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The Question: Isolation movements are excellent for targeting specific muscles. What is the best all isolation workout? Be specific. What is your favorite isolation exercise? Why? What are some of the benefits of an all isolation workout? What are some negative aspects of an all isolation workout? Who would benefit from using an all isolation workout? Show off your knowledge to the world! The Winners:
2nd place - $50 in store credit. To use your credit, e-mail Will @ will@bodybuilding.com for more info.
In terms of training, what is the difference between a good bodybuilder and a great bodybuilder? It's not that the great bodybuilder works out longer, with more intensity, or with heavier weights. The factor in training that separates the two is that the great bodybuilder has a complete routine. It's a routine that includes isolation work to keep their body in proportion. Some weightlifters often make the mistake that isolation work is useless and a full compound routine is all one needs to build muscle. While compounds are the quickest way to work your body, they fail to fully exhaust the muscles. This is where isolation work is needed. While a compound workout is faster, isolations will better target each individual muscle, resulting in a complete workout. This puts more stress on the muscles, and thus making them grow better than a full compound workout. Read on and learn why isolations are so important, and how a full isolation routine can actually be a benefit for some people. I will go through the benefits and the negatives of isolation work, and which isolations are best used to gain the most muscle mass.
The best all isolation workout would be one that targets every muscle only once, in order to be efficient with your time. There is no benefit working the same muscle with more than one exercise per day. Plus for a workout to be the best that it can be, no muscle should be neglected. The workout will be split into 3 parts over a 12 week period, in order to prevent any muscle adaptation. The first part is designed to be more strength oriented to prepare you for the second half. The second part is designed for size gains. The third part is very intense, as it incorporates the benefits of strength and size gains. It is done last in the routine because your body will need days off to recover from the whole routine, especially the third part. Each workout should not last for more than an hour, as isolation exercises are able to be performed faster and with less rest than compounds. The whole routine would look like this:
Repeat The best all isolation workout would look like this:
While all of the following are isolation exercises, they do not only use a single muscle during the exercise. It is very rare to find an exercise without more than one muscle being worked in it, whether it is a secondary muscle or a stabilizer assisting the main muscle. The main focus for isolation work is to concentrate fully on using the main muscle to move the weight. Main Muscles Worked - The muscles that are used the most during the exercise. Secondary Muscles Worked -Muscles that assist the main muscles in the exercise. Stabilizers - Muscles that are not worked by movement, but rather assist in stabilizing the body in addition to the weight of the exercise.
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers:
What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers:
What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked:
Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers:
What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
   Click Image To Enlarge. Front Incline Dumbbell Raise. Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG - Video iPod
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers: What To Do:
  Click Image To Enlarge. Seated Overhead Tricep Extensions. Video Guide: Windows Media - MPEG - Video iPod
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers:
What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers:
What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
  Click Image To Enlarge. Standing Leg Curl.
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked: Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers: What To Do:
Main Muscles Worked: Secondary Muscles Worked:
Stabilizers: What To Do:
A lot of exercises and muscles were mentioned here. Most of them you've heard of before, but for the ones that may sound strange and you want to learn more about, a complete list of muscles written in this article can be found at this link. A complete list of exercises written in this article can be found at this link.
As with any workout routine, the proper nutrition is required to feed your body the nutrients it needs to properly repair itself and build muscle after a workout. Creatine is a widely popular and recommended supplement to take, along with a post workout protein shake. Multivitamins are also strongly recommended to replenish your body with needed vitamins and minerals that you may not get enough or any at all during the day.
Healthy fats are required in a bodybuilding diet because they aid in maintaining healthy hair and skin, promoting healthy cell function, function in energy storage and vitamins A, D, E, and K can only be digested and used by the body in the combination with fats. Healthy fats include such foods as olive oil, flax seeds and nuts. Fats should equal 20-25% of your total caloric intake.
At least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is recommended for a weightlifting routine, protein aids in the building and repairing of your muscles. Healthy forms of protein include fish, lean red meat, poultry, protein shakes, eggs and skim milk. Protein should equal 35-40% of your total caloric intake.
Carbs aid in the immediate usage of energy. Carbs require less water to digest than fat and proteins; therefore they are the most commonly used energy source in the body. Healthy forms of carbohydrates would be foods such as wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal and nuts. Carbohydrates should equal 40-45% of your total caloric intake.
Total calories can be roughly calculated by multiplying your body weight times 15. Then consider these factors: If Bulking: If Cutting:
The right amount of sleep is also needed, 7-8 straight hours is required to repair your muscles adequately and for your CNS (Central Nervous System) to recover.
Also avoid drinking anything 2 hours before you go to sleep, use the bathroom right before bedtime, cut out all lights in the room, loosen and relieve any pressure you may have on your bladder before bed, do not take a nap in the day, and relax yourself, as to not worry about any days' events.
Hands down, my favorite isolation exercise is smith machine shrugs. I like it the best for a number of reasons. One reason is that using the smith machine for shrugs eliminates the need for balancing the bar. This is a great help as your body, forearms especially, can hold the bar up longer because of the support. This allows you to totally concentrate on lifting the weight with your traps. The smith machine also has the perfect slant to it. This slant gives you a little more range of motion than you would have with just a barbell. This is because when using a barbell you cannot put your legs slightly past the barbell and slightly arch your back backwards. On a smith machine this is possible, thus making the exercise safer and more efficient. Another reason the smith machine shrug is my favorite exercise is because I see the most benefit from it. It is the best mass builder out of both isolation and compound work for your traps. It's very awesome to be able to flex your huge traps gotten from the smith machine shrugs. I believe traps are one of the most noticed muscles on someone, even with their clothes on, and a much needed muscle to complete your physique.
The people who gain the most benefit from an all isolation workout would definitely be bodybuilders. Bodybuilding competitions are not judged by the competitor's strength or time spent in the gym. Isolation work is required to keep your body in symmetry. A bodybuilder can build an outstanding physique with only isolation work. No other weightlifter or athlete can benefit more from an all isolation workout. While bodybuilders have the most benefit, there are others who would benefit from an all isolation workout. These would be older people who may not have the strength or bone support to do squats, deadlifts, bench presses, or pullups. Also for the inexperienced weightlifters, who may not know correct form for the big compound exercises or have enough strength to perform them, would benefit from an all isolation routine. There are not many people that can do pullups on their first day in the gym or can do a set of squats in proper form. An isolation workout would give these people an introduction to weightlifting before they start doing the more advanced exercises. Whatever the reason, an all isolation routine has its place in weightlifting. That concludes my article. I hope everyone has enjoyed it and gained some knowledge that you may have not known. I also expect my article to open the people's minds that believe isolation work is useless; so that they realize that isolation work can and should be included in your routine to complete it.
Isolation movements are excellent for targeting specific muscles. They are used in order to develop a muscle to its fullest potential. Take the biceps for example. You can do countless pullups and barbell rows that will hit your biceps somewhat, but if you crave for that extreme muscle development you must do curls and isolation movements that will hit them to the max and in return give you super-man arms. To sum it all up, isolation movements are exercises that target one muscle and work little to no secondary muscle groups.
Compound movements are a smart part of every routine. But without isolation bodybuilders and even power lifters won't be as strong or as muscularly developed as they are. Isolation movements are very important in a workout routine. I believe that in order to achieve the maximum size possible, one must include compound movements such as squats and deadlifts into their workout. But sometimes people have injuries or are rehabilitating and are unable to. This is where this all isolation workout comes in. If you are feeling over-trained or too sore you can also do this workout and take a break from compounds.
Concentration Curls: 4x 8 8 8 8
Arnold Press: 4x 8 8 8 8  Click Here For A Printable Log Of Tuesday.
Leg Extensions: 6x 20 20 15 15 12 12
Incline Dumbbell Press: 6x 15 12 12 10 10 8
Lat Pulldowns: 4x 10 10 8 8
My favorite isolation exercise is the concentrated bicep curl. It's one of my favorites for numerous reasons. First off, that's the very first exercise that hooked me on bodybuilding. I was watching Pumping Iron and when the scene where Arnold was performing the exercise came up I froze.
All I could remember was his huge arms and a vein the thickness of an electrical cord going down them. I was stunned. I wanted to look like that! Aside from that, this exercise delivers great blood flow to the muscles and in return gives me a great pump. It makes the arms expand and it stretches out the muscle fibers. It's a great exercise that should be in everybody's arm routine. It delivers solid gains and it's fun for me to add weight as I progress. I remember that I started out with only 20lbs but now I'm up to a solid 50lb dumbbell and it keeps climbing!
The best benefit delivered from an all isolation workout is the results! Put in simpler terms, it will give you maximum muscle growth. When body parts are neglected they won't be able to grow. Isolation movements give you the ultimate edge. You get to hit the muscle group that couldn't be hit with compound movements, or it wasn't hit as good and that's why it's lacking. Take calves for example. Many people suffer from the 'chicken leg syndrome'. Even if their quads and hammies are developed excellently, their calves look like toothpicks. Many will complain that their genetics suck, or that they haven't played soccer when they were youngsters and that's why their calves aren't developed. If you ask them what they do many will give you their leg routine: squats, leg presses, extensions, curls and maybe 2-4 sets of calve raises at the end, maybe. That's where the problem lies folks. You can't get big calves by doing squats. Unless you are genetically gifted in that area you must isolate the calves with a decent amount of sets. That's where isolation workouts come in, and that's when results happen!
Bodybuilders are the first on the list that can benefit from an all isolation workout. The reason is very simple. When competing, bodybuilders must display a high level of muscularity. In order to do that every body part must be developed. You cannot develop everything perfectly just from compound lifts alone, and that's where isolation work comes in to play. By isolating each muscle you can get it to grow to its maximal potential and in return be very muscularly developed. Body parts such as calves, rear delts and biceps are examples of what can happen when isolation exercises are allowed in the routine. Along with bodybuilders many athletes can benefit from an all isolation workout. Every athlete has a sport in which one body part is used more often than the others. By isolating that and making that muscle even stronger and more developed an athlete increases the odds of being better than the opponent. An example of this is a basketball player with huge calves that increase his/her vertical jump or an baseball player with bigger and stronger forearms for the ultimate grip. In conclusion, isolation workouts are very important and should be in everybody's routine! It will help bring up all the lacking parts that you couldn't grow otherwise and maximize your muscle potential. Good Luck!
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Strength Oriented Isolation Workout - Week 1-5:
The
human central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord.
These lie in the midline of the body and are protected by the skull and
vertebrae respectively.
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