By: Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
Muscle isolation exercises are a big part of building a well-developed physique. The key focus needs to be put on the muscle you’re trying to work in a given training session.
Nowadays, everyone is so focused on compound movements, such as the squat, bench press, military press, and deadlift, and for a good reason — they work. You can consider these staples of a program as compound lifts require multiple joints and muscle groups to complete and therefore have a much larger effect on stimulating overall muscle growth.
Compound movements should never be removed from a program if muscle growth is the ultimate goal. However, we can’t negate isolation exercises to help pinpoint and target a given muscle group you’re trying to improve if it’s lagging behind the rest of your body.
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In this article, we will look at exactly why you need to include isolation exercises for muscle growth, what some of them are, and how they can help you achieve a full and muscular physique.
Let’s dive in!
Disclaimer: As always, it is recommended that you speak with your doctor before engaging in any exercise program to ensure you are healthy enough to do so.
What are Isolation Exercises?
Isolation exercises are any movement that works only through one joint or muscle group.
Isolation exercises are great for targeting a specific body part that you want to grow (such as a weak point in your physique that you want to bring up to par with the rest of the body).
As mentioned earlier, the best way to use isolation exercises in a training program is to target lagging body parts. If your biceps aren’t growing like you would like them to, then adding in extra biceps work at the end of your workout can help you bring them up faster.
Some common examples of isolation exercises for different body parts include:
- Leg Extensions for the quads
- Calf Raises for the calves
- Lateral Raises for the shoulders
- Triceps Extensions for the triceps
- Biceps Curls for the biceps
Benefits of Isolation Exercises
While compound movements should make up the bulk of your program, there are many benefits to adding isolation exercises to your workouts.
Some of the benefits of isolation exercises include:
1. More Targeted Training
Isolation exercises allow you to focus on a particular muscle group, which is beneficial for targeting specific areas where you want to develop further or increase strength.
2. Improved Body Awareness
Body awareness means that we are aware of how our body moves during different exercises and how it feels when performing them — this is an important factor in injury prevention, as well as building your best physique.
Isolation exercises can help improve body awareness, especially if you’re new to weight training because they force you to focus on one area of your body at a time. Since the rest of your body doesn’t have to worry about stabilizing the weight or recruiting other muscles for assistance, you can hone in on the form and mind-muscle connection with the targeted muscle group.
3. Less Strain on Other Areas
If you’ve recently suffered an injury or are dealing with an existing weakness, isolation exercises can help take some pressure off other areas that may be strained or stressed during compound movements (like your lower back).
4. Correct Imbalances
If certain muscles compensate too much for others, they may be overdeveloped and could result in an injury. Isolation exercises allow you to correct this imbalance and ensure your muscles are doing equal amounts of work.
5. Easier on the Joints
Compound exercises involve several muscle groups working together, which can put excessive wear and tear on your joints. On the other hand, isolation exercises require only one joint movement at a time (such as elbow extension for something like biceps preacher curls), making them easier on your body if you’ve had joint issues in the past.
6. Great for After an Injury
If you’ve been injured and need to take some time off from more strenuous forms of exercise, isolation exercises can help you continue building muscle strength until you have recovered enough to get back into your normal workout routine.
Role of Isolation Exercises in Bodybuilding
To get the most out of your workout, you should never overlook isolation exercises.
These types of exercises tend to be the most beneficial for advanced bodybuilders who want to focus on a specific muscle group that hasn’t been worked to its fullest potential with compound exercises.
Isolation exercises can help you build more muscle and definition in a given area that may have been overlooked by compound exercises. By simply performing something like a superset, utilizing two or more consecutive isolation exercises, they can really help you maximize your results!
Isolate and Execute for Massive Muscle Growth
As you can see, the people who “poo-poo” on isolation movements and tell everyone they should only focus on compound movements really don’t have a leg to stand on in this instance. Are compound movements essential and fundamental? Yup. Are they the only way to promote muscle growth? Nope.
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