions as listed in the example below.
Sample Upper Body Workout:
-Chest Press
-Shoulder Press
-Lateral Raises
-Bent Over Rows/Single Arm Rows
-Bicep Curls/Triceps Extensions
Chest
When considering the order of your workout routines, there are certain key factors to consider. With chest day, you should begin by warming up. This may include jogging on a treadmill or stationary bike for 5-10 minutes, doing dynamic stretches or working out with lighter weights for higher reps to warm the muscles up. After warming up, this order is generally recommended:
1. Chest – Focus on exercises such as bench press and chest flys to activate your chest muscles first.
2. Back – Exercises such as bent-over rows and pull downs can be used to target your back muscles next.
3. Shoulders – Overhead presses and lateral raises are great exercises for targeting the shoulders after a chest workout.
4. Biceps/Triceps – Move onto bicep curls and tricep extensions once you’re done with the larger muscle groups like shoulders, back, and chest.
5. Core – Finish off your workout with core lifts such as sit-ups or planks to engage your abdominal muscles and strengthen your core as a whole .
6 .Stretch – Finally don’t forget about stretching at the end of your session in order to help reduce soreness during recovery time!
Back
In general, it is important to prioritize the larger muscle groups like your back when putting together a workout plan. Building strength in these big muscles will help you develop a well-rounded physique. Focus on compound movements to target multiple muscles at once and activate the surrounding small muscle groups. Here are some common back exercises that should be included in your workout plan:
-Pull ups & Chin Ups: These exercises target your lats, rhomboids and midback muscles for increased overall back strength and size.
-Bent Over Barbell or Dumbbell Rows: Isolation exercise for the back that allow you to focus on building strength and size in one particular area of the back at a time.
-Deadlifts: A great compound movement for working all of the major muscles of the mid and lower back as well as engaging smaller supporting muscles during every rep.
When structuring your workout plan, make sure to rotate through upper body exercises while focusing on individual muscle groups so you can give each part enough attention over time. Starting with the most complex movement like deadlifts will also ensure that you get an effective overall session in, no matter how much energy reserve you have left by the end!
Shoulders
When planning your workout routine, it is important to consider the order in which you exercise different body parts. For shoulders, the best option is to start with a compound exercise like shoulder presses or push presses. This will target several shoulder muscles at once and involve more muscle recruitment than an isolation exercise. After performing a few sets of compound exercises, then move onto isolated exercises like side lateral raises and front raises.
Compound exercises for shoulders may include:
-Military press/overhead press
-Push press/push jerks
-Front or power cleans/push jerks
Isolation exercises for shoulders may include:
-Side lateral raises
-Front raises
-Rear deltoid flys
-Upright rows
Regardless of your workout routine, always execute each movement with proper form before adding weight. This ensures that you target the muscle intended, reducing your risk for injury and enabling you to get more out of each workout.
Lower Body
When it comes to the optimal order of a workout routine, experts traditionally recommend beginning with the lower body. Exercising your lower body first assists in increasing overall blood flow, resulting in elevated energy and increased performance. Not to mention, exercising large muscle groups before smaller muscles can help conserve energy for more isolated movements.
There are several exercises that can target your lower body. Squats and leg presses focus on the quadriceps (front muscles of the thighs). Romanian deadlifts and hip thrusts target muscles of the hamstring (backside muscles of thigh). And don’t forget about glute bridges and calf raises to round out those stubborn areas around your backside and calves!
Progression is key–regardless of which exercises you choose, make sure to gradually increase intensity and weight over time as you become stronger. This will ensure that you meet your fitness goals more efficiently!
Legs
It’s important to consider workout order when creating your exercise routine in order to make the most efficient use of your time and energy. Different muscle groups require different approaches and exercises, so it’s important to prioritize correctly. Before you begin a workout, you should consider the following:
Legs: Working out the legs is an important part of any fitness routine and should typically be first on your list. Start by prepping for leg day with dynamic stretching exercises like lunge walks and bodyweight squats; these warm up your muscles for more intense exercises like squats, which activate both upper and lower muscle fibers in the legs. Don’t forget about the glutes — hit leg day hard with sets of glute bridges, hip thrusts and single-leg deadlifts.
Glutes
When designing a workout plan, the order in which you do your exercises can have a great impact on your fitness results. In general, it is important to warm up before exercising and to work out major muscle groups first before focusing on smaller muscles. If you are looking to target your glutes specifically, there are several exercises that you can incorporate into your routine.
For example, squats are one of the best compound exercises for targeting the glutes and should be done first when beginning a workout. Start with moderate amounts of weight at first and focus on proper form while building up strength and endurance over time. It is also beneficial to include kickbacks and bridges into your workouts as they are more isolated exercises focused primarily on the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Also adding weight to any exercise involving the glutes will help increase strength in those muscles as well as overall muscle tone.
Remember that incorporating core exercises is key for any comprehensive workout program since strong abs will help stabilize movements from the lower body as well strengthen posture during daily life or other physical activities. In general, it’s important to always stretch after working out in order to ensure that all muscles have adequate time for rest and recovery between workouts.
Core
The core should be a fundamental part of most people’s exercise routine. Working your core can help improve balance, posture, and stability. Starting your workout with core exercises can also help prime the body for additional training.
Generally speaking, it is best to start with the basic core muscles – by performing exercises that activate the transverse abdominis (TVA), rectus abdominis and obliques. Each of these muscles serves a different purpose in stabilizing your body during exercise:
– The TVA helps to create inner abdominal tension and brace the spine for heavy lifting.
– The rectus abdominis is responsible for flexing the torso and spine to bring the ribcage closer to the pelvis.
– The obliques are responsible for twisting the torso from side to side.
When you are ready to begin, focus on completing a series of simple core exercises such as crunches, plank holds, bird dogs (dog pose), leg lifts and/or walking planks in order to get a good foundation of strength before you move on to other body parts or specific exercises. Doing this will get your heart rate up while at the same time engaging your abdominal muscles in order to help prepare them for more advanced exercises later on in your workout program.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to prioritize being consistent with any workout program, regardless of what body part you decide to work out first. Ultimately, the key to reaching your full potential in any fitness activity is to find a balance between exercising different body parts and understanding which areas need extra attention. For example, if you are planning a full-body workout routine and would like to start with cardio exercises, pick an aerobic activity that will raise your heart rate and make your whole body move. By doing so, you can target all of your major muscle groups in one session while still having a break between each exercise. Additionally, bear in mind that even if you repeat the same exercises repeatedly throughout the weeks and months ahead, variety and intensity are essential components of success when it comes to physical fitness!
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