Which type of exercise is better? Basic or Isolation?
That all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to build strength or size, or are you trying to refine the musculature that you already have?
Basic exercises, also referred to as compound movements, are the exercises that work several groups of muscle together with a single movement. The best example of a basic movement is the squat.
Each time you squat down and then press your body back up, you are working muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, and other back muscles. Many muscles throughout the body are also actively involved in stabilization during this lift.
Isolation exercises are the movements that stress only one muscle group at a time. An example of an isolation exercise is biceps curls. With each repetition you do, the weight is moved almost completely by your biceps muscles.
Building the Right Foundation
If you are trying to build a base of strength or muscle size, basic exercises are key to your success, and for most people out there, basic exercises should compose a majority of their workouts.
This is because basic movements will give you the best gains for the amount of effort you put in. It’s true that working more muscles with a single workout is clearly more time efficient than working each muscle separately, but there’s more to it than that. (more…)
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Continue reading about Basic Vs. Isolation Exercises, Chisels or Dynamite?
Bicep curls seem like such a simple exercise, but one frequent mistake exists that often leads people to transfer the stress of this movement away from the bicep muscles and to the shoulders.
In his Encyclopedia or Modern Bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger describes that bringing the elbows forward during this movement creates a lower quality stress on the biceps and can potentially hinder their growth.
Are You Really Using Your Biceps?
Let’s take a look at a common mistake that could be holding your biceps back from having stellar growth.
For purposes of illustration, we’ll take a look at standing bicep curls using a straight bar. We begin this exercise with the bar resting just in front of the thighs.
The beginning of the motion is fairly easy. The biceps and forearms contract to bring the weight up until the arm is slightly bent.
This is the point where the exercise becomes difficult. As the elbows bend, greater stress is placed on the biceps. There is a strong temptation to move the bar upward by bringing the elbows forward in front of the body.
The problem with this method is that your shoulders are being used to push your elbows forward and raise the curl bar, while your elbows stay bent at approximately the same angle.
FYI- The more you shoulders work to move the bar upward, the less your biceps need to work through the full range of motion. Less work for your biceps means less growth for your biceps. This essentially shifts your curls from being a good bicep workout to a lame shoulder workout.
Once your shoulders have assisted you in bringing your elbows forward, your forearm is much closer to vertical and it becomes much easier for your biceps to move the weight the remaining distance to complete the contraction.
In addition, the weight (more…)
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 (more…)
Continue reading about When Should a Beginner Use Isolation Exercises?
Which type of exercise is better? Basic or Isolation?
That all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to build strength or size, or are you trying to refine the musculature that you already have?
Basic exercises, also referred to as compound movements, are the exercises that work several groups of muscle together with a single movement. The best example of a basic movement is the squat.
Each time you squat down and then press your body back up, you are working muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, and other back muscles. Many muscles throughout the body are also actively involved in stabilization during this lift.
Isolation exercises are the movements that stress only one muscle group at a time. An example of an isolation exercise is cable chest flyes. With each repetition you do, the weight is moved almost completely by your chest muscles.
Building the Right Foundation
If you are trying to build a base of strength or muscle size, basic exercises are key to your success, and for most people out there, basic exercises should compose a majority of their workouts.
This is because basic movements will give you the best gains for the amount of effort you put in. It’s true that working more muscles with a single workout is clearly more time efficient than working each muscle separately, but there’s more to it than that. (more…)
Continue reading about Basic Vs. Isolation Exercises, Chisels or Dynamite?
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