Compound vs. Isolated Exercises

This is one of those age old arguments like which came first, the chicken or the egg.  But I’ll lay out the pros and cons to both as well as conditions on when to do either.

I know people  that are die hard isolaters and have gotten great results, and vice versa.  I’m sure you know people like that, or you may be one yourself.   

I’m a fan of the combination, but that’s just me.  Why settle when you can have both?  I like my workouts the way I like my women, varied

Compound Exercises

Pros

• Targets a large group of muscles
• Releases large amount of muslce building friendly hormones into your system
• Allows for large simultaneous muslce growth

Cons

• May cause imbalances over the long term
• Hard to target stubborn muscles
• Require a lot of coordination

When to do them

• As a foundation to your workout routine – everyone
• Great for beginners – build muscle quickly
• In bulking stages

Isolated Exercises

Pros

• Targets specific muscle – targeted growth
• Fairly simple to do
• Great for definition
• Correct imbalance – if done on one side of the body at a time with equal weight

Cons

• May take longer to see results
• May cause imbalance (ex. isolated abs training and no lower back)
• Limited amount of hormone release

When to do them:

• Cutting phases
• Better for intermediate to advance lifters looking to define
• Splits that allow you to work the counter muscle as well

The simplest explanation that comes to mind when talking about compound or isolated is this.  Compound exercises build the foundation and frame so isolated exercises can build the house’s furnishings and fixtures to give it a good market value. 

Ok, guys, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.  Which do you think is better and when? 

Until next time, Happy Lifting!

Mitch

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