Weightlifters: why isolate a muscle group?

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

I lift weights 2-3 times a week, but still consider myself by no means a serious bodybuilder. In fact, it's safe to say I've never been hugely into sports of any kind, and haven't tended to hang out with people who are. I do it for the endorphin boost, for the satisfaction of knowing I look good in a tank top, for the strength when I need it for handyman sorts of projects, and for the mental effects (clarity and anti-depression).

Over the course of getting into weightlifting, I've encountered a good number of guys who are much more serious gymrats than me. And I've noticed they give a lot of lip service to 'isolating muscle groups', when designing and doing their workouts.

Why?

To me, this seems counterintuitive. If I do one exercise that gets many different muscle groups, it seems to me I'm saving time, and not risking overdeveloping one muscle while neglecting the one that counterbalances it.

I start off my every-other-day exercise routine by holding a pair of dumbells at my side while standing up. Then I supinate my wrists, flex my wrists, flex my elbows, and finally hoist the dumbells straight up over my head, before doing the same motion in reverse to bring them down. That's one rep. I do 3 sets of 15 reps. It's not the only upper body exercise I do (I follow with lateral row, bench press, stomach and back exercises, and dips, also 3 sets of 15 each). But it strikes me that this initial exercise works out every muscle in my arms and shoulders, and even many in my back, especially when you figure that I do it standing. Why would I want to replace this nifty lift with a big long series of machine exercises, each of which works on just one muscle group? My workout takes 25 minutes, and that's just fine by me.

After almost a year of this, I wouldn't say I'm built like a pitbull, but I have a physique like a cat who chases a lot of mice -- lean and wiry, but noticeably muscular. This is great. The mrs is happy my sex drive is healthy and I can move heavy boxes for her, but other than that, I've got no one to impress.

I almost posted this in Steroid Discussion, but then figured the response I'd get would be similar to walking up to a card table in a casino and asking how to play.

 

[ranunky]

Bodybuilders like to isolate muscle groups in order to specificially increase the size of one muscle. Eg: a bodybuilder has small shoulders but big triceps, s/he isn't going to do aench press to increase shoulder size specifically, shoulder flies would be what s/he would do.

 

[p-mo]

^Exactly.. For general mass gain compound (multi-muscle movments) are always best.

 

[Perpetual Indulgence]

I like the s/he.

 

[Ansem]

While i am not too knowledgable of this stuff, i would think this mentality is more of an organization thing/schedule then really an attempt at isolation. Wouldnt trying to isolate a certain area still fall under the spot reducing myth?

 

[triek01]

I workout 3 times a week, Mon. Wed. Fri., Each day I work one of the larger muscle groups, like chest, legs, and back.

When I work those larger muscle groups I will also work smaller muscles like biceps and triceps with my chest workout, legs with calves thighs etc.

This allows enough time for each muscle to recover instead of working my whole body 3 times a week, now if you want to put on mass and gain strength I suggest lowering the ammount of reps you do for each set and increasing the weight each set.

So for example bench press, do 3 sets start with 10 reps at an easy weight, then 8 reps and add however much weight you think you can do but still manage 8 reps and then 6 reps and add weight. Each week you should be increasing your weight more than the last.

Adding 2.5 lbs. to your workouts each week is a lot and easier than you think.

Hope that helps you out

 

[yougene]

It sounds like what you are doing is strength training. This is different from bodybuilding.

They are two different goals with some over-lap.


With that said some people seem to exist in an assisted machine bubble. It's probably a lot easier for a trainer to get someone on a machine then it is to teach proper form and concentration.

 

[ranunky]

I like the s/he.

Thanks. English lacks a neutral sex singular pronoun so i make up my own.

Ansem: Spot reducing refers to losing fat. Your body will decide what fat comes off first. Muscle building is different, the muscle you work out is the muscle that will grow.

 

[ranunky]

Big Ron's opinion on the matter:

Every exercise I do is a favorite isolation exercise, but it's also a favorite mass-building exercise. I don't distinguish between the two. My purpose as a bodybuilder is to ensure that every muscle has received its optimum amount of training by the time I've finished my workout. That, to me, is isolation.

Somewhere along the way, bodybuilders began to define isolation in what I call negative terms; i.e., the removal of all supporting muscles from the movement, so that only a single target muscle is allowed to contract. If other muscles are involved, they either prevent the target muscle from doing the work or they cause the body to fatigue before the target muscle is fully exercised.

I prefer a more positive approach. Instead of trying to isolate a muscle, I think in terms of trying to isolate maximum forces into a muscle. With concentration and proper control of the movement, I command supporting muscles to make the target muscle work even harder. Here are some of my favorite exercises.

BENCH PRESSES | If your back is pressed flat and motionless against a bench so that only your arms move, your chest muscles are unable to expand and contract through their full range of motion, as they should during this movement. Instead, as the bar descends, lift up your chest to meet it, while pulling your shoulder blades together under your back. This stretches your pecs as wide as possible, so that, as you press upward, more of your chest muscles are activated over a greater range of motion. Involvement of your lats and torso also gives your pecs more power to handle more weight, thus developing more chest mass.

STANDING BARBELL CURLS | Since this movement enables you to curl the most weight, all the muscles in your biceps groups are called upon to cooperate, thereby producing a synergistic effect in each of those muscles. Go heavy with these, but start the contraction from the bottom without swinging the weight, then squeeze harder as you curl. You'll feel the burn all the way from your brachialis muscles into the split of your biceps peaks. You've just isolated maximum power into all of your biceps muscles.

SQUATS | This is the greatest--and only--thigh (note: thigh, not quad) exercise, because it requires the coordinated strength of every muscle in the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves and midsection complexes. More muscle-building power is isolated into each of those areas than is possible with exercises targeting those muscles individually.

Apply this concept to every exercise in your workout. An attempt to isolate a muscle may result in isolating it from its maximum amount of work. Instead, think of isolating maximum forces to go where you want them to go.

By Ronnie Coleman

SEVEN-TIME MR. OLYMPIA

 

[eon_blue]

Isolating a singular muscle group in your workout isn't a problem so long as you are devoting equal attention to every other one as well.

It's when you come across those people at the gym who only focus on, say, their biceps while virtually ignoring the triceps that you run into some goofy looking gym buffs.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't focus nearly as much attention on my lower body as I do my upper (with regards to weight lifting), but I do run 20-30 minutes every workout and I find that it's easier to do cardio if I don't do as much lower body lifting.

 

[wizekrak]

I do all the big compounds first depending on what workout I'm doing that day then I do the isolation stuff right after the compounds, I find this works well for me since its kind of like hitting everything twice but also making sure you hit it hard. My workouts take about an hour to do with about a 1 minute rest between each set.

My lower body is the quickest day though: squats, calf raises, and deadlifts followed by some ab work. I could probably expand that day (doing some hip abduction/adduction maybe) but I'm pretty drained after.

On a side note English does have a singular gender neutral pronoun, its 'one'.

 

[p-mo]

^Sounds similar to me- except I also like to throw in front squats and jump squats.

 

[rm-rf]

I lift weights 2-3 times a week, but still consider myself by no means a serious bodybuilder. In fact, it's safe to say I've never been hugely into sports of any kind, and haven't tended to hang out with people who are. I do it for the endorphin boost, for the satisfaction of knowing I look good in a tank top, for the strength when I need it for handyman sorts of projects, and for the mental effects (clarity and anti-depression).

Over the course of getting into weightlifting, I've encountered a good number of guys who are much more serious gymrats than me. And I've noticed they give a lot of lip service to 'isolating muscle groups', when designing and doing their workouts.

Why?

To me, this seems counterintuitive. If I do one exercise that gets many different muscle groups, it seems to me I'm saving time, and not risking overdeveloping one muscle while neglecting the one that counterbalances it.

I start off my every-other-day exercise routine by holding a pair of dumbells at my side while standing up. Then I supinate my wrists, flex my wrists, flex my elbows, and finally hoist the dumbells straight up over my head, before doing the same motion in reverse to bring them down. That's one rep. I do 3 sets of 15 reps. It's not the only upper body exercise I do (I follow with lateral row, bench press, stomach and back exercises, and dips, also 3 sets of 15 each). But it strikes me that this initial exercise works out every muscle in my arms and shoulders, and even many in my back, especially when you figure that I do it standing. Why would I want to replace this nifty lift with a big long series of machine exercises, each of which works on just one muscle group? My workout takes 25 minutes, and that's just fine by me.

After almost a year of this, I wouldn't say I'm built like a pitbull, but I have a physique like a cat who chases a lot of mice -- lean and wiry, but noticeably muscular. This is great. The mrs is happy my sex drive is healthy and I can move heavy boxes for her, but other than that, I've got no one to impress.

I almost posted this in Steroid Discussion, but then figured the response I'd get would be similar to walking up to a card table in a casino and asking how to play.

isolation finely rips and shreds the muscles up (at cellular level) better than an all around workout. you answered the question in your first paragraph - youre not that serious about it. your friends that are "gym rats" that always speak of muscle isolation - theyre serious about it.

sounds like youre doing power cleans. good job, thats how marines get ripped. the only thing is - what if youre power clean (like most people's) wasnt 100% perfect? what if you were building some nice bulk on your anterior deltoids, but your posterior delts werent so big? what if your lats were nice and bulky, bit your traps and rhoms were a bit flat? what if your medial bicep was flat and smooth (instead of peaked like a sphere), but your upper and lower portions of bicep were thick and meaty?

isolation would solve this. use bicep as an example: your power cleans are going to work the area of your bicep real good around your elbow, but the medial (direct int he middle) is probably not absorbing most of that work. to get further isolation, youd suppliment with a few sets of single handed hammer curls, for instance.

so its really about making sure youre hitting every last possible angle on your muscles. 100% isolation on everything would be a very inefficient workout, IMO. 0% isolation, and always using multiple muscle groups for each exercise, would also not be the most efficient way to develop your body.

variety!

 

[phactor]

I do both. Do the big compound exercises first and then however much extra I want to on the machines.. usually just to make up for some form I may have gotten weak in and the ability to do higher weight reps safer.

I'm not super serious.. workout 3 to 4 times a week. Do it for pretty much the same reason. Defiantly do it mainly for the mass gain. Have a very high metabolism so body fat is never a concern. Plus I am a Social Worker who works in high crime/very rough areas. The extra weight serves as a deterrent and also people tend to respect you more in those areas where its survival of the fittest.