Fitness is Learning - Isolated and Compound Exercises

Isolation Exercises

Isolation Exercises are exercises that focus one muscle or joint at a time.

These exercises are good for rehab or working out a specific muscle weakness. As it turns out, I already have some experience with isolation exercises when I was working on the problem I was having with my knees. The real problem with my knees had to do with a muscle imbalance with my quads and hamstrings. So, for a while I was doing a lot of leg extensions and hamstring curls to correct the problem. It also turns out that two of my favorites—bicep curls and tricep kickbacks—are isolated exercises.

Compound Exercises

Compound exercises work several muscles at a time. To get the most of your workouts, compound exercises are the way to go. These exercises build basic strength. Compound exercises also help increase your metabolism. Some of the best compound exercises that I like are bench press (works shoulders, chest, and triceps) and squats (works core, glutes, quads).