A common question that people interested in weight training always seem to ask is
"What exercises should I do to isolate ____?"
It doesn't matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to 'isolate' it. Well isolating muscles, especially if you're trying to tone the body and lose weight, isn't necessarily the best approach to take in the gym.
It's important to realize that the body doesn't necessarily work well with muscle isolation but rather works better in movements. When large portions of the body are assisting each other in completing out a complex motion. In reality there's no such thing as a true muscle isolation because muscles have to work together in any exercise. However, it's a much better approach to perform a multi-joint complex motion.
When you attempt to isolate muscles by performing single-join exercises you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be prone to injury. You need to think powerful, fully functional body rather than individual units.
So if you really want to end up with an "uneven" worked out body with join problems, tendonitis and excess body fat then feel free to continue isolating muscles.
On the other hand if you're looking for that lean muscular fully functional body then definitely incorporate complex movements.
If you're focusing on how well your entire body functions then you will get the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation exercises. Just look at some of the top athletes in professional sports and see how they're bodies look.
Lastly, another benefit to shifting away from isolation exercises is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat and overall weight loss. You will burn more calories and get an overall body workout greater with the focus on working out the entire body. By doing this you also increase your metabolic rate and stimulate the burning of more fat and muscle building.
For example, the leg extension machine is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quads but it doesn't really burn many calories. Alternatively, you could do exercises like the squats, lunges, step-ups, and/or deadlifts, which are all multi-joint movements that work the entire body. This also burns a ton of calories.
Keep in mind, multi-join exercises are important and should comprise a large portion of your workouts there is a place for isolated exercises. Just don't waste too much time at the expense of your multi-joint exercises to do them. A 90% to 10% ratio of multi-joint versus isolated is a good ratio to go by.
"What exercises should I do to isolate ____?"
It's important to realize that the body doesn't necessarily work well with muscle isolation but rather works better in movements. When large portions of the body are assisting each other in completing out a complex motion. In reality there's no such thing as a true muscle isolation because muscles have to work together in any exercise. However, it's a much better approach to perform a multi-joint complex motion.
When you attempt to isolate muscles by performing single-join exercises you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be prone to injury. You need to think powerful, fully functional body rather than individual units.
So if you really want to end up with an "uneven" worked out body with join problems, tendonitis and excess body fat then feel free to continue isolating muscles.
On the other hand if you're looking for that lean muscular fully functional body then definitely incorporate complex movements.
If you're focusing on how well your entire body functions then you will get the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation exercises. Just look at some of the top athletes in professional sports and see how they're bodies look.
Lastly, another benefit to shifting away from isolation exercises is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat and overall weight loss. You will burn more calories and get an overall body workout greater with the focus on working out the entire body. By doing this you also increase your metabolic rate and stimulate the burning of more fat and muscle building.
Keep in mind, multi-join exercises are important and should comprise a large portion of your workouts there is a place for isolated exercises. Just don't waste too much time at the expense of your multi-joint exercises to do them. A 90% to 10% ratio of multi-joint versus isolated is a good ratio to go by.
If you haven't picked up a be guided by of my
Truth about Six Pack Abs
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I'll be back in touch soon with additional Lean-Body
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next few weeks that I think you'll enjoy, so hang on
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