Let's play a game.

It's called compound, isolation, nothing.

It's much like rock, paper, scissors.

Compound exercises beat isolation exercises.

Isolation exercises beat doing nothing.

And nothing beats compound exercises.

3–2–1–shoot

Of course, you choose compound every time.

Compound exercises are king.

Nothing beats them.

Breaking Down the Exercises

It may sound obvious, but using more muscles when working out is almost always more productive than using fewer. If the goal is to build strength and muscle and lose fat, it’s no wonder we want to move heavy things using complex movements. Compound exercises are those complex movements.

First, let's take a step back and look at the difference between the types of exercises.

Compound exercises:

1. Use multiple joints

2. Use multiple muscle groups

3. Involve complex movements

Isolations exercises:

1. Use single joints

2. Usually engages a single muscle group in isolation.

3. Simple movements

Benefits and Drawbacks

The differences might already have you sold, but let's look at the pros and cons of each:

Compound Exercise Pros:

1. Greater muscle engagement leads to greater muscle gains.

2. Greater energy expenditure leads to greater calories burned.

3. Heavier loads lead to greater strength gains.

4. More efficient use of gym time.

Compound Exercise Cons:

1. The exercises expend more energy and cause greater fatigue.

2. Greater muscle demands lead to longer recovery requirements.

Isolation Exercise Pros:

1. Little energy is required to do the movements.

2. Great for targeting specific muscles for growth.

3. Light weights are easier to move.

Isolation Exercise cons:

1. Little benefit outside of the target muscle group.

2. Little strength gains outside of the target muscle.

3. Low energy requirements contribute less to caloric expenditure.

4. Take similar amounts of time as compound exercises.

As we can see, for most fitness goals, compound exercises make a lot more sense to focus on. They require more work and provide significantly more results. The “downside” of being hard is an upside in the frame of fitness. Doing hard things to force the body to adapt is the goal of fitness after all.

That is not to say isolation exercises don't have a use. They make great accessory exercises for smaller muscle groups like arms and abs, which don't always get fully exhausted from the bigger compound exercises. Most solid routines will start with compound exercises and finish with some isolation exercises that act as a “final push” to exhaust the muscles that the workout is targeting.

Why Compound Reigns Supreme

Compound exercises will always allow for greater results, so if results are the goal, then compound exercises should be the target.

Let’s look at an example of a compound exercise: the classic barbell bench press. If you imagine the movement of this exercise, you can see that it requires all sorts of muscles to complete the movement:

• Your back and core stabilize your body on the bench.

• Your legs plant against the ground and provide driving power.

• Your shoulders and arms hold the bar at the current position.

• Your chest drives the bar up and down by squeezing your arms together.

All these things happen simultaneously to complete the complex movement. Now, no one can call this iconic chest movement a leg exercise, but the point stands - many muscles are working to complete this exercise.

Compare this to an isolated curl:

• Your upper arm is pressed against a support, the dumbbell being held in your hand.

• You raise the dumbbell from a full stretch to a full contraction, squeezing the bicep at the top.

Feel the burn. It might burn more but it's certainly less work. You're primarily only getting the benefit in your bicep, even if there is a small residual benefit to forearms and other parts of the arm.

The reason for the difference is the number of impacted joints and muscles, and possible load. The bench press uses multiple joints and virtually every muscle in your body to contribute to moving a very heavy load. On the contrary, the isolated bicep curl uses a single joint and muscle to move a relatively light load.

The compound exercise is harder thus provides more gains.

The Efficiency Factor

The reason we want to do compound exercises is not purely because it's harder, though. It's also more efficient. Assuming you don’t make a living by being in the gym, you likely have a limit to the amount of time you can spend there. A large portion of the time you spend in the gym is spent in between sets, resting. So, the more exercises you do, the more time you spend resting, and the longer your workout becomes.

With that in mind, you should quickly realize that compound exercises give you more results for your time:

• 10 compound sets and 4 isolation sets are about 30 minutes with a minute and a half rest.

• 14 isolation sets are about 30 minutes with a minute and a half of rest.

As we discussed, compounds provide more benefit, so doing the same amount of compound exercises will always give better results in the same amount of time. The less time you have the bigger, harder, heavier compound exercises you should do. The harder the movement the more you're getting out of the work.

Expert Routines Work

There is good news though. Most routines you find from your favorite fitness expert will likely be majority compound exercises, if that person knows what they're doing. This is part of the reason it is highly recommended to follow a routine by an experienced lifter, instead of trying to piece together exercises your friend showed you that one time. You leave gains on the table when you choose a routine that isn't rooted in this principle, or worse, you give up after not getting any results.

As you gain experience and you learn more and more complex compound exercises, you'll develop favorites, and dislikes, and learn to interchange exercises based on your preferences and the target muscle group. But until you feel confident in doing so, it is advised to try routines that are already thought out for you.

If you do need a beginner routine to follow, based on the number of days you can commit to the gym, you can always head over to the Lucid Fitness Instagram where there are a few sample routines.

You Have the Tools to Start

Fitness isn't an exact science. If it were, every single Mrs. Fit you see on the internet would be spouting the same routine and following it themselves. Unfortunately, this isn't reality. There is a lot of variety, and as mentioned in the last newsletter you need to choose things that work for your life:

1. Find a routine that you can commit to the number of days required.

2. Discover exercises that you like and are willing to do.

3. Use primarily efficient, compound exercises that get you the best (quickest) results for the time you can commit.

It's that easy. Your first few years in fitness and nutrition should be largely exploratory. You want to give yourself a chance to discover what is out there and develop your preferences. Fortunately, many different options work.

Now grab a routine and go!