Quick chest and shoulders question

[SBZ]

Hi,

I have started training with an old friend (after my last partner slacked off).
One aspect thats I'm not too sure on is that he insists on training chest and shoulders together on the same day.
He is pretty big and been hitting the gym a long time (also came 3rd in the only national comp he ever entered)......so I have taken his word for it.
Personally, I don't like training them on the same day because by the time I get to the shoulder workouts they are pretty fatigue'd from the heavy chest workout we've just done.

I just want some personal opinions on this.

[resonator]

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Thats a lot of pressing in one workout, assuming you're doing overhead presses too. If you do end up doing it, you can just focus more on the medial and posterior heads of the shoulder since the anterior takes a beating with bench.

[soccer#3]

i know a couple of ppl that do it, i used to do it way before too then i put chest n tric together, now i just do chest by itself..

[juice_305]

a couple of people have told me this because when yor working out your chest you hit your front delts.
but me i will never workout to major parts together i would be in the gym way to long. and i feel my muscles respond better doing them alone.

[Haro3]

i put them together, and i've noticed huge improvements since i have. I have two different chest/shoulder days. they are 6 days apart and the first one is chest/shoulders where i do all chest movements but halfway through the workout i add in side raises and rear raises and burn out at the end with machine shoulder presses. the second day is shoulders/chest wehre i start with shoulder presses and do mostly shoulders but also include dips flys and end with incline or flat bench. you gotta keep in mind your front delts are hit pretty hard when doing flat bench and even incline which is why i dont do front raises anymore. but i see no reason u cant put them together...

[Warrior]

Depends - its best to keep switchin' sh!t up and see what leads to a progressive routine for what your goals are. If this type of split helps beef up your shoulders at the expense of added chest size - that might be what you are going after...

Also, I think too many people in the gym today are way to caught up on working only one or two muscle groups per day at an early phase of their training. Probably something they are reading in FLEX magazine or something. You want to work less muscles in one session when the loads you are using become very stressful to the body in general... but until then, you should work several muscle groups together - even whole body workouts can have their place.

Just keep a good training log and see what helps you build yourself up working progressively to increase your limit strength via increased reps, loads or sets... or finishing the same routine in less time. Diet and rest will also influence your results...

[FullMoonHowlingWolf]

I wouldn't do shoulders with chest. You have to do what's best for you and not best for your new training partner. IMO it's best to work chest alone or with triceps or biceps. Personally I do chest and bi's. Shoulders and triceps are trained later in the week with significant rest between chest day.

[SBZ]

Thanks for the feedback.

I've always trained chest alone or with bi's.
And shoulders with legs.

Now its chest and shoulders and we train bi's and tri's on a different day.
Either way, thanks for the comments.
I'll see how it goes and if its not working change back to my old training routine.

[Timm1704]

me personally wouldnt utilise this approach right now. ive never done this in the past either, and my chest and shoulders are my best muscle groups. saying this, i do see a strong logic behind training chest and shoulders together, and, i could get that workout done in 60 mins tops guaranteed, likely less. but, as my shoulders and chest are strong points, then i believe training them on seperate days is what works for me. i would consider it down the line though, if i had a schedule change that made me have to revise my routine or something. give it a try and see how you get on

[SBZ]

I have a similar thought to you Timm.

My shoulders are probably one of my best attributes, and it just bothers me a little to not be able to push them as much in a more specific way like I would when just training them on their own.
On the flip side I need to develop my chest more, as its lagging a little behind in the development department.
Maybe this change may help......I'll keep you guys posted.

[taiboxa]

i love hitting shoulders w/ chest.. since u involve mad shoulders w/ any press movement you might as well completely finish it out.. why would u have sex but stop right before you get off?.. beats me ;D

the best way to keep growth on your side is to find something u like i.e. chest and tri or chest and shoulder or (my fav) chest/shoulder/tri and just change the order you train them in every so often.. if u train chest first.. then someday switch it up hit tri's first w/ a heavier work load, pre'exhaust so when u do chest its a battle! or do shoulders first then chest then tri's or chest shoulders tri.. always keeping ur muscle fibers on EDGE redy to grow.