So, you are up one day and decide that it is time to start a bulking program. Good for you! You then join your local gym, buy yourself a pair of gym shoes, draw up a training plan and hit the gym. But overtime and as the adrenaline rush from your initial enthusiasm dissipates, you discover that you are not gaining as much muscle as you had hoped.
You get frustrated and wonder why those fitness influencers videos are not helping you out. You wonder why that 2 week program isn’t doing much for you as promised.
It is at this time that you need to sit back and reflect on what you are doing right or what you’re not doing at all.
Many newbies can relate to this scenario and many more can attest to the fact that after a sober reflection, they spent more of their time on a number of isolation exercises. Not that isolation exercises in itself is the problem, no, not by stretch, but focusing primarily on isolation exercises and having your entire training program built around isolation exercises as a newbie, may not be the right way to go.
As a matter of fact, there are a host of greenhorns to the world of fitness that can attest to compound exercises for muscle and strength being the most effective training strategy that you can adopt today.
What Makes A Compound Exercise?
If you are just hearing about compound exercises for the very first time, you.might be wondering what exactly it is. To explain compound exercises, it may be worthwhile talking about isolation exercises first.
While an isolation exercise is a workout that primarily isolates and trains a joint or muscle, compound exercises are those exercises that involve a singular movement that trains multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time.
So, rather than working just one isolated muscle at a time during an exercise, you will recruit the use of several joints and muscles at the same time for optimal muscle and strength gains.
During a strength training session involving compound lifts, you will be able to build muscle faster than if you were just involved in isolation exercises.
There are several strength training exercises that involve the use of several joints and muscle groups working in unison, but the most popular compound exercises for muscle and strength gains are variations of:
Deadlifts (machine or free-form)
Squats
Overhead Press (with dumbbell or Barbell weights)
Barbell Rows
Bench Press
Dips
Pull-Ups
For any strength training program to be successful, the seven compound lifts listed above have to take center stage in the sessions.
Why are Compound Exercises for Muscle and Strength Worthwhile?
Build Muscle Fast
The key to the success of compound exercises for muscle and strength lies in the number of muscles that are activated whenever you perform a lift. Let us take a look at two of the exercises listed, the Squat and Bench Press. The squat is typically classified as a critical leg day exercise routine. However, that squat you do will also train your stabilizing muscles, lower back, core, and glutes. As for the Bench Press which is typically classified as a chest exercise, you will also get to train (along with your pectoral muscles) the muscles of your arm including your triceps, and shoulders.
Now, if your main goal is to build muscle fast, then compound movements is the way to go as it involves a larger number of muscles to create an even greater amount of training stimulus in comparison to most of the isolation exercises you may be used to. As a result of this, compound exercises are widely acknowledged as your go-to training strategy for effectively building muscle mass within a short period of time.
Progressive Overload Activated for Strength Gains
Another reason why you really should explore the inclusion of a variety of compound exercises in your training regimen is that you are more likely to experience strength gains quicker than isolation exercises when you do.
Whenever you engage in compound lifts like Deadlift, Overhead press, and Squats, you have the ability to introduce progressive overload as a way of building your strength, stamina, and endurance levels.
Progressive overloads do not only refer to your ability to add more weights to your compound lifts and lift heavier weights, it also refers to your ability to progress your sets, repetitions, or rest time (by reducing your rest between sets for example).
Full-Body Workouts for Greater Calorie Burn and Cardio Conditioning
It is no secret that you are more likely to burn more calories whenever you engage in compound exercises for muscle and strength compared to isolation exercises simply because of the larger number of muscles that are deployed at the same time. Your heart rate is elevated more with compound exercises compared to isolation exercises which is also great for your cardio conditioning in addition to burning calories and helping you achieve a lean physique.
Compound Exercises Gives a Full-Body Workout for Improved Performance
Compound exercises will not only improve your muscle mass and strength, but will also promote your overall stability, balance, and coordination for improved performance. The principal reason for this is because compound movements like pulling, pushing, lifting, and squatting are all natural everyday movements that only get better for improved performance with compound lifts.
Getting Started with a Beginner Full-Body Workout Routine
As a newbie you can start your training program with this beginner friendly full-body workout program involving the popular compound exercises listed earlier.
You can start with between 3 to 4 sets with 8-10 reps each of Deadlifts, Squats and Bench Press. You can also include 3 sets of 10 reps each of Overhead Press, Barbell Rows, and Lat Pulldowns or Pull-Ups.
With these compound exercises your full-body workouts will be both productive and focused even as you train just about every possible major muscle group in your body.
While you are focused on compound lifts, remember that your gains are not earned in the gym, but while you recover. With this in mind, it is advisable that you combine your training with proper nutrition with emphasis on protein-rich foods, hydration, and adequate rest and sleep.
You will experience microtears in your muscles that need to heal properly before your next training day, this is why recovery is important, as you get to allow your muscles to repair and grow at the same time to get them ready for another session of compound lifts.
As your muscles repair and grow in the process, they are better prepared to adapt to the demands of your next round of compound exercises even when you apply progressive overload.
Final Thoughts
While compound exercises for muscle and strength are necessary in any reasonable strength training program, it does not mean you should neglect isolation exercises like your lateral raises, triceps extensions, and bicep curls.
Isolation exercises help in building up training volume while at the same time helping to build up mass in weak muscles. Ideally, you should spend 80% of your training and time on compound exercises in the gum and the remaining 20% of training should be dedicated to engaging in isolation exercises to hit those muscles that are not growing at your expected rate of progress.
