COMPOUND EXERCISES VS. ISOLATION EXERCISES: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

If you’re new to working out, or have been training for a few years, it’s likely you would have heard the terms compound and isolation used in conjunction with an exercise. Strictly speaking, a compound exercise involves 2 or more joints working together to produce a movement. An isolation exercise involves movement around a single joint. It’s important to note that this is only the case when the exercise is executed correctly, eg. tricep extensions performed correctly with the elbows locked in place is an isolation exercise but when incorrectly performed (where the elbows move out of place) becomes a compound exercise.

The key difference between a compound movement and an isolation movement is the number of joints involved.

Here’s a simple example,The deadlift is a compound movement that involves the hips and knee joints.The movement requires muscle contraction between multiple joints.

The bicep curl, an isolation movement when performed correctly, involves rotation only around the elbow joint. The shoulders and forearms act to stabilise but the movement only involves contraction around a single joint

Deadlift — Multiple joints Bicep curl — Single joint

Now that we have understood the technical difference between compound and isolation exercises, how can we use this information to improve our performance in the gym and get better results?

Inherently, one is not better than the other. When training at the gym, one should not exclusively train using either compound or isolation exercises. They both have their place and a good workout plan will use a combination of compound and isolation exercises.

However, there are other significant differences between the two exercise types that will dictate how they should be incorporated into your workout.

Using this information we can now start to formulate a well balanced workout plan. The exercise selection and how you structure the plan will depend on the goals of the individual.

For example, If I was to provide a generic workout plan for someone new to working out who wants to increase their strength, I would use more compound exercises in the routine and they would be performed before the isolation exercises.

Why is this important? Compound exercises are technically more challenging and tax your central nervous system more than isolation exercises, hence doing them at the start of the workout means you’ll have the energy and focus to execute the movements correctly. Isolation exercises are technically easier to perform and have a lower risk factor due to this, hence performing them towards the end of the routine when you are fatigued means you can perform the exercises safely and have an effective workout.

Here’s an example of a very basic routine for legs:

A key point I must stress, and I’m repeating myself here, is that neither exercise type is better than the other.If you were to perform only compound exercises, you would miss out on the benefits of isolation exercises such as improving weak points and bringing balance to your overall physique. If you performed isolation exercises only, you would miss out on the strength and growth stimulus provided by compound exercises.

Hopefully this article shed some light on the various differences between compound and isolation exercises. Using this information you can now effectively incorporate exercises into your workout routine and find a workout plan that suits your needs and goals.

Thank you for reading.