How Isolation Sucks…
Unless you’re a bodybuilder. Let me say that first.
Or unless you are recovering from a traumatic injury that rehabilitation needs focus on a particular muscle group at a time.
But rest aside, isolation sucks if you’re after fat loss.
One reason is this, you burn less calories.
Doing biceps curls for 3 sets will not compare to doing squats or dead lifts (which involve multi-joint movements – total body) to burning calories and creating a turbulence in the body.
Second, the potential risk of injury at various points from a seamingly simple exercise.
And I couldn’t say it better myself, so here is a piece from an article from my Peak Performance newsletter I receive. One way I try to stay atop my reading to help everyone at Robert Belley Fitness in our BURN boot camps and in our semi-private training sessions.
Here is that bit,
Let’s just take a couple of examples of Chris’s educative approach. First,
the preacher curl – beloved of body-builders, because let’s face it, it makes a
guy look really tough. But read what Chris has to say about that:“Bodybuilders have long held the belief that the preacher curl trains
the ‘peak’ in the bicep. This is a fallacy; the only reason the bicep appears to
peak is because the starting position places the shoulder in 20 to 45 degrees of
flexion. This shortens the bicep so that the excursion of the muscle ‘pushes’ up
its bulk.”And here’s the problem:
“The inherent danger with this curl lies in the protracted scapular
position and forward tilt of the scapula (coracoid process is directed
anteriorly and inferiorly). In this position, the subacromial structures –
bursa, biceps tendon and supraspinatus tendon – are in a potential impingement
position.”
I couldn’t say it better.
But you get the point right?
Acute injuries, acute injuries, acute injuries…
Most often, people train with incorrect form. That incorrect form could lead to major damage structurally. Especially if you’re going at it alone.
Not to say that bad form on multi-joint exercises isn’t any better, but, dollar for dollar you are better off becoming proficient with exercise form with multi-joint movements as they will help you further in your journey towards fat loss.
Thank you for reading today’s post
Rob