Working opposite muscle groups! Good or Bad?

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 10:33 AM

I used to only do workouts like this:
Back and Bi's
Chest and Tri's
Shoulders, Legs and Abs

I done it like this as was informed it's no good to work opposite muscles in the same workout as you're working them against each other. For example, chest and back or bi's and tri's.

I was then told by a good friend who gains well and has been doing it for about 10 years that its rubbish and you can do as much of everything you want. But he's also said my first injectable course would be good on deca and sust which seems like a big no from everyone here.

I've been doing more than just 2 areas for a good few months now and seems all good as I can do much more in a day and to me I find it much better.

So what does everyone else think? The back and bi, chest and tri way? Or do as much as you can way? Also is there any negatives from doing opposite muscles like bi and tri in the same workout?

**bigsiv** · 01-19-2013, 10:35 AM

Please put this in the appropriate section. Go to fitness and nutrition then lifting techniques. Thank you

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 10:37 AM

Ok thanks

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 10:45 AM

I don't wanna ask but what do I go on to delete thread? Lol

**bigsiv** · 01-19-2013, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by SO19 Soldier

I don't wanna ask but what do I go on to delete thread? Lol

Don't worry about it just start a new thread in the relevant section

**warmouth** · 01-19-2013, 11:02 AM

Real quick while it is still here. The reason for working out like you are is that you are giving your muscles better recovery time. When you work the back and bis, you use both muscles alot with each. If you work back, you usually put alot of strain on bis. Same with chest and tris. When you do something like back and chest, then when you do bis and tris, your bis are getting over worked because you have used them earlier in the week. I have found the way you are doing it to be optimal for me, and no more than one workout a week per muscle group. I will do this for say 6-8 weeks, and instead of changing my routine, I will break fro workout out (lifting) for a week or 2 and during that time I will focus on diet, with alot of the non essential groups like calves, abs, forearms, etc. Then Ill go right back to what I was doing. So far, so good.

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 11:22 AM

Thanks, yh that makes sense with the extra recovery time to keep it organised like that.

**t-dogg** · 01-19-2013, 11:24 AM

Personally I feel this topic comes down to how many days you are training? Meaning if you have 6days to train you can break down muscles more and single them out. If you have only 2days in the gym you would be breaking breaking it down like upper and lower.

The next point of view comes from sport training which imo is even harder I feel.

**bigsiv** · 01-19-2013, 12:14 PM

So from our conversation from the other thread have a read of this:

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...cles-Look-here

**Iron82** · 01-19-2013, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by t-dogg

Personally I feel this topic comes down to how many days you are training? Meaning if you have 6days to train you can break down muscles more and single them out. If you have only 2days in the gym you would be breaking breaking it down like upper and lower.

The next point of view comes from sport training which imo is even harder I feel.

I agree. If you are going to spilt back and biceps make sure your bicep workout is 2 or 3 days after your back workout as you cannot train back with sore biceps but can train biceps with a sore, or at least under recovered, back. After years of experimenting I decided this is best for me:

Chest
back
rest
Biceps/triceps
rest
shoulders
legs

**calstate23** · 01-19-2013, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by SO19 Soldier

I used to only do workouts like this:
Back and Bi's
Chest and Tri's
Shoulders, Legs and Abs

I done it like this as was informed it's no good to work opposite muscles in the same workout as you're working them against each other. For example, chest and back or bi's and tri's.

I was then told by a good friend who gains well and has been doing it for about 10 years that its rubbish and you can do as much of everything you want. But he's also said my first injectable course would be good on deca and sust which seems like a big no from everyone here.

I've been doing more than just 2 areas for a good few months now and seems all good as I can do much more in a day and to me I find it much better.

So what does everyone else think? The back and bi, chest and tri way? Or do as much as you can way? Also is there any negatives from doing opposite muscles like bi and tri in the same workout?

It doesn't matter how you do it, it is up to you....I use to always do back/chest and bi/tri workouts and had great results....

The only thing that matters is lifting correctly and giving your body time to rest.....

And MOST of all, it's about feeling the muscle when you workout....If you can't feel your muscle working during the exercise then use different machine/workout....

Everyone is different so it is just up to you...

**Metalject** · 01-19-2013, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Iron82

I agree. If you are going to spilt back and biceps make sure your bicep workout is 2 or 3 days after your back workout as you cannot train back with sore biceps but can train biceps with a sore, or at least under recovered, back. After years of experimenting I decided this is best for me:

Chest
back
rest
Biceps/triceps
rest
shoulders
legs

That's pretty much what I've done for years. Not in that order but same kind of split. I prefer arms on their own day. back during bodybuilding days I also split leg day into two days, one for quads and one for hams....seemed to work well.

One thing that helps a lot of guys is getting away from the idea that you have to train and fit everything in a seven day split and once a new weeks begins you have to start over. Some of the best bodybuilders I've ever known trained using 8-9 days splits....meaning, if they trained back on day 1 they wouldn't train it again until day 8 or 9 or even possibly 10. There's a million ways to do things, just find what your body responds best too. I wish when I was in my twenties I understood this kind of thing. I wish I understood that high volume is not for everyone.

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 05:30 PM

Loads of good info their, gives me a very good knowledge base to read up on a few specific SERM's and AI's to go with which Test and possibly an oral. I'll see what goes together well and what will suit me best. Shows me I got a lot to learn yet, it's not about grabbing the 1st cycle you see or that comes your way and just injecting it for a little bit of enhancement and a lot of hassle lol why bother. it's about doing what's best all round and careful planning for the best enhancement results and least hassle possible. If your gonna do something then do it right, right.

Thanks for the help and advice, along with guiding me round the forum as I've never used one before and it's shown me how it works.

**SO19 Soldier** · 01-19-2013, 05:38 PM

Seems everyone has their own ways so I'll stick to what feels good to me and try new things every now and again to see if can improve anything.

Yh I do see muscle rest as important and don't ever work aching muscles that feel dead or soar.

I don't make a 7 day plan or anything anymore, I just do what areas feel they need doing, when it feels g2g

Mainly wanted to make sure it was ok to do with being detrimental to growth, so thanks to everyone who's confirmed it's fine for me.

**AnabolicDoc** · 01-19-2013, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by Metalject

That's pretty much what I've done for years. Not in that order but same kind of split. I prefer arms on their own day. back during bodybuilding days I also split leg day into two days, one for quads and one for hams....seemed to work well.

One thing that helps a lot of guys is getting away from the idea that you have to train and fit everything in a seven day split and once a new weeks begins you have to start over. Some of the best bodybuilders I've ever known trained using 8-9 days splits....meaning, if they trained back on day 1 they wouldn't train it again until day 8 or 9 or even possibly 10. There's a million ways to do things, just find what your body responds best too. I wish when I was in my twenties I understood this kind of thing. I wish I understood that high volume is not for everyone.

It's always been my understanding that the bigger you are (and the bigger the muscle group is) the more rest one needs. That being the reason why the pros have a longer workout cycle as you said.

When I was 15 and just started working out I used to train every muscle group twice per week and I had great results. As I got bigger I found that I needed more time for each muscle group to recover after each workout. Now (17 years later) I only workout each muscle group once per week except biceps bc they're relatively the smallest group and recover quickest.

That being said I think different regimens work better for different ppl. It's all about finding out what works best for your body. For instance, I read something in Muscle & Fitness years ago where this guy was taking about the benefits of working one side of your body at a time. So you'd have a four day split (upper body right side, upper body left, lower body right, and lower left). He cited some studies claiming that working out one side still promotes muscle growth on the opposite side. I tried this out for a few weeks and couldn't get the hang of it. But it seemed to work for the guy who wrote the article.

It was definitely a nice way to change things up. I think it's important to surprise your body every few months or so with changes to your workout routine.