This is a question that I was asked yesterday and I want to address here in this blog so that everyone can have access to my thoughts on it. To be more specific the person asked this question in relation to building a good physique and it was asked along the lines of "if I just do the major compound movements in each workout will that be enough to build a good physique?". I will answer the question in relation to this context.
Firstly the positives of doing a bunch of compound movements only (let's say for example squat, deadlift, bench press, OHP, row):
- The major muscle groups are covered
- These exercises recruit significant amounts of muscle fibres
- There is a lot of potential for progressive overload
- It is an efficient way to train
- Potential for training frequency to be high
- Recovery is likely to be good
Of course there are down sides to doing only compound exercises:
- Numerous muscle groups are trained either minimally or not at all
- Volume is limited by fatigue on each exercise
- Weak muscle groups are not addressed
- Repetitive stresses caused by the same movement patterns and a lack of balance in opposing muscle groups can lead to injury
- Lack of variety can become boring
If you were to train using the exercises above or similar exercises then you would be neglecting the calves, abdominals, upper traps, biceps, rear delts, triceps (long head) and to some degree the lats. Like the name implies isolation exercises isolate muscles meaning you are able to specifically target areas that don't get much work. If you were to avoid isolation exercises your physique would be likely to lack completeness and proportion.
Additionally isolation exercises are a really good way to add extra volume to muscles that are already being trained by the big compound movements and to your hypertrophy routine in general. Isolation exercises are also fairly easy to recover from so you can add a reasonable amount of accessory work without hampering recovery excessively.
If you have one or two weak muscle groups that aren't covered by the major compound lifts and you aren't doing any isolation work at all then you've pretty much doomed that muscle to always being under developed. For example if you have weak biceps they probably aren't going to grow to a great degree from rowing and may require some more targeted work to respond.
Ever noticed that when you keep doing an exercise for a really long period of time that sometimes you get an injury related to that movement. Sometimes it can be due to faulty mechanics, however other times it can just be due to the repetitive strain of doing the same thing over and over. I'm all for exercise consistency to produce adaptations from progressive overload but only as far as that does not cause negative progress or time off from lifting.
Again doing the same movements workout after workout for a long time period can become stale and boring. Having some isolation exercises in your routine to add some variety can be beneficial in avoiding hating your workouts and becoming unmotivated. Additionally it is often the case that isolation exercises can be subbed out for other exercises when required and it won't really make a huge difference to progress as much as it can with compound movements which have a complex motor pattern and involve large amounts of weight.
In summary my answer is clearly that isolation exercises are needed if the purpose of training is to build a good physique. If you disagree with me or want to add anything to the discussion why not let me know in the comments section below or on social media.
Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries are best directed directly to email.
Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
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- Evan
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