If you save these to your phone camera roll, they should scroll well. Cross reference these with the Female Muscle Map Reference Page.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Female Muscle Map
Everything
here is just to give a good starting point, and the reason I list
what motions the muscle does under “Use” is so you can use that
info to modify any exercise to make it hit your muscles better.
Everyone’s different!
Click the
links to open for information
on lift form and more!
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Core
| Rectus Abdominis - The actual '6 pack.' While building this muscle is important and will make it more prominent, fat loss is the main thing that will make these puppies peek through and give definition in the area. |  |
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| Use: Simply trunk flexion. Standing upright, bending at the hips and bringing your head down towards your feet.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/WaistWt#Rectus
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Lying
Hip Raise
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Body
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You can do this on the floor, but something behind you to hold onto makes you a lot more stable. Try not to let your feet rest on the ground each rep. | ||
Weighted
Crunch
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Body,
Plate
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Placing
a weight higher up on your body increases difficulty. The higher the weight is on your body, the more of a mechanical disadvantage you'll create, and the better the workout.
Don't use momentum! Focus on the "trunk flexion" to lift yourself. If your abs burn, you're doing it right. |
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V-Up
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Body
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These are great but tough to modify to increase difficulty, but they're definitely good to do right after another core workout to fully exhaust it.
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Hanging Leg Raise
 |
Bar
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Try alternating these with reps where your legs are straight out, or twist your body slightly in alternating directions to really burn each side.
Increase difficulty by not allowing your body to hand straight down each rep. Stop before you get to the 'loose hang.' This burns!!! |
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Obliques
- These
work alongside the rectus abdominis to give core definition.
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Use:
Trunk flexion as well, but also bending sideways and twisting.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/WaistWt#Obliques
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Side
Bend
 |
DB
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Keep these slow! Only
carry the weight in one hand at a time to get the most effect. I do reps on each side separately, not alternating like in the gif!
A lot of people do little half reps on these, but try long reps where your hands reach knee height. Might be more comfortable with kettlebells or even a plate. |
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Lying
Twist
 |
Body,
DB
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A
light dumbbell or a ball between your feet increases difficulty. Don't drop it though :)
This is another one of those exercises that goes really good after another exercise to fully exhaust you. |
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Side
Bridge
 |
Body,
Plate
|
Place a weight on your hip to increase difficulty, but watch for shoulder stress.
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Cable
Twist
 |
Cable,
Band
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Focus
on using only the core twisting motion to move the weight, once you can truly focus on that, your arms won't even bend, twisting will do all the work.
Can
adjust the cables to hit from an incline angle (as shown), a
shoulder height angle, or a low angle. I personally love shoulder height.
Depending
on the angle of the twist, you may feel it working lower or upper
obliques. Experiment and find out what works best for you!
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45
Degree Side Bend
 |
Machine
|
Can
do this on a back extension machine as well.
Might feel better to hold the weight up by your chin. |
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Stretches
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Gluteus
Maximus
-
Main butt muscle. Contains the underbooty and the outward pop.
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Use:
From
a standing position, the gluteus maximus allows you to move your
leg backwards. Also allows you to go from a sitting to standing
position.
Exercise
Examples:
https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt#Gluteus
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Single
Leg Deadlift
 |
DB
|
Drive with your glutes to bring yourself back upright.
If you find you want to go really heavy on this, check out the barbell deadlift. (Listed under Hamstrings, but it also hits the glutes!) |
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Squat
 |
Body,
DB, BB
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***Squats are one of those exercises where form is very important, please click the link below to read about squat form!!
Try doing squats on your toes with your heels lifted to see if they hit your booty better than regular ones. You can put a plate under each heel. Squats take a lot of practice to target the right muscle, figure out how if hits your booty best and revel in that burn! |
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Lunge
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Body,
DB
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Hold onto dumbbells to increase difficulty.
Instead of returning back to the neutral position, you can step forward and turn this into a walking lunge to increase difficulty and add a cardio aspect to it. A long lunge directly targets the booty, a short lunge targets the Quadriceps. |
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Step
Ups
 |
Body,
DB,
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To increase difficulty, do all the reps with your first leg, then do all your reps with the second. When you step up onto the bench, don't put your non-working foot down on it, keep the tension and lower yourself back down.
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Hip
Extension
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Cable,
Band
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Keep a very slight bend in both knees to protect them from hyper-extending. | |||
Hip
Thrust
 |
Plate,
BB
|
Literally
anything heavy on your lap works! Make sure you put something soft down on your lap if the weight is heavy.
With smaller weights on a barbell, it could be hard to get into position.
It might be easier to do this at the head of a decline bench or even a low chair. Most importantly, make sure you're pushing with the booty, and lower back down slowly! |
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Leg
Press
 |
Machine
|
***Remember, never fully extend and lock out your knees on the leg press!!!
Wide stance works booty best. High on the leg press works the underbooty, Wide and low works the center booty and makes it pop. Pushing with different parts of your feet with different placement will hit different parts of the leg. |
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Stretches
Holding
a deep bodyweight squat is great for stretching glutes.
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Gluteus
Medius/Minimus
-
Upper butt muscles. These both have a similar function.
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Use:
With
legs together, these allow you to open your leg to the side. (Hip
Abduction)
Exercise
Examples:
https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt#Abductors
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Cable
Hip Abduction
 |
Cable,
Band
|
Bend the working knee very slightly and hold it there, try not to fully extend and lock your knee out.
When using a band, you can wrap it around your other ankle, or an object, depending on the length of your band. |
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Hip
Abduction (Bad
Girls)
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Cable,
Band
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Can
put a band just above knees and spread your legs for a band version.
Situating your butt further up on the seat can help target the medius/minimus. If you're using a band, moving the band higher up your thighs will do the same thing. |
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Side Bridges
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Body,
Band
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Add
a resistance band around your ankles or legs to increase difficulty.
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Side
Steps
 |
Band
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To
increase difficulty, lower yourself into a partial narrow squat
position, then do your side steps. This will also help work the
Gluteus Maximus!!
Moving
the band further down towards your ankles also increase
difficulty. Situate the band wherever you feel the best burn.
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Hydrants
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Body,
Band
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The
little kick in the end can be added to increase the difficulty.
Resistance
band above your knees can also increase the difficulty.
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Stretches
- People notoriously have bad flexibility here, or low strength
when deep in the movements. These stretches help.
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Hip
Adductors/Gracilis
-
Multiple Inner Thigh muscles. The "Thigh Gap."
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Use:
Pulls your legs inwards.(Hip
Adduction) Opposite of Gluteus Minimus/Medius.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt#HipAdductors
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Hip
Adduction(Good
Girls)
 |
Machine
|
It's important to only push inward with your knees. It's real eas to help the movement with your feet on the foot platforms, but cheating isn't how you build up your adductors!!
Holding the stretch is a great way to increase leg flexibility. Increasing your flexibility will overall increase the things you can do with your legs and the strength you'll have. |
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Cable
Hip Adduction
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Cable,
Band
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Bend the knee slightly just like Jon Snow, and don't go too high on weight or the machine will pull you towards it. Having something to hold onto like in the gif is recommended.
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Stretches-
The adductors are one of the most commonly injured muscle groups when performing many leg exercises, so increasing flexibility and stretching is key. |
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Psoas/Iliac
-
Hip Flexor muscles, also improves lower obliques.
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Use: These allow you to bend your waist and bring
your feet up to make you a 90 degree angle. Hanging leg raise is a very good example.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt#Hip
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Hanging
Leg Raise
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Bar
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Straightening
your legs increases difficulty.
This is also a good core exercise so it's smart to combine these with those workouts! |
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Lying
Leg Raise
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Body,
Band
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Attach a band to your ankles from a low object to increase the resistance.
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Legs
Quadriceps
-
Top of your upper leg. Most exercises hit every part, but there's a section below that shows exercises that hit certain parts especially well.
Lots of exercises that hit this also hit booty!
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Use:
Knee
extension, going from having a bent knee to a straight knee.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt#Quadriceps
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Squat
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DB,
BB
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***Squats are one of those exercises where form is very important, please click the link below to read about squat form!!
Heavier half squats may allow you to tire out your quads more, but it takes a lot of the booty out of the exercise, so it's best to do them deep and get double bang for your buck! |
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Single
Leg Split Squat
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Body, DB
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Also
works glutes really well. If you remove the bench it works your
balance, but it will lower the weight you can push. If you want this to be a booty/quad combo exercise, just tweak how much you drive yourself up using your butt and your quads to fit your goals!!
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Leg
Press
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Machine
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***Never fully extend and lock out your knees on the leg press!!!
Normal width in the center of the platform is good for all around development including hamstrings and booty.
A
narrower foot stance really focuses the quads.
Pushing with different parts of your feet with different placement will hit different parts of the leg. |
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Stretches:
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| The following are the specific muscles in the quadriceps. Once again, any quad workout will hit all of them, but if you're looking for specific shaping, these may help. Remember, whatever you feel is hitting the right area of that muscle is probably the best thing to do. |
Quadricep
- Vastus Lateralis
Outer Quads. Exercises that hit your quads with your feet closer together will target this specifically. |
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Narrow
Squats
 |
DB,
BB, Smith
|
Do
squats but keep feet closer together. May be easier on a smith machine.
With a smith machine, stand a bit further forward like in the gif. Drive up with your heels. |
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Leg
Extension
 |
Machine, Band
|
Point
your toes slightly inward if comfortable.
Keep your feet close to each other.
Be
mindful of any knee pain on this machine. It's great for some
people but causes problems for others.
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Leg
Press
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Machine
|
***Never fully extend and lock out your knees on the leg press!!!
A narrower foot stance, and lower placement tends to target the outer quad. Pushing with different parts of your feet with different placement will hit different parts of the leg. |
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Quadricep
- Rectus Femoris
Front
Quad. Exercises that target the Psoas/Iliac (Hip Flexors) target
this muscle as well, so by doing those, you're also putting extra
work into this muscle. This muscle is the 'kicking' muscle. It
takes majority of the load when you're standing, your heel is
behind you, and flexing into neutral stance.(Like in the Standing Leg Extension below)
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Standing
Leg Extension
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Cable,
Band
|
Slightly
bend your non-working knee for better support.
You
probably won't find a machine like the one in the picture, so
sticking to a band is best.
If
you use a regular cable machine, you'll need to tweak your stance
a bit because you need something to hold on to. standing closer to
the cable machine and reaching back and supporting yourself on the
cable machine itself works well.
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Quadricep
- Vastus Medialis
Inner
Quad. This muscle specifically is stimulated in the last 20
degrees of movement. You can feel it flex when you stand up extra
straight and flex your legs. You feel it above your knee towards
the inside of your thigh.
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Leg
Extension
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Machine
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Toes
points slightly out, when your legs are fully straight out, hold
that position and flex your quads for a few seconds, then release.
It's
usually a rule to never lock out your legs, but since this machine
is trying to push them back down, it's safe.
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Single
Leg Step Ups
 |
Body,
DB
|
Do
them one leg at a time, make sure you stand fully straight and
flex your quad for a few seconds, then step down with that foot.
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Hamstrings -
Back of your upper legs.
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Use:
Knee
flexion, bringing your heel to your butt. Opposite of quadriceps.
Exercise
Examples: https://exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt#Hamstrings
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Deadlift
 |
DB,
BB
|
***This is another one of those lifts where form is very important. Please clock the exrx link below to fully read about form for the deadlift.
If using a barbell with smaller weights, it can be really tough to reach down low enough without rounding your back, since you need to reach further to grab the bar. That's why it can be better to use dumbbells or kettlebells at lower weights. |
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Bent-over
Leg Curl
 |
Cable,
Band
|
You can do this standing upright and close to the machine, or like in the gif. Figure out what hits the hams best for you!
Careful with weight, since you're standing away from the machine, if the weight is too high and you fail, it can pull you forward. Make sure you brace yourself on the machine well with your hands so this doesn't happen. |
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Leg
Press
|
Machine
|
***Never fully extend and lock out your knees on the leg press!!!
Push with your heels with a wider stance to target hamstrings. Pushing with different parts of your feet with different placement will hit different parts of the leg. |
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