Imagine what the world would be like if you were to wake up one morning, and all of the exercise machines were eliminated from the face of the earth and all of the isolation exercises were outlawed. What would the world look like?
If all of the machines and isolation exercises were to disappear from the face of the earth this very moment, 90% of all trainees would see their workouts improve.
Why is this? Are isolation exercises completely useless then? Should I avoid them at all costs?
No, isolation exercises are not useless… they are overused. Newer trainees should focus a majority of their workouts on the compound movements. This doesn’t mean that isolation exercises don’t ever have their place, it just means that if all the isolation exercises disappeared today, most people would do more of the exercises that they really need the most.
There are 4 main reasons that a trainee might want to use isolation exercises:
1. To strengthen your weakest link: Let’s use the analogy of a chain. If you’ve ever seen a construction crew working with a crane to build a large building, you’ll see the crane with a cable and a hook at the bottom. Construction crews will usually use a chain to connect heavy materials to the crane.
What happens if just one of the links breaks? Can the other links compensate?
No, if just one link is too weak to handle the weight, the chain breaks and the entire load comes crashing to the ground. I think you can probably see how this relates to your workout.
For example, if your grip isn’t strong enough to hold the weight on a heavy back exercise like deadlifts, rows, or even shoulder shrugs, then strengthening your grip/ forearms will help you to get a better back workout, meaning you can add more muscle to your back.
In each compound movement, the weakest link will be the muscle group that gives out first. Often times, the limiting factor in your compound movements might be the smaller muscle groups involved.
2. Not hit directly in your routine: Some muscle groups simply aren’t given a direct workout by any of the compound movements that you’re doing. For example, unless you’re doing power cleans, chances are that none of your compound exercises will leave your calves very sore the next day. To keep your calves growing, a little bit of calf workout after your squats can get the job done.
Also, your abs constitute your core and are very important for stability. Your abs and other core muscles will be strengthened as you continue to squat and deadlift, but adding in some direct abdominal work to your routine can help you to build abs that will act like a strong weight belt for support around your mid-section. This will help to prevent injuries while you do some of the heavier exercises.
3. You are already big: If you have already managed to put all the muscle on your body that you need and you’ve built up plenty of muscle mass, go ahead and do the detail work. If your legs are already as big and strong as they should be, and you get the feeling that you want to work on your lower thigh, then go for it.
But don’t go out and focus on this unless you’re really there. You’ll get nothing out of trying to focus on your inner pecs before you have enough pecs to work with. Even when you reach the size that your shooting for, no matter how massive that might be, compound movements will still be an important part of your workouts.
4. Vanity Exercises: While many of the back exercises that you do will give you a good bicep workout, one set of bicep curls won’t kill you, and they are included in the WFN beginning to intermediate routine to help you pump up the size of your arms.
If you’re going to pump up your arms, be careful to avoid overtraining them. Your arms are heavily involved in the pressing and pulling movements. Since the biceps are one of the smallest muscle groups on your body, they can easily be overtrained since they are already involved in the pulling movements. Three to five sets is all that’s needed for most trainees who are attempting bicep curls.
After all, why do endless sets for your arms if the ticket to getting bigger is to give them a little less direct training? Part of the problem comes from all of the bodybuilding magazines that are on the store shelves. Just because 15-20 sets of bicep curls works for an advanced bodybuilder on steroids doesn’t mean that it will work for you.
Know where isolation exercises belong in your routine and what their limitations are. This will help you to use them more effectively in meeting your goals.
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February 5th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Hey Jason, good points. Don’t forget that people often need to use isolation exercises in rehab. You sort of touched on it, but when coming back from an injury often muscles will be weak in isolation. As you mentioned , if you are weak in isolation, then you are going to be weak in a compound movement that uses that muscle. For example the VMO, I reckon there is very little use for doing VMO work if you have healthy knees, however, as soon as you have a knee injury, that is what shuts off. If it’s weak, your patterns are stuffed and are likely leading to more biomechanical issue further up or down the chain, and definitely need to use some isolation work.
Cheers
February 5th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Thanks Jason, this is really usefull advice.
So, how many isolation exercises do you do?
Alex :)
February 5th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Lauren- You’re giving me more credit than is due, I think I totally left out rehab, but that is another great example of a good time for isolation exercises. And also a good example about the VMO. Hmm… I think I read something about that somewhere recently ;)
Alex- I’m still following the intermediate program outlined in the free e-book recently released. The majority of time is spent on compound movements, with some calf and ab work involved, and then 2 vanity exercises: laterals and curls. Since the isolation exercises require way less energy to do, I often superset them together with the other smaller exercises.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Allright, thanks for the info Jason.
I am also starting to do some more ab- and calf work, as these are definately some of my weakest “chains”.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Great article Jason! I too am a firm advocate of compound lifts. Isolation exercises are useless unless done as an accessory or for the sake of vanity like you mentioned.
Your triceps are already getting worked plenty from pressing, and your biceps are getting all they need from rowing, so what would be the point of doing 10 sets or arms after such lifts?
In my opinion, too much direct arm work and isolation exercises is what leads to overtraining and discouragement since they do not produce results. If you want to do a set of curls every now and then for fun, have at it, just stick to the big lifts.
The only things I do other than squats, presses, rows, cleans, and dead lifts is pullovers, dips, and a set of curls for the girls every now and then ;)
February 5th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Sean- “Curls for the girls” is a good way to put it. And you’re dead on about the overtraining and discouragement that alot of people get. It happens all the time.
BTW, nothing wrong with some pullovers and dips. Dips are an especially great compound movement for the triceps, chest, & shoulders.