Chapter 3: The Anatomy Of The Body

The Anatomy Of The Body

By taking the time to learn the anatomy of the body, you can better understand how each exercise is going to be working the various muscle tissues and make sure that you develop a fully balanced training program.

It’s important to remember that certain exercises are going to work more than one muscle group at once and these are in fact the ones that you want to focus on as they’ll allow you to get in and out of the gym as fast as you possibly can.

So this, let’s list out each of the major muscles in the body, describe the movement pattern they do, and list some exercises that will effectively target them. I have dedicated a full section on exercises called Exercise Directory. 

The Chest (Pectorals)

The first muscles to discuss are the pectoral muscles.  These are the muscles forming the chest and are going to be responsible for all pushing movements. If you push open a door, this is going to involve primarily chest muscle action.

The chest can be divided up into the pectoralis major, which forms the bulk of the muscle, and then the pectoralis minor, which forms the smaller portion of the muscle.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (Compound) Bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, push-ups

·         (Isolated) Chest Fly’s – incline/flat/decline

The Shoulders

Next we have the shoulder muscles.  These can be divided into three different ‘heads’, the lateral head, the front head, and the rear head (also sometimes referred to as ‘deltoids’). 

The shoulders are going to be primarily responsible for pressing any object over your head or for lifting an object straight out to the side of the body or directly to the front.

The exercises that target the chest muscles, for the most part, will also stimulate the shoulder muscles as well as they act synergistically to help perform the movement.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, push-ups

·         (strictly shoulder movements) Shoulder press, lateral raise, front raise, reverse raise

The Upper Back (Trapezius)

Moving on to the back we have the upper back muscles.  These are the muscles that will run from the neck down towards the middle of the back and under the shoulder blades.

These muscles are going to be responsible for picking up an object while in the bent over position (with the rear deltoids also assisting with that movement) and are also going to be responsible for helping you maintain proper posture as well.

Balancing out your upper back muscles with your chest muscles is important to ensure that you don’t develop a rounded back appearance.

Exercises To Perform:

·         Bent over rows, horizontal rows, one arm row

The Lower Back (Latissimus/Spinal Column Muscles)

The second portion that’s going to make up the back muscles is the lower back, which includes the Latissimus as well as the spinal column muscles.  The latissimus, also referred to as the ‘lats’ for short, does start up near the under arm region and expands downwards along the side of the body connecting at the hips.

This muscle is going to responsible for any adduction movements (bringing an object downwards from above) as well as for keeping the shoulder girdle in place. It’ll also play a role in internal rotation of the arm.

The spinal column muscles are the ones that run along the spinal cord right near the center.  These you won’t work all that much specifically as they’ll come into play on almost any exercise you perform in an upright position as they are required to contract to help maintain proper balance.

Exercises To Perform:

·         Pull-ups, lat pull-downs, pull-overs, supermans

The Biceps

The biceps are one of the most well-known muscle groups for most people and are often the one that many men love to work as they tend to be one of the indicators of strength and size.  The bicep flex has been a mark of comparison amongst men for quite some time, so this does tend to be a highly coveted muscle group.

The bicep muscles are going to lie on the top of the arm, running from the shoulder joint to the elbow joint and form that peak type of look mid-arm.

They are going to be responsible for bringing the arm upwards towards the shoulders (as when you lift a glass up to your mouth), and are also going to come into play on many back oriented exercises as well as a synergistic muscle group (helper muscle).

Therefore, many of the exercises that you perform for your back will also target the biceps as well, so you can kill two birds in one stone by doing these exercises.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Bent over rows, pull-ups, single arm rows, lat pull-downs

·         (isolated) Barbell curls, dumbbell curls, incline curls, decline curls, hammer curls

The Triceps

Opposing that of the biceps we have the triceps. This muscle group is going to be position on the back of the arm running from the shoulder to the elbow joint.

It can be divided up into three different ‘heads’ and will form a horseshoe shape when it’s fully defined and flexed.  The tricep muscle is going to be responsible for pushing movements, upwards pulling movements from behind, as well as for any type of arm extension movement.

It’s also interesting to note that of the biceps and the triceps, the triceps takes up far more overall space in the arm region, so if you want to get bigger arms, you actually should spend more time working on tricep exercises than bicep exercises.  This is not the route most people take, however.

Furthermore, also note that the triceps will be called into play in all the chest exercises you’re doing as well (as you’re extending the arm), as well as when doing the shoulder press.

Just as with the biceps, this allows you to work multiple muscle groups at once, so these exercises especially prove to be very effective.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Chest press, incline chest press, decline chest press, push-ups, shoulder press

·         (isolated) Tricep extension, overhead tricep extension, rope press-down, chair dips

The Quads

Now it’s time to move over to the lower body region.  Forming the bulk of the leg is the quad.  This is the muscle that runs on the front of the leg from the hips down to the need and creates that outward ‘swoop’ near the knee joint.

This muscle is going to be responsible for any type of action where you squat downwards such as sitting on a chair. Additionally, it’s also going to be called into play whenever you go up a step as it’ll be what pulls the body upwards to that step.

The exercises to perform to target this muscle are also typically going to work almost all the other lower body muscles as well, as lower body exercises do tend to be very compound in nature.  That said, you can still isolate the quads if you wish with a leg extension movement.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Squats, lunges, split squats, step-ups, leg press, sumo squats

·         (isolation) Leg extension

The Hamstrings

Opposing the quads on the body you have the hamstrings.  The hamstring muscles are going to be responsible for sitting as well as climbing up stairs, and will typically always work in conjunction with the quads.

It’s very hard, in everyday life, to only work the quads or the hamstrings singularly, as typically they are always going to act together.

Only in isolation exercises can you specifically target just this single muscle.

The hamstrings are going to run from the back of the hips (below the bum) down to the back of the knee.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Squats, lunges, step-ups, split squats, deadlifts, leg press, sumo squats

·         (isolated) Hamstring curls

The Glutes

The glutes are a highly coveted muscle group for many people, especially woman as they are the hot new muscle group that is garnering so much attention. Having a curvy, yet firm backside is what most women desire and the glutes are the primary muscles to target to achieve this.

The glutes are going to be responsible for any type of squatting or stepping up movement pattern and are also going to be responsible for bending you over at the waist (and more significantly, causing you rise upwards at the waist), along with lifting your leg in the backwards direction.

You can divide the glutes up into the gluteus medius and the gluteus maximus, both which work synergistically with each other to execute the above movements.

Again, almost any exercise that you do to target the quads and hamstrings will be working the glutes as well, so you can target all these muscles very effectively in just a few key movements.

Exercises To Perform:

·         (compound) Squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, split squats, leg press, sumo squat

·         (isolated) glute hip raises, leg raises to the back

The Calves

Finally, the last muscle group in the lower body to know is the calves. The calves are often overlooked in many people’s workouts simply because they are such a small muscle group and tend to be more of an afterthought than anything.

Fortunately you will work the calves in almost any walking or running activity you do, as well as whenever you walk up a flight of stairs, so they will get some stimulation on a day to day basis.

This muscle also typically doesn’t grow very large and is incredibly strong to start with, so there isn’t a lot of additional training you need to do for it.

That said, it is still definitely beneficial to be performing a few exercises for the calves on a regular basis, so not something to just skip over throughout your workout session.

The calves are also going to be responsible for rising you up onto your toes, so along with walking, running, and stair climbing, you’ll call them into play for that activity as well.

The calves will work as synergists in almost any of the other lower body exercises you do where you’re in the standing position, but to add to that, you should also perform one or two isolation exercises as well.

Exercises To Perform:

·     Standing calf raises, seated calf raises

The Abdominals

We cannot forget to include the abdominals in the anatomy of the body. Most people are already very well aquainted with this muscle group as it’s one that is also very highly coveted.  The abdominal muscles serve to stabilize the body, keeping you in proper balance at all times and are also going to be important for performing any bending over activities that you may do.

When you have low enough body fat levels, they’ll form the ‘six pack abs’ look that so many people desire, as there are six (if you’re really lean, 8) sections to the abdominal muscle.

Note that these are not all individual ab muscles however – the ab muscle is a long sheet of muscle called the rectus abdominus and then there is a fibrous band called the tendinous intersections that run through the abdominal muscles, forming the different divisions.

When it comes to working your abs, if the truth is told you really don’t need to be doing any abdominal crunches at all as they will work very hard to maintain balance in any of the standing exercises you’re doing such as squats, lunges, shoulder press, and so on.

If you are going to do direct abdominal work however, you’re best off doing movements that have some degree of instability to them, or that move you through a wide range of motion.

The traditional crunch exercise is really not all that effective for targeting the abs, yet it’s the one that so many people rely on to try and form their six pack.

Avoid this as it’s just a time waster.

Exercises To Perform:

·         Prone ball roll-ins, exercise ball crunches, lying leg raises, decline sit-ups, plank exercise

The Oblique’s

Finally, the last exercise to discuss the obliques. These are the muscles that are going to run along the side of the body, around the waist and are responsible for moving you throughout any type of twisting movement pattern.

Working these and maintaining lower body fat levels can help to avoid the development of ‘love handles’ as they’re often called, which is definitely an unsightly tissue that many people avoid gaining on their body.

The obliques will be best targeted by performing movements that have you doing that twisting motion, since that is their primary role in the body.

Exercises To Perform:

·         Bicycle, decline twisting sit up, prone ball roll-in to the side, side plank

So there you have your brief overview of all the different muscle groups in the body and the exercises that target them.

As you can see, there is a very high degree of overlap between the exercises so you can choose five or six and get a full body workout in during your session.

It’s important that you do try and make use of a number of different exercises across time as this will ensure that your body keeps responding to the workouts you’re doing, as well as that you don’t suffer from workout boredom.

Workout boredom is a very significant thing that many people do struggle with, so it’s a must that you are taking steps to avoid this.

Now that we’ve finished our discussion on the muscle groups, let’s move forward and talk about the requirements of a good strength training program.