I still do alot of isolated exercises. They're great for a change. What i did when I first started lifting was to just do isolated exercises (besides bench) and when i started doing compound ones (chinups, squats, rows etc) i could do a fair bit of weight. youve made the right choice in doing compound exercises. However you may find in a few months that your starting to reach a plateau in some of your exercises. This is where i believe isolated exercises are useful. By strengthening muscles individually that you use in a lift you can make the whole lift stronger when you get back to it. eg. Lets say your doing bench press. youve reached a weight which you cant pass. every 2nd workout you do for your triceps, pecs and deltoids try tricep pulldown, dumbell press (with arms almost paralell for chest most and to the side for anterior deltoid) and dumbell shoulder press. this should help you to get over your plateau. also i love my biceps so i still do bicep curls. hopr that helps
Yeah that's great, cheers mate. If I were to do any isolation stuff, I'd include weighted calf raises, crunches, bicep curls, tricep pulldowns, and some kind of shoulder exercise. I think the compound lifts would compliment that nicely, as they work my back, thighs and hamstrings pretty hard. Cheers again for the help mate.
if u carnt do 5 chins/pullups at once do 5singles rest pause they are far superior to rows especially as u say u wont strength perhaps alternate 1week rows 1week chins/pullups
do not use a weight belt for any of your training your lower back muscles must strenghten along with everything else
I would love it if someone could explain to me why pull ups (which work your LATS) are better than rows (which works an entirely different muscle, your Rhomboids. Which also happens to be your MIDDLE back.) I mean I know they do work different muscles and all, but if you could just point out to me what exactly makes them a superior exercise. I thought I knew a little something about working out but experts have proven me totally wrong. P.s. Yes I do realize in rows your lats are worked, and so are your biceps. However they are secondary muscles if you're doing them with any kind of proper form.
You could even do fewer reps I think for best strength gains. Try 3-4 reps. Also, don't leave out rest between sets. For strength gains, make sure you get about 3 mins of rest (If you don't have time for this, bring it down to 2). This allows you to recover more, meaning you can move more total weight.
I do my lifts in a cycle, I do 5 reps of squats, then 5 bench, then 5 pulldowns, then 5 rows, then start over again until I've done 5 sets of each. So I do rest in a way.
pullups/chins work the entire back e.g gymnasts exeptionaly strong exceptional back development tons of pullup/chin movements
My dear friend... they have exceptionally strong lats and trapz. But just a question for you, when is the last time you've felt your lower spinal erectors being worked during a pullup/chin movement? Chances are you have yet to feel that, because it just doesn't happen. Now, back to the point at hand. He should be doing both, neither will work the entire back. And don't forget the lower portion of the spinal erectors IS part of your core; so if you develop them it will help punching power. Now to the final point: to say that one exercise is superior to the other is simply idiotic.
rakim, your routine is decent, but add in some explosive lifts like cleans, snatches and swings. on the whole pull-up/row thing, pull ups do work your whole back, or lats (not lower back>>deadlifts). Pull ups are better than rows because of the vertical motion, not to mention your working both halves of your back with your body rather than one at a time with dummbbell. bent over rows work the whole back, but again, the vertical pulling motion is why pull ups are so effective. sagefrancis, you do isolation exercises? I get your point about increasing each muscles strength for the compoung, but does it actually work? either way, I wouldn't want to teach my muscles to work by themselves. :rofl atsch
if youve got the muscle memory to perform a compound movement then regardless of wether youve been gaining strength in each muscle through compound or isolated movements your still going to be able to lift. as i think i said (i cant remember) i use isolated to get past plateaus. and for me this has worked on a few occasions. but i do see where your coming from. it can be a good idea to use isolated exercises in addition as well if you wish to step up your training a bit.
They're better because of the vertical motion? :roll: Bent over rows done with a barbell will work both sides of the back, at the same time my friend. Sorry I didn't specify.
