Pairing Muscle Groups for Workouts: 6-Day Targeted Workout Plan (Part 2)

In our first article, we have discussed the main muscle groups and what areas are they in. For this article, we will focus on dynamic workouts that would target specific muscle groups. We will also create a sample 6-day workout plan that you could follow and can help you jumpstart a more targeted exercise plan. Note that some exercises included in this workout plan would require more advanced movements, but feel free to modify it according to your athletic abilities.

Here’s the snapshot of our workout plan, following the order of days:

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Just a few notes before we go on:

Make sure to include rest to your week! We highly suggest that you put it in between days 3 and 4 just so you can give your body a quick break. If you don’t like the intensity of working out six days straight, you can also skip cross training or cardio and just give yourself a rest.

Some of our workouts are done in supersets and are based in weightlifting. In case you’re not familiar, a superset is when you do two exercises back to back with little to no rest in between. When dealing with weights, choose something that you are comfortable with. We suggest that you pick something that you can work with within the repetition of weights and not something that you can just ‘lift’. Focus more on form and feeling your muscles stretch rather than dealing with heavier weights.

DAY 1: LEG + AB WORKOUTS

Goblet Squat

Equipment: Kettlebell or Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 8

Can be performed as a superset with Romanian Deadlift

• Stand with your feet set wider than shoulder-width and hold kettlebell or dumbbell in both hands
• Place the kettlebell or dumbbell, with both hands, in front of your chest
• Sit back into a squat, keep the kettlebell or dumbbell on your chest
• Go back up and repeat

Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift

Equipment: Kettlebell

Set: 3

Rep: 10

• Hold your kettlebell with both hands
• Take a shoulder width stance and let the kettlebell hang down in front of you with an overhand grip (palms facing in)
• Slightly bend your knees as you slowly lower the kettlebell
• Make sure that your back stays straight while doing the movement
• Slowly rise up and repeat

Dumbbell Lunges

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 8

Can be performed as a superset with bulgarian split squat

• Hold your dumbbells at your side, palms facing your body
• Lunge forward as far as you can, bending your other knee until it almost brushes the floor
• Push your body back to the starting position
• Repeat with the opposite leg

Bulgarian Split Squat

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 3

Rep: 8, each side

• Find a bench or a step that’s about knee height
• Rest your leg on the bench, and get into a forward lunge position
• Hold dumbbell on each arm
• Make sure that your upper body is upright and hips square to the body
• Lower your front thigh until it’s almost horizontal and be sure that your knee is in line with your foot
• Get back to your starting position and repeat

Flutter Kicks

Set: 4

Rep: 20

Can be performed as a superset with plank

• Lie on your back and extend your legs
• Squeeze in your glutes and raise your left leg higher than your right and then switch
• Keep your muscles controlled at all times

Plank

Set: 2

Duration: 60 seconds

• Go on a modified push up position with elbows bent
• Hold your body in a straight line for the next 60 seconds

DAY 2: CHEST WORKOUT

Dumbbell Bench Press

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

Can be performed as superset with Dumbbell Flyes

• Lie on a weight bench
• Extend your arms over your chest and hold the dumbbells with an overhand grip above your eyes
• Bend your elbows out to your sides to lower your weights down
• Parallel your upper arms to the top of the bench
• Slowly push upwards to starting position
• Repeat

Dumbbell Flyes

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Lie down on a bench with a dumbbell on each hand, hold it palms facing each other
• Raise your dumbbells up like you’re pressing them but stop and hold before you lock out: this is the starting position.
• Bend your elbows slightly and lower your arms out at both sides until you feel the stretch on your chest
• Slowly go back to starting position
• Repeat

Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 3

Rep: 12-15

• Place a dumbbell on a flat bench
• Lie perpendicular to the bench with your torso across and your shoulders lying on its surface
• Grab the dumbbell with both hands and hold it straight over your chest, elbows bent
• Both palms must be pressing against the underside of the dumbbell: this is the starting position
• Slowly lower the weight behind your head
• Bring the dumbbell back to the starting position
• Repeat

Dumbbell Push Ups to Chest Flyes

*Can be modified by doing it on your knees

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Get into a pushup position with dumbbell in both hands
• Spread your arms and slowly lower your body until you feel your chest muscles stretch
• Slowly go back to push up position and then repeat

Pushup

Set: 4

Rep: 12-15

• Get into pushup position with hands under your shoulders
• Keep your body straight
• Slowly lower your body and make sure your elbows are tucked near your torso
• Raise your body back into pushup position and then repeat

DAY 3: BACK + AB WORKOUT

One-arm Dumbbell Row

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 2 each side

Rep: 8

• Place the right leg on top of a flat bench
• Bend your upper body until it is parallel to the floor
• Hold yourself into place by putting your hand on the other end of the bench
• Pick up the dumbbell on the floor with your other hand and hold the weight while keeping your lower back straight
• Pull the weights straight to the side of your chest, keeping your arm close to your side and your torso stationary
• Slowly bring down the weight to starting position, then repeat

Barbell Deadlift

Equipment: Barbell

Set: 4

Rep: 8

• Place your feet hip-width apart
• Hold the barbell with palms facing away from you
• Make sure your back is flat from start to finish and your shoulders are back and down
• Keep your back and core tight
• Drive through your heels and pull
• Put down the weights and repeat

Wide Grip Pull Up

Set: 4

Rep: 8

• Use a pronated grip (palms away from your body)
• Place your hands wide on the bar, and must be more than shoulder-width
• Squeeze your glutes and tighten your core
• Pull your chin towards the bar until your lats are fully contracted
• Slowly lower yourself back
• Repeat

Russian Twists

Equipment: Weights, Medicine Ball (Optional)

Set: 4

Rep: 12

• Lie down on the mat
• Bend your knees
• Elevate your upper body (v-shape with your thighs)
• Extend your arms in front of you
• You may hold weights or a medicine ball while doing this movement
• Twist your upper body to the side and ensure that your arms and the floor are parallel with each other
• Bring yourself up to your starting position then repeat on the other side

Weighted Sit ups

Equipment: Weights

Set: 4

Rep: 12

• Lie on your back
• Bend your knees into sit-up position; you can use a dumbbell to keep your feet anchored on the floor
• Clutch the weight in front of you as you do your sit up
• Go back to your starting position and repeat

DAY 4: SHOULDERS + ABS

Arnold Dumbbell Press

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Sit on an exercise bench with back support
• Hold a dumbbell on each hand at about upper chest level, with palms facing your body
• Raise the dumbbells as you rotate the palms of your hands until they face forward
• Slowly lift the weights until it is extended above you
• Pause at the top and slowly lower your dumbbells to the starting position
• Repeat

Standing Barbell Military Press

Equipment: Barbell, Straight Bar, or Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Place the barbell about chest high on a squat rack
• Hold the barbell with your palms facing forward
• Make sure that your grip is wider than shoulder width apart
• Bend your knees and slowly lift the barbell to your collarbone
• From your chest, lift the bar up over your head by locking your arms
• Hold the barbell slightly in front of you, at about shoulder level
• Lower the bar down to your collarbone
• Lift the bar up to starting position and repeat

Gym ball Jackknife

Equipment: Gym Ball

Set: 3

Rep: 10

• Get into pushup position and rest your shins on a gym ball
• Brace your core and form a straight line from your shoulders to your feet
• Roll the ball inward by bending your legs and pull it with your feet until your thighs touch your stomach
• Repeat

Bicycle Crunches

Set: 3

Rep: 20

• Lie on your mat
• Place your hands behind your head
• Slowly bring your knees to your chest as you lift your shoulders off the floor
• Straighten your right leg out while turning your upper body to the left, bringing your elbows towards your left knee
• Switch sides and repeat

Hanging Leg Raises

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Bring yourself up in a chin-up bar using both arms in a wide or medium grip
• Make sure that your legs are straight down with your pelvis rolled slightly backward
• Raise your legs to your torso until you make a 90-degree angle
• Go back to your starting position
• Repeat

DAY 5: ARMS

Hammer curl

Equipment: Dumbbell

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Hold a dumbbell on each hand and stand up with your torso upright
• Curl the weight on your left forward until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder level
• Hold for a few seconds and slowly bring down the dumbbell
• Repeat the same movement for the other side

Dips

Set: 4

Rep: 10

• Grab the parallel bars and straighten your arms to bring yourself up
• Slowly lower your body by bending your arms while leaning forward
• Go down until your shoulders are just below your elbows
• Lift your body up to starting position and repeat the movement

Pullups

Set: 3

Rep: 8

• Hang to the pull-up bar with straight arms and legs off the floor
• Pull yourself up by pulling your elbows down; continue until your chin passes the bar
• Lower yourself and go back to starting position
• Repeat

Diamond Push Up

Set: 4

Rep: 15

• Get into a push-up position
• Put your hands together and spread your fingers so that your index finger and thumb creates a ‘diamond’
• Lower your chest towards the floor while keeping your back flat
• Press back up to full arm extension and repeat

Close Grip Bench Press

Equipment: Barbell

Set: 3

Rep: 8

• Lie on a flat bench
• Hold the bar with a close grip and lift it from the rack
• Lock your arms and hold the bar straight above you
• Come down slowly until the bar is on your middle chest
• Pause for a second and then slowly bring the bar up to its starting position
• Repeat

DAY 6: CROSS TRAINING / CARDIO

As a way to let your body recuperate from the heavy lifting, you may cross train or do cardio on day 6. You can go for a run, do yoga, or go for a swim. You may even opt to make your 6th day an additional rest day to let your muscles rest and repair before you go back on hitting the gym.

CONCLUSION

As our 6-day workout plan suggests only a handful of movements, we recommend that you also mix it up with other workouts that would fit the muscle group splits that we’ve included in this article. We also recommend you to play around with the muscle group pairings, but stick to it for a few weeks first before completely changing it up. That way, you will have enough time to observe your body’s reaction and understand if the workouts are effective for you.

Defining and building muscles take time and it helps if you strategically choose how you dedicate your workouts. Creating a plan that targets specific muscle groups does not only make workout sessions more efficient, but it would also help you to streamline exercises that really work for your body.

REFERENCES

Bodybuilding.com. (n.d.). What Is The Best 5-Day Workout Split? Retrieved from https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/what-is-the-best-5-day-workout-split.html

Hyde, CSCS, CISSN. (2018). 10 Best Muscle-Building Back Exercises. Retrieved from https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/10-best-muscle-building-back-exercises.html

Men’s Fitness Editors. (2018). The 30 Best Chest Exercises of All Time. Retrieved from https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/30-best-chest-exercises-all-time/

Mbarroso. (2018). The 30 Best Arm Exercises of All Time. Retrieved from https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/30-best-arms-exercises-all-time/

Person. (2018). The perfect poser’s shoulders and abs circuit. Retrieved from https://www.menshealth.com/uk/workouts/g755629/shoulders-and-abs-combo-workout/

Prone Flye. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/workout-routines/prone-flye