For decades Lifters and Fitness Enthusiasts alike have debated over whether compound exercises or isolation exercises are prime but I’m here to add my 2 cents and argue why I think Isolation is KING.
It all goes back to what the biggest most jacked muscle heads have been doing since the times of Arnold and Franco Columbo, splitting their routines up by bodypart and dedicating a day or half a workout to one bodypart incorporating a mix of compound and isolation movements. The key to take away here is that these guys have been focusing on optimizing muscle adaptation by any means necessary and so bodybuilders for the last 50 years have used various techniques to achieve their goals with a huge focus on mind muscle connection and hence isolation as a PRIME contributor to muscle gains.
-Side note but using these same techniques to chase strength goals is not a bad idea either since the two aren’t completely separated and if anything a strength athlete or realistically any athlete from a marathon runner to a soccer player should utilize bodybuilding training in their long term programming alongside with strength training or better yet phasic training with programming to differentiate and build upon previous cycles.
Now the point I want to drive home here is isolation allows an individual to put all their energy, focus and strength into the target muscle more so then with compound or other training modalities not saying completely ignore compound just that isolation has an edge on it is all. Particularly putting the body in a stable position where the load pulls the muscle in the direction it’s meant to track specifically for your body will allow you to unlock levels of strength you can’t get under instability noting though that long term one should strive to train the stability muscles to keep up with the prime movers to avoid injury and remain athletic. Every tool has its use though and compound movements will put the most mass on a person who hasn’t been exposed to much strength or hypertrophy training. If there’s a plateau to be destroyed and a very specific goal at hand by switching a compound with an isolation movement in your program without even changing your volume (sets, reps, weight, pause, rests) you can see growth simply by the added INTENTION. It’s mind boggling, it’s the power of belief at play because the added focus can allow a person to make the movement more productive. But it would be advised that beyond just the belief a person can intentionally push themselves further and follow their pump or add sets/volume and alter their plan for more recovery so they blast past plateus.
I will say it’s not for everyone and it’s time consuming but if you have a very specific goal like make your arms bigger for summer or a huge squat goal then try isolation out, maybe you’ll even enjoy it more! I mean it’s easier to get pumps and more fun to see fast progress.
Heres a couple ideas for a Squat breakdown into different isolation movements/workouts and another for arms:
•Squat Focus/Weakness (Glutes):
-Glute bridge, try it with/without band, feet as close to butt as possible, contract booty at top and pause for a few seconds follow the contraction and let your body tell you what feels right for a pump and comfortable for what your mobility will allow. Also if your hamstrings engage too much then try dif amounts of knee angles when pushing up. If more advanced can turn into Barbell hip thrust
-Clams. These are amazing. Banded is better if possible. Lay on your side and open your legs from the knee keeping your legs bent and your body facing a wall, seek a good contraction at the glutes and hold the squeeze for 5-10seconds when legs open and glutes fully contracted
-Standing banded hip hinge with kettlebell. Saw Chris Duffin say this is more optimal of a movement pattern then a glute bridge was not disappointed
•Squat Focus/Weakness (Quads)
-Good Old Leg Extensions. These can destroy your quads but for some they can destroy their knees so adjust the angles and try different machine settings to avoid that if it’s not feeling great on your knees then don’t fret but also don’t give up on it cause at various times in my training it’s felt good or terrible based on the machine, my bodyweight, my knee health, my current quad activation and how well I’ve warmed up so give it an honest try every once and a while leg extensions are amazing for quad development
-TKE. Terminal Knee Extension, often used by physiotherapists for rehabbing people with knee surgeries or other debilitating knee issues. This movement can safely give an amazing quad pump it’s awesome! all you do is wrap a resistance band around your knee after looping it around a stable structure like a rack and facing it your extend your knee.
-Spanish Squat or TKE Squat. Same set up as TKE but you squat and damn this is brutal!!
-Sled walks but backwards! These can activate your quads quite well and are safe a good for people with a history of knee injuries. kneesovertoesguy got me into them, highly recommend him too
•Biceps:
-Seated Preacher Curl. I attest this movement for what gave me the ability to unofficially strict curl the world record for my class (242lbs junior with a 172.5lbs curl). Highly highly recommend for mind muscle connection but then again that’s my experience not everyone will have the same comfort/success with this movement
-Cable machine curls. It’s great to have constant tension through the whole movement unlike free weights since gravity only pulls down it’s easy at the top where as the cable keeps a steady resistance curve
•Triceps:
-Tricep cable Pushdowns/Extensions. Try different attachments and pressing angles as you get more muscle mass what feels comfortable for your elbows may change. personally I like the rope attachment and I like a neutral grip where I start the press close to my midline and taper my elbows out to the sides of my body at the bottom
-Overhead cable tricep Extensions. These are amazing if you don’t already take them seriously I recommend you do cause they hit the long head better then most other tricep movements and they give a nasty pump with lighter weight then normal tricep extensions
So there you have it that’s why I think Isolation is the KING of Hypertrophy and Strength when it comes to set by set comparison of compound movements to isolation movements that we put a lot of importance on as a fitness community.
TLDR Compounds are Awesome especially for novice lifters but plateaus are broken with Isolations and professional lifters have known this for decades
Good Luck and don’t ever tell yourself you have bad genetics for something until you’ve given it a good try. -Mr Wolf Out
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