NeoNewfie
New member
Hi all,
Let me start by saying that I'm not educated in physiology or kinesiology outside of what I glean from sites like this one, so I am grateful for all the knowledge people here can share with me. I've been struggling with a question of exercise methodology for a while now: why are squats, deadlifts, and bench presses considered so much superior to isolation movements for strength and hypertrophy?
The conventional wisdom for the last decade has been to stress big compound movements, especially the "big three," over more targeted exercises. I trained with mostly powerlifting movements throughout my 30s, but recently, at age 43, I decided to incorporate instead as many isolation movements as possible. I understand isolation movements as movements in which only one muscle contracts -- of course there are stabilizing muscles involved in any movement, even bicep curls, but this is different from a movement that involves multiple synergists. Now, it seems to me that focussing all your effort as much as possible on a single target muscle is the best way to grow that muscle, so that even if you can't lift as much performing, say, a cable pullover as you can with a deadlift or even a bent-over row, the relative lack of bicep, hamstring, and glute involvement in the former means you focus all of the effort directly on the target muscle.
Why, then, do most authorities argue hypertrophy occurs primarily with big compound lifts alone? Please remember I'm not looking for an argument, just clarification!
Let me start by saying that I'm not educated in physiology or kinesiology outside of what I glean from sites like this one, so I am grateful for all the knowledge people here can share with me. I've been struggling with a question of exercise methodology for a while now: why are squats, deadlifts, and bench presses considered so much superior to isolation movements for strength and hypertrophy?
The conventional wisdom for the last decade has been to stress big compound movements, especially the "big three," over more targeted exercises. I trained with mostly powerlifting movements throughout my 30s, but recently, at age 43, I decided to incorporate instead as many isolation movements as possible. I understand isolation movements as movements in which only one muscle contracts -- of course there are stabilizing muscles involved in any movement, even bicep curls, but this is different from a movement that involves multiple synergists. Now, it seems to me that focussing all your effort as much as possible on a single target muscle is the best way to grow that muscle, so that even if you can't lift as much performing, say, a cable pullover as you can with a deadlift or even a bent-over row, the relative lack of bicep, hamstring, and glute involvement in the former means you focus all of the effort directly on the target muscle.
Why, then, do most authorities argue hypertrophy occurs primarily with big compound lifts alone? Please remember I'm not looking for an argument, just clarification!
