For those of us who workout and exercise on a regular basis, it is important to train specific muscles and muscle groups effectively. Did you know that there are approximately 660 different muscles in the body ? Each muscle has it's own specific function and each muscle needs to be trained in targeted way. If your goal is to be a professional body-builder or if you just want to tone up a problem area, you should get to know your muscles !

Arms

The two main muscles in the arms are the biceps and triceps, these are typically the muscles which people tend to concentrate on the most when working out. The triceps account for 60% of the upper arm, whereas the biceps take up the remaining 40%, and for this reason the triceps should be trained as hard as the biceps. Training these two muscles together is necessary to strengthen all the fibrous tissue and partner muscles in the arms.

Shoulders

Over training the arms can lead to shoulder injuries as the deltoid and trapezius muscles of the shoulders need to be strong in order to gain the correct balance. Incorporating exercises which target the shoulders and chest with your arm workout will help.

Chest

The pectorialis minor and pectorialis major muscles of the chest should be trained in concert with your arms, shoulders, chest and back to prevent the muscles from developing at different speeds. This will also prevent injuries.

Back

The back is a very sensitive and injury prone area and if trained too excess or in the wrong way, can easily be compromised. Do exercises that strengthen the latissimus dorsi and erector spinae. Concentrate on making your movements slow and controlled, stretching your back muscles is particularly important before and after exercising.

Abdominals

The abdominals are made up of external obliques, the rectus abdominus and the transverse abdominus. You need to train all these muscles together along with the lower back muscles to get the strongest abdominals.

Legs

There are a lot of muscles in the legs but the muscles most commonly trained are the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles. You should aim to train all leg muscles equally to prevent muscles imbalances and injuries. When training your legs you should start off with light weights and gradually increase the resistance.

Glutes

The glutes consist of the gluteus medius, the gluteus maximus and the hip flexor muscles. In order to achieve optimum leg strength, your glutes, the hamstrings and calfs should be exercised together. As a rule the bigger the muscle, the smaller the motion should be when working out, keep this is mind when you are training the glutes.

Now you know your muscles a bit better you will be equipped to use the correct and targeted exercises for your muscles, avoid imbalances and prevent injuries.