Building Your Foundation At The Gym-What To Consider

When it comes to spending time at the gym – no matter if your goal is to build muscle, get stronger or lose weight – every single exercise you do (for the most part) will fall under one of two basic categories: compound exercises and isolated exercises. Knowing the differences between the two could make or break your workout and the results you are looking for.

Here’s a quick description of each:

Compound exercises: Any exercise that uses more than one muscle in a movement. Examples include squats, bench presses, pull-ups, squat and press and step-ups.

Isolated exercises: Any exercise that uses only one muscle or movement. Examples include tricep pull-downs or dips, bicep curls, calf raises and lying hamstring curls.

Whatever your fitness goals might be, no one likes wasting their time in the gym. We want to be sure that we are making most of our time and maximizing our results, and we can do that by building a strong foundation.

By doing more compound exercises than isolated exercises during your workout program, you’ll hit more muscle groups in each single exercise. You’ll work your muscle groups more effectively doing squats than just lying down on the hamstring curl machine. Better bang, better results! Compound exercises can be done using weights or just your own body weight. If you are just starting out, you may not want to choose the heaviest weight option right away, but work on gradually building it up. Furthermore, if your foundation has some cracks in it or is a bit shaky you may want to think about sticking to lighter weights or just bodyweight exercises. But when you are ready to add more weight, compound exercises afford you the opportunity to lift heavier as you have more muscle groups working and supporting one another.

The one area we often go wrong in our workouts is lack of progression. We get stuck using the same one pair of dumbbells and repeat the same exercises. In order to progress and move closer to our goals, we need to change things up, rotate the weights we are using, the order, the type of exercise, the pace in which we do each exercise and the rest-to-work ratios. It isn’t always about a brand new workout program.

When our goals are about strength and growing bigger muscles, we tend to want to stick to isolated movements. Want bigger guns? Do more bicep curls. Want a six-pack? Do more crunches. But here’s the catch: your body is not made up of a bunch of isolated parts. Think of the body as a whole unit with parts that work together and communicate with each other. Therefore, working just your biceps isn’t going to be the most beneficial even if you want sexy sculpted arms. You’re much better off working on pull-ups since they work more muscle groups, including biceps. You’ll actually see more muscle growth and strength response than you would just pumping out bicep curls.

But before you run out to buy a chin up bar, just wait. Isolated movements are still important. However, think of them as more refining or supportive movements that we do occasionally, or do more of when we are at the final stage of our muscle-gaining goals. If our goal is weight loss, we need to build that strong foundation of compound movements for a long time first. But I get the appeal: most machines, like that lying hamstring curl machine, seem pretty straightforward and friendly. Not much thought involved. The rest – squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, bench presses, overhead presses, etc. – they are a bit more challenging, especially for a newbie, since they involve more technique, more of a learning curve and a bit of fear (“How do I look doing them? Am I doing them right?”)

Another reason why isolated movements are important to include is when you have an imbalanced muscle that prohibits you from completing the compound movement well. For example, when you do squats, just think of all the muscle groups involved. If you get stuck at a certain range (i.e. how low you are going), you might want to include some isolated movements like glute work to help you out and get you lower.

My point being, it doesn’t matter if you are newbie or have been at the game awhile. Without getting into diet and other factors, your workout will dictate your results. If you aren’t reaching the goals you have set for yourself, it is time to think about the types of exercises you are choosing, even if they may require more thought and re-learning. Start with compound movements – your foundation – and get really solid and strong at them first before considering if it is time to include some isolated movements to either support those other exercises or to just refine them a bit. Make the most of your limited time in the gym and get the results you really want.

Looking for a quick and efficient workout program you can do from home or the gym? Check out our Lean and Mean: 30-Minute Workout Program.