Certified trainer Dominic French explains:When it comes to working out certain muscles groups it depends on your goals, and how many days a week you want to lift. For example, the novice I recommend an exercise for each body part (overall routine) 3 days out of the week, with one day of rest in between.

Fitness Magazines throw out tons of combinations, but the ultimate goal for anyone is to get the most out of that body part, and to schedule the best recovery. The trick to reading all those articles on programs is figuring out which works best for you.The combinations like back & biceps, shoulders & triceps, chest & legs will work just fine if you space them out properly. Now, if you are going for the more advanced routine, 1-2 body parts per day means that you also do a few different exercises per one body part. Bodybuilders use these types of routines because their goal is to penetrate a particular muscle group until they can’t stand anymore, hence the reason for such a long recovery period.

Some people like to train muscle groups completely separate from one another, some like to train those more closely complementing each other. How you plan your routine really is dependent upon your fitness level. For example, the chest & triceps routine work well together because bench press or push-ups involve the triceps as well as the pectoralis muscles. The same idea goes for the involvement of the biceps with the back exercises, i.e. row machine. Keep the fundamentals in mind before getting too fancy. It’s all about what works best for your goals and your safety.1. Plan
2. Exercise
3. Rest & Recovery