There are multiple factors which determine how effective your workouts are.

Common ones being:

Number of sets & reps
Rest time between sets
Amount of weight you lift

One of the less common ones, however, is the order in which you train different muscle groups throughout the week.

So, in this article, we discuss whether you can train shoulders after chest day.

We look at the pros and cons of doing so, as well as looking at other muscle groups that you may want to work out after a heavy chest workout.

Ready?

Let’s get to it.

Man working out on leg press machine in gym

Contents Show

Can You Do Legs After Chest Day?

Yes, you absolutely can do legs after chest day.

Your chest won’t be worked at all in your leg exercises so it can rest and recover while you work on developing your lower body.

Also, your legs don’t activate in your chest workout so they’ll be fresh and ready to be worked hard after chest day.

Your legs are a great follow-on from chest day as it moves the focus from the upper body to the lower body.

Benefits of Doing Legs After Chest Day

You Can Do A Heavy Workout Without Hindering Recovery

Giving your muscles enough time to fully recover between workouts is a vital part of any training plan.

It can cause some issues though if you have limited time to train throughout the week, but need to target all your muscle groups.

By doing legs after chest day, you’ll have a heavy leg workout the day after a heavy chest workout.

As you’re moving the focus from your upper body to your lower body, your chest can recover while you’re still progressing your fitness goals.

This allows you to complete all your workouts in the week without hindering the recovery of certain muscle groups.

It Can Help Give You A Full Body Workout

Many gym-goers struggle with training all the major muscle groups in their training week.

By training your legs after chest day, you not only switch the focus from your upper to lower body, but you help keep your training momentum going as you head towards a full body workout each week.

Training all your major muscle groups each training week provides multiple benefits, including a more balanced physique, improved overall health, and more muscle growth.

Drawbacks of Doing Legs After Chest Day

General Fatigue

A woman lying on the floor after exercise resting her arm on her head and holding a bottle of water

Your chest workout likely involves doing some big compound movements (*cough* bench press *cough*) and heavy weights.

This can leave you feeling tired and in need of a rest day.

If you do leg day after chest day, you’ll be training 2 large muscle groups consecutively.

While some people have the motivation to do this, others will feel the fatigue negatively affects their leg workout.

Should You Do Legs After Chest Day?

There aren’t many reasons why you shouldn’t do legs after chest day.

You need to be in sync with your own body though to ensure you’re capable of an effective leg workout after chest day.

Is It Better To Do Chest After Leg Day?

Doing chest after leg day is likely to be just as effective as vice versa.

The order in which you train these muscle groups isn’t that important since in both cases, you’re switching the focus between your upper and lower body.

Is It Safe To Do Legs After Chest Day?

A road with the words Safety First painted on in yellow paint next to double yellow lines

As long as your legs aren’t injured and are fully recovered from any previous exercise, then training your legs after chest is safe and effective.

As always, you should follow best practices in the gym, such as warming up effectively, using the right technique, and using a weight that’s suitable to your fitness levels.

Other Muscle Groups To Train After Chest Day

Back

Doing back after chest day is a great way to train in a PPL (Push, Pull, Legs) split.

You can get some great upper body developments from working these 2 muscle groups back-to-back.

Arms

As long as your triceps aren’t too fatigued, training your arms after chest day can be an effective workout ordering.

If you do train this way, then you should focus on your biceps first as these will be fresher than your triceps so you can hit them the hardest.

Shoulders

Some people like to train their shoulders after chest day.

In my eyes, it isn’t the most optimal ordering as there’s a slight risk of overtraining your shoulders.

(Since they’re used in many chest exercises…)

But if it works for you, then hey… who am I to judge?

Robb

I’ve been in the fitness and strength training industry for nearly a decade. In that time, I’ve gained 30 pounds of muscle, written hundreds of articles, and reviewed dozens of fitness supplements. As for my educational background, I’m a currently studying for my Active IQ Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training.