Exercises on same day

[GoLdeN M 07]

Is it smart or alright to do 2 exercises on the same day one targeting a certain muscle and one using it as a synergist? For example: Doing your first set of Military presses (use lateral delts as synergist) and 3 minutes later doing your first set of Lateral raises (using lateral delts as target) and so on. Would my lateral delts still get a great workout eventhough im working them in two completely different exercises on the same day like a pattern.

[Stephen Johnson]

What you describe happens all the time. Nearly all torso (chest and back) exercises involve the arms as synergists. You can then train the arms later in the same workout as targets. Since the arms have already been worked synergistically, it isn't necessary to target them with as many sets as larger muscle groups, like the torso. In your example, if you do 3 - 5 sets of military presses, you can probably get away with 2 - 3 sets of lateral raises.

[GoLdeN M 07]

ok so its ok for me to do them on the same day. And my lateral delts wont get exhausted or anything?

[Stephen Johnson]

And my lateral delts wont get exhausted or anything?

I can't answer that. You can, by going to the gym and working out. Experience, once again, is the best teacher. If the lateral deltoids do get exhausted, adjust your workout accordingly. And remember that you don't have to do as many sets of lateral raises as military presses.

[DubDub]

There is such a thing as 'locally fatigued', if you're using the same muscle group non-stop throughout your workout then you'll probably feel it weakening over time (during the workout), which is less than optimally effective. You should try to alternate somewhat between exercises that hit the muscle, and those that don't. If you do full body workouts then this would be alternating upper and lower body exercises.

[Ironman]

I think they summed it up pretty well. I would do more laterals though. Say you do military press after chest, then anteriors are about done before you even target them. Say you do shoulders seperate from chest, in that case you still don't want to totally use them up because they get worked hard on chest day too.

[GoLdeN M 07]

ok so what u all r saying is that i should do fewer sets on one exercise so its better for me. I'll try that.

[JeffD]

I dont like the idea of alternating sets of military presses and lateral raises. Do all the sets of the military presses first, then the raises. Do something like 5 sets of militaries, then 2 or 3 sets of raises after that is all you'll need.

[Matt Z]

I agree with Jeff. I think it's better to do all sets of Military Presses first then Laterals ..... although you might want to try super-setting Dumbbell Laterals with Bent-over Laterals.