Types of Muscle Building Exercises

Basically there are two broad categories of muscle building exercises: compound and isolation. Your choice of the type of exercise you base your workouts on plays a critical role in determining the results you will (or won’t) get. And when inexperienced people try to devise their own workouts, they almost always choose incorrectly.

Here is the difference between these two types of muscle building exercises:

A compound exercise involves two or more different joint movements. For example, a squat is a compound exercise because the hips, knees and ankles move when you do the exercise properly.

An isolation exercise involves only one joint movement. For example, curls are an isolation movement, because they only involve the elbows. Note that curling with both arms at once is still an isolation movement, because even though you are moving two joints, they are the same kind of joint.

So the main difference between these two types of muscle building exercises is that compound exercises involve more joint movements. So what?

Well, a consequence of involving more joints is that compound exercises "recruit" more motor units and in so doing, you encourage more muscle development.  All else being equal, compound exercises will give you more results in terms of muscular development than isolation exercises.

There are also other benefits related to multiple joints exercises. That is, they are much better in producing practical useful strength. And because compound exercises use more muscle groups per exercise, you can work more muscles using fewer exercises. This is particularly appealing for most people who want to get those muscles with minimum workout time.

So are isolation exercises worthless? Not really.

You need to understand the proper application of isolation exercises.They should be used as supplements to your major compound lifts, not in place of them.

For example, let’s say that you’ve been lifting for 6 months, doing a good program based on compound exercises, and for whatever reason your calves are lagging behind the rest of your legs. In that case, adding an exercise that isolates your calves makes perfect sense.

So the take home message here is that you should start off doing compound exercises. Use isolation exercises only if needed.

Having spoken about the importance and usefulness of compound exercises,here are 5 of the top compound exercises you can use to get started building muscle.

1.  Squats- This is one of the best exercises for your lower body. It works all of the major muscles in your legs and glutes. While this exercise is pretty effective as it is, there are some variations you can try to make it harder. For instance, you can add weight when you perform the exercise. This adds a lot more intensity.

    

2. Deadlift- This is a simple exercise that really works your entire body. This is not as well known as some other exercises, but it's incredibly effective. Your neck, back, biceps, forearms, glutes, hamstrings, and quads are all included in this exercise. The exercise is basically bending over and picking weight up. This is very practical in everyday life, since you often have to bend over to pick up heavy items.

    

3. Lunges- There are several different types of lunges you can do. There are forward lunges, reverse lunges, even walking lunges. You can add weight to any of the lunges to make them more difficult. No matter which one you choose to do, you'll get a great workout for your quads and glutes. You should be careful with this exercise though, since it can put extra strain on your knees if it's not performed correctly.

    

4. Crunches- This remains one of the top exercises for your midsection. There are different types of crunches that are designed to work different areas of your abs. You can also try adding weight or performing the crunches on an exercise ball to make them harder. These are very easy to perform incorrectly, so you want to go slow and focus on your form. You also want to remember to breathe during the exercise. Some people tend to hold their breath while doing crunches.

    

5. Push Ups- This is a great upper body exercise. There are several muscle groups that are worked during this exercise. Your chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps are all included. As with the other exercises, there are several variations to increase the intensity.

 Sean Nalewanyji's book on " Truth about Muscle gain" elaborated on the types of muscle building exercises with emphasis on the types to be done to get optimal results. A video is even provided to show you the correct way in doing these exercises. Worth checking out.