I ask, because you often say beginners should rarely
do isolation movements, if at all.
Question: Why do you say beginners shouldn't
do isolation movements?
When
you do isolation movements like biceps curls or triceps pushdowns, it is best if you don't go below 12 reps per set.
That may sound a bit ambitious but if you are doing correct form and are following the sequence without
doing any isolation movements, you'll get fantastic results.
Not exact matches
Isolation movements are most effective when
done with relatively light to moderate weights and high reps.. It is generally recommended that you use these exercises at the end of your workouts as finishing
movements.
The best example is the classic «20 - rep squat routine», where a heavy power
movement is
done with high reps. And some other time you'll want to train
isolation movements with heavier loads and lower reps.. This especially applies to a body part specialization routine.
Whilst most compound
movements that rely heavily on lower body muscle groups will train the hamstrings to certain extent, hamstring curls are a really important
isolation movement you should be
doing to maximally activate this muscle and improve overall leg development.
This doesn't mean you should add 15 different
isolation movements to hit every single muscle group.
If this is so, how can you expect to effectively build your traps by merely
doing direct
isolation movements that fail to optimally engage these strong muscles?
Machines and
isolation movements don't stress as much muscle as compound
movements do, so they don't burn as many calories as a result, so you should focus your attention on the multiple compound lifts.
Lots of bodybuilders
do compound
movements before
doing isolation work, and this is one of the key reasons why their calves won't grow.
Instead of
doing isolation exercises like curls, extensions and flyes choose multi-joint compound
movements that target more muscle mass.
It is better if you
do the low reps on big compound
movements that will allow you to put the most plates like a deadlift and high reps on the
isolation / assistance exercise, which won't have much an effect if
done with low reps, like biceps curls.
If you
do these slowly and without any momentum in the process, you are performing an
isolation movement that will put extra meat on the peak of your biceps.
Your first exercise in each superset will always be a mass - building or compound
movement, followed by the single - joint
isolation movement that isolates the same body - part,
doing this will ease you into this program.
That
does not mean that
isolation movements should be avoided altogether, just that you should rely more on exercises that recruit larger muscle groups like squats, deadlifts, rows, bench press, etc..
Do pre-exhaust sets to recruit more muscle fibers for use during compound
movements and really tax your stronger muscle groups while shredding the
isolation areas.
And of course, you can
do your curls and other
isolation movements.
This technique works especially well for
isolation based
movements such as bicep curls and lateral raises, however can certainly be
done on more compound exercises like bench press or lunges.
When I started
doing the opposite — more compound
movements than
isolation, and more heavy training — I started seeing real changes in my chest (and entire physique) for the first time in a long time.
I started
doing more compound
movements than
isolation and more heavy training, and I finally started seeing real changes in my back (and entire physique) for the first time in a long time.
Do as many warm up sets as required for the remaining exercises; typically, no more than 3 warm up sets is needed, and sometimes no warm up sets are needed at all (especially for the
isolation movements).
Do basic, compound
movements like bench, rows, etc. not
isolation movements like tricep extensions.
Isolation Movement: If isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can do another auxiliary movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (tric
Isolation Movement: If
isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can do another auxiliary movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (tric
isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can
do another auxiliary
movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (triceps, etc)
Isolation movements can help to train one muscle group but in real life it doesn't matter if one muscle group is strong if you have other muscle groups that aren't as strong you won't be able to perform as effectively.
And let me just tell you this... if you've never
done movement - based adductor work before (even if you've
done isolation stuff on that machine), you're going to feel this on the FIRST rep.
Many exercises
done in the gym are
isolation movements, and while those also have their place, they are normally not as effective and efficient as multi-planar functional exercises.
Yet another rep - combining method is
doing the basic exercises heavy, and the
isolation movements medium and high rep. Berry DeMay, Francis Benfatto and Joe DeAngelis used this method.
You can also work your transverses abdominis, to pull your waist in tighter, by
doing stomach vacuums but I suggest you don't work your abs directly with
isolation exercises, keep a strong core by performing compound
movements and using free weights instead of machines.
It is only justified for a beginner to
do this
movement is if it's one of a handful of
isolation exercises
done «for fun,» which encourages adherance to training.
He also was infamously known for using a combination of compound and
isolation movements in his training, and for training with mostly moderate to high reps, rarely
doing fewer than eight reps a set.
As you should know, if you want to pack on muscle mass you need to lift heavy weight and that's why it's important to include compound
movements in your workout program and it will also help you when you
do your
isolation exercises.
However, in terms of the scope of this article, we're going to be focusing on Compound
Movements because as a beginner, and, unless you're on steroids, you
do not need to
do any
isolation work.
... Obviously
doing compounds before
isolation movements reduces how much you can lift on the
isolation movements.
Instead of
doing a regular bench press
movement, you will instead
do 6 to 8 reps of dumbbell flyes (an
isolation movement for the chest) THEN immediately go right to the bench press.
• Don't transfer very well to athletics / real life → Most (again I say most, but not all) machines move only through single joint
movements (also known as
isolation exercises).
This can be
done with
isolation movements and high rep sets to accumulate volume on the muscle.
While not shying away from our many imperfections, while recognizing that schools
do not function in
isolation, we can not and should not turn our back on what gave rise to this
movement.
Many in this «
movement» are trying to escape the truth that money
does not bring happiness, but for me the
isolation and limitations of tiny living are as crippling as seeking more money.