Getting started with exercise at home, part III

Before you get started on an at-home (or any) exercise program, you'll need to know the "gym names" of the major muscle groups you'll be working. I realize most already know this, but I want to make sure this base is covered before I proceed any further.

I'm going listing these in the general order that one should work them, which is from big muscles to small per body area. Why? Because generally speaking, in order to fully work a big muscle group you must enlist the assistance of the smaller muscle groups. Therefore, if you work the smaller ones first they're likely to poop out from exhaustion before you can get max benefit out of working the bigger muscle groups. Make sense?

Oh, and by the way, if you are working your whole body in one day it doesn't matter if you do lower body first or upper, but I usually save core for last, because it seems to assist in almost EVERYthing.

So here we go-

Lower body:

Quads- These are the quadriceps, a set of four muscles that compose the front of the thigh.

Hamstrings- A set of mainly three muscles that compose the back of the thigh.

Calves- Er.... you DO know what the calves are.... right?

Glutes- These mainly are the three muscles (Gluteus Maximus, Medius, and Minimus) that make up the butt. I almost didn't mention glutes, because many people don't target the butt specifically- It generally gets hit when you work the hamstrings.

Upper Body:

Pecs- This refers to all the muscles of the chest.

Back- This refers to all the muscles of the back, although I'm gonna break it down a bit further, because there are three main areas of the back that people often talk about targeting. They are:
Lats- Short for Latissimus Dorsi, these are the big muscles that flare out to the sides of the upper back in muscular people.
Traps- Short for Trapezius, this is a big, kite shaped muscle that goes from the bottom of the head and flares out to the shoulder blades, then down towards the small of the back. This is the muscle that you can often see bulging between the shoulders and the neck on muscular people.
Lower Back- Many skip working this important area, but make sure that you don't, because a strong low-back makes for a tighter waistline.

Delts- Short for Deltoids, this refers to all of the muscles that make up the shoulders.

Tri's- Short for Triceps- These are the muscles that make up the back of the upper arm.

Bi's- Short for biceps, these are the muscles that make up the front of the upper arm.

Yes, I put triceps before biceps. Why? Tri's are quite a lot larger than Bi's. It's just that they don't stand up off of the arm as much, so people don't realize this.

And then the Abs (the tummy), which I always break down into three different groups, although a lot of people just lump them together:

Upper abs- generally between the belly button and the rib cage.

Lower abs- generally between the pubic bone and the belly button.

Obliques- the sides of the waistline.

Let me clarify something- the muscles that make up the upper and lower abs are the same. They run all the way down from the rib cage to the pubic bone. BUT, it is possible to target one area of a muscle, and I've found it beneficial to work the lower abs often as a separate group.

This is not an exhaustive list of muscles, it's just the main ones that you hear people referring to when discussing exercise.

Anyone reading this? Questions?