Say yes to isolation!
By pojo18
@pojo18 (5)
United States
July 21, 2009 12:16am CST
compound lifts are very important, but when building muscle you need to say yes to isolation exercises. your concentration curls and leg extensions. In terms of building mass and strength no doubt the squat bench press and deadlift are king but dont forget to incorporate isolation exercises also for maximum gains.
i like to keep my compound exercises in a set x rep scheme like : 3 x 5. for maximum overload
i then supplement this with an isolation movement with a set x rep scheme of 2 x 8
for exmaple: flat barbell bench press : 3 x 5
lying tricep extension : 2 x 8
anyone have thoughts on bodybuilding or weightlifting???
2 responses
@knuckles001 (4)
• Philippines
6 Nov 10
I agree with you up to a certain point. Yes, isolation exercises are important for increased "visuals" on the muscles. Muscle hypertrophy occurs best in the 8-12 repetition ranges, which trains endurance more; strength is better trained in the 4-6 rep ranges at 5RM, which is the basis of 5x5 programs. What I don't agree on is for a beginner focusing on isolation exercises right away. You cannot define a muscle that is simply not that developed yet. You can't sculpt without enough material to begin sculpting. Compounds do that, they build the mass that you need. I believe once you've built the foundation, have that dense-massive-powerful body, then you start sculpting. And that's where isolation exercises come in handy, they touch up that body part. Try to compare the bodies of a powerlifter and a bodybuilder to see what I mean. The former looks more massive and powerful, while the latter looks more huge and muscular. It all depends on your goals.Again, just my two cents.
@BART78 (2927)
• Canada
9 Jan 10
hi there my muscle bro! yah your right, some of our bros. neglect isos, we called it 'soosoos", no really doubt compoud are the king of the exercise but we need also soosoos especially when are in the phase of training our weakess part of each muscle group which we can not hit it by doing compound, i do use soosoos as superset to my favorite 10x10 and 5x5, my muscle really pump up after that! hoooo yahhh!!! 
