What you need to know about Weight Training for a strong lean body that both looks good and is injury resistant
by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Working as a personal trainer &
fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time
that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the
benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:
“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”
It doesn’t matter which muscle
someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’
it. My first response to this question is always – “Why in the world
would you want to isolate it?”
The first thing I try to teach my
clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather,
it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large
portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a
complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle
isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist
in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article
compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises
to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex
movements.
When you attempt to ‘isolate’
muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a
body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury.
Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body
parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up
hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis,
and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’
body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean,
muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful
unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday
tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation.
Believe me, focusing on how well
your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks
even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For
example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide
receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these
guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength
coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely
ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens
and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from
the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset in weight training to a more ‘complex
movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat.
The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as
opposed to single-joint muscle isolation lifts, you not only burn a lot
more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic
rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building
hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.
Let’s look at an example. The
machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the
quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long
run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand,
exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all
multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body
(including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and
strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn
massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.
Now although I do feel that multi-joint exercises should comprise the
majority of your weight training workouts, I also think that there can
be some benefits with just minor inclusions of single-joint exercises
for variety, etc. I choose to build my training programs with about
90-95% multi-joint exercises and about 5-10% single-joint exercises at
most.
If you’re interested in discovering
more ways to create a body that looks as good as it functions, pick up a
copy of my innovative book The Truth About Six Pack Abs
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