The Fitness Journal

Weight-training exercises can be divided into two simple categories: compound and isolation.

A compound exercise involves movement through two or more joints. For example, a squat is a compound exercise because it involves movement through the hip, knee and ankle joints. An isolation exercise involves only one joint movement. For example, leg extensions are an isolation movement because they only involve movement through the knee joint.

If muscular strength and development is your our primary goal, compound movements should form the basis, if not the totality of your workouts. They put your body and muscles under considerably more adaptive stress than isolation movements and result in faster returns in relation to strength and muscular development. They are also more time effective (allowing multiple body parts to be trained in one exercise) and also give benefits in relation to fat loss and improving balance.

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Train Smart, Love Life.
Wayne