subject: Compound Versus Isolation Workout routines: Which happens to be Better for Developing Muscle? [print this page] Compound Versus Isolation Workout routines: Which happens to be Better for Developing Muscle?
You will find two schools of thought on the subject of selecting the exercises for a weight training routine. The first one advocates isolation exercises. The second one advocates compound workouts. Then there are the hybrids, that mix these two schools.
Compound workout routines are those which concentrate on numerous muscle groups with just one movement. These include deadlifts, squats, plus the bench press.
On the other side, isolation workout routines work out only one certain muscle with that movement. You could think of curls, that will work the biceps primarily.
Now, the isolation school of thinking is that you need to utilize each one of these diverse exercises so as to mold your whole body. The reasoning is that when using the isolation exercises, you'll be able to exhaust every single one of your muscles a lot more effectively.
The compound school of thought communicates you simply require a few compound movements for your complete workout, since these exercises should work out your whole body. And these exercises will form, what they call, functional strength. Meaning in day-by-day situations, the movements you perform outside of the gym are normally moves that require a bunch of different muscles working at the same time, not merely one.
I believe the best approach would be to base your routine on compound movements. These will make the core of the workout and that's what you will primarily be doing at the gym.
The rest of the time, you may focus on developing a specific muscle group with isolation exercises.
So you would have your normal compound exercise routine which you do every week. But the first week you could add some isolation movements to work your biceps and triceps. After that the next week you may modify that and instead add some isolation exercises to work your chest in a much concentrated way.
This will likely provide the advantage of creating more muscle in reduced time, while also building a great deal of functional strength.
