Muscles Neglected

There are quite a few areas of the body where people neglect the muscles when weight training, the interesting thing about this is that these are muscles that can really support other muscles in growth and strength.

I regularly see that people seem to neglect their legs, forearms, wrists, grip, core muscles and lower back. Looking at this list there are quite a few muscles that are forgotten about, some of which don’t require much attention for improvement.

Legs

Ah the legs, that one group of muscles neglected by most; it seems that while people have the intention of working on their leg muscles when it comes to it they are very often forgotten about. The legs are important as they carry your weight and help you move from A to B, not rocket science…the reason why they get neglected is that they don’t really fit most peoples idea of vanity (chest, biceps and the like).

Forearms, Wrists and Grip

From the forearms down people don’t realise or don’t think to train these smaller muscles but they are very important for one reason more than any other. By working on these muscles you will improve the strength for holding onto a free weight bar, especially when it comes to deadlifts and similar exercises that require lifting extremely heavy weight.

Have you ever tried lifting a free weight bar on exercises like the deadlift or shrugs only to find you cannot complete so many reps because you start losing the strength of your grip?

Core Muscles

The core muscles are those of the trunk of the body, to many this is the abdominals only but there are a number of other muscles that are just as important yet never get trained such as the Obliques.

The trunk of the body, or should I say the core muscles, are extremely important and support your body in everything you do. With nearly every weight lifting exercise requiring you to engage your core muscles it is important to train them.

Lower Back

The lower back, also known as the Spinae erector is the muscles located at the bottom of the back above the gluteus maximus (bum to you and me). This muscle is important for big lifts such as the deadlift as well as supporting the weight of the body and your spine.

Many people work the muscles of the upper back but neglect this muscle.