How to Bring Up Lagging Muscle Groups | 5 Easy Steps

Do you want to bring up a lagging muscle group? Here are 5 tips to accomplish it:

1. Prioritize.
Make sure you're training the muscle(s) at the beginning of the week and at the beginning of the training session. By prioritizing, you're training the muscle when you're most fresh and able to give more physically and mentally to each set.

2. Use Effective Exercises.
Is your exercise selection effectively targeting the muscles you want to build? Make sure you have a good variety of mostly compound movements with some isolation movements afterwards. And go back and take a look at the exercises you dislike - chances are that these are the ones you should be doing. It can also be helpful to do a test day of exercise variations, ranking each one from 1-10 on a scale of effectiveness.

3. Frequency.
Muscles respond well to a frequency of 2-3 times per week. This means that you could be under- or over-training, depending on how often you're working each muscle group. If you train one muscle group per day, once per week, you may be leaving gains on the table, as you'd be ready to train again days before your next session. If you're doing too much, there's no time away from the gym to allow for the repair and rebuilding process that leads to gains.

4. Volume.
Recent studies have shown that the ideal set range for muscle growth is between 10-20 sets per week. Of course, this can change depending on how well trained you are and with how much intensity you train with. When beginning a block, try to start with the least amount of volume that's needed to illicit changes in the muscle. This way you can add volume as you get stronger. If you start with too much, you'll be sore and risk over-reaching before you are at the end of your training block.

5. Progression
Generally speaking, you'll want to add 5-10% volume or weight per week to ensure progress. This is because as you get stronger, you'll need more of a stimulus to see results. So, build your plan based on progression to continue gaining strength and size and to avoid plateau.

Bonus: Vary reps ranges and be patient! Hit the fast-twitch and the slow-twitch muscles with a variety of rep ranges and weight. Go heavy with low reps (safely), and go lighter using higher reps.

Oh, and make sure you're eating to support muscle growth as well ;)

Thanks for watching! Until next time, train smart and train hard, y'all!

[lc]

Ah .. Erin! To err is human, to Erin is .. ahem .. informative. Thanks Erin🎉

[GummyCandyLife]

Mind muscle connection has made the difference for me!

[geoffreyeickmann]

You are awesome and creative. Thank you for your work. Hope you heal fast.

[AussieWalks]

Hey Erin - sending lots of love to you from the Gold Coast of AUS. ❤☀️🇦🇺I’ve been following you here on YT and on Insta for about a year now. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your own beautiful heart and the inspiration that you are to me and so many. I was a PT (& been into training & fitness since childhood) but I haven’t worked as a PT for years due to chronic spinal disease and fibromyalgia that literally stopped me in my tracks one day - I woke up unable to move and my career as a PT ended that day despite it being my dream career . I continue to keep myself as fit as I can now after many years of being bedridden due to my spine. I’m concentrating more on weights now as I get older with very specific exercises in relation to my goals (improved mobility & to be jacked 😊). Some days and weeks or even months I have no choice to rest due to flare ups and wait it out - like right now - I’m having one of the worst flare ups I’ve had in years and during this past couple of weeks even gentle Pilates isn’t good for me, so I’m just walking gentle laps around my home when I can.
I actually injured my Achilles at the same time as you did - possibly even on the same day? certainly not as severely as yours, but oh boy that was some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt, it’s slowly healing but still not fully recovered. But to cut what’s already a long story short, your motivation, your kind heart, amazing physique and the way you find ways to train to suit your immediate situation has kept me going and inspired me every single day. Even if I can’t train on a particular day, just watching your videos drives me on and gives me ideas for the day when I am feeling up to it. I’ve adopted many of your techniques into my own program and I have to say that at almost 51 years old, my body (despite its many painful ailments) is in the best shape it’s ever been - even more so than when I was a dedicated trainer & martial artist in my 30s!! I pray for your full recovery very soon - you are an absolute powerhouse and I feel so lucky to have found you - you have helped me get through many training sessions - I hear you telling me to keep my chin down, feet hip width and a half apart, weak side leads, wrist neutral etc while I train 😂. Also, the personal story that you shared truly touched me - I know what it’s like to live through Dv and to get through each day by turning it into a lesson and a driving force for a better future. You are a beautiful Soul Erin and that shines through in everything you do. Apologies for rambling on now- I’ve been stuck in bed for weeks and I am finally taking the time to reach out to you and say hi and let you know what a positive role model you are for me. My exercise physiologist hears all about you all the time - I ask her to modify some of my sessions according to how I’ve seen you do particular exercises - she thinks it’s great.
I have a full gym set up at home and with your guidance I know my sessions are better than ever.
Heal up and thanks again - much love from AUS 🇦🇺☀️💪🏽

[nwmateo]

Glad you are healing up! Can't wait to see your injury recovery workouts.

[samanthagarcia]

Hi Erin! I recently started my fitness journey and am so grateful to have found your channel. Super informative! You are wonderful ❤

[sunnyreads]

Love you, Erin. These are great tips for my next series of workouts specifically, frequency. Thank you so much and all the best to all your viewers who work to see great gains!

[JuleWeidenfeld]

Great topic. Love you Erin. Heal quickly 🙏🏼💕

[consuelofunes]

You are the best, I personally owned many of your 90 days programs, and I love it, specially home and gym versions I don’t miss any workouts and keep it interesting, thanks again

[kennethsteelhammer]

Over the years I've realised that you can train calves and abs as often as you want.
This made me think of Andreas Cahling, the Swedish bodybuilder back from the golden era- he says he sometimes hit the same muscle group twice in one day. And with good results 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️
Hope to see you back in your right element soon sweet Erin 💯😘

[cpep]

Amazing information, as usual! I appreciate you, Erin!

[joannagillett]

Thank you Erin, it would be great to here your thoughts on unilateral differences. Like left limbs vs. right limbs etc. I know you will be working on that 🙂

[darnitthelma]

Simple answer I’d say is just chest not different parts. Just shoulders. Just calves etc…

Don’t over complicate it. I do 2x lower each week 6 sets each session. Same with upper. Therefore I do 24 sets each week and have gains.

I’m 42 yo female so ain’t looking to gain too much I see results and shape and am still lean even though I increase volume monthly not weekly due to past injuries.

Hope this helps 😊

[janetatuniquerawfoods]

I like putting calf raises in between other sets. Of course also on their own at times. Thank you Erin for your work.

[BMO_Creative]

Totally awesome info! I have tried static holds on focused muscles as well! You are an amazing knowledge source! Thanks!

[DennisAlexy]

Great info! Thanks! Hope you are having a speedy recovery!

[deniseward]

So true!!! Thank you so much for this thought!!!
Darn Hamstrings!! 🤭

💕💪🏼

[justanotherguy]

I've not been able to get a straight answer to this question because it's complicated. My trainer screwed this up for me, but I suspect you'll know what to do. When considering optimal volume lying somewhere between 10-20 sets per week per MUSCLE GROUP, when talking about "chest, " e.g., is it 10-20 sets for each part of the chest (i.e., upper chest (inclines), middle / overall chest (bench press), lower chest (declines), inner chest (crossovers), which would add up to about 40 sets per week for "chest" if done twice per week) or just 10-20 sets per week for the entire chest? I've heard it both ways. For muscle groups that have 3 parts, like shoulders or legs, e.g., it seems like 10-20 sets per week for quads, hamstrings, and calves SEPARATELY (with glutes getting their own dedicated routine) is called for, but it's not clear. E.g., if it's 10-20 sets for "back, " 5 sets each for lower and upper lats, middle, and lower back gets you at least 40 sets per week, for "back, " especially if you consider that you're recruiting the rest of the back while doing each of these exercises. Can you see where I'm going with this? Is that right or am I missing something? Can you be more specific? It seems that optimization is calling for elimination (or at least reduction) of junk volume (i.e., the inordinate number of sets usually prescribed by fitness mags, e.g.) and spacing of 10-20 sets across 2 workouts to maximize protein synthesis. In which case, is there a rule of thumb that applies this 10-20 sets per muscle group optimization routine uniformly across all muscle groups or does it just apply to separate parts (like hamstrings, quads, and calves) or heads of a muscle (ante- med- and post- deltoids, e.g.), or is there another way to look at it? Thanks for your help, Erin! We're big fans.

[jayjayblue]

Great content, as usual! Is there any real way to know if one has reached one’s genetic limit? My quads are so sad and I’m wondering at what point do I just say “they are what they are” and move on?

[mimiteas]

Hi, Erin! I hope you'll have a speedy recovery! 🍀
I have a question regarding the muscle tone. (By muscle tone I mean the "tension" of the muscle during rest.) I know that it depends of the nervous system, but I wonder if you know some ways to influence it. Thank you!