Isolation Or Compound?

By Ryan Kelly

Isolation vs. Compound Movements, which one is better? Well, that's a lot like asking if a spoon or a fork is better. You would ask, "better at what?"

Isolation movements are better for bringing up specific areas of the body that are lagging. For example, if your chest and shoulders are strong but your triceps are weak you can use tricep isolation moves like the tricep press-down or skull crushers to target them specifically. This will allow you to bring your triceps up to the level of your chest and shoulders, and you should see an improved bench press as a result. Also, isolation movements are better for creating detail in muscle. Isolation movements can hit muscles from angles that compound movements like squats cannot. This leads to a fuller, more detailed muscle.

Compound movements are better for developing raw strength. Even if you are training primarily for looks, you need to develop strength also. No matter how good you look, pure strength will always be an important part of fitness and exercise. Also, without a foundation of raw strength you will not be able to execute any move, isolation or compound, with the heavy weight that you will need to build muscle.

The bottom line is that you should do both! Start your workout with compound movements to build power then fine tune your specific muscles with isolation moves. This strategy gives the most complete package of strength and looks, and I highly recommend it for almost every trainer.

-Ryan

Ryan is a 275 pound natural bodybuilder from Arizona. He runs the Muscle Building Section of Good E-Books.com, where he lists his favorite books for building muscle mass. Visit http://www.goode-books.com/gainmuscle.html today to see Ryan's picks!