Order of compound and isolation

W

Waxy

0
My current routine has a mixture of compound and isolation movements. I have been told that for upper body it is best to perform compound first followed by isolation. And for lower body it is best to start with isolation and finish off with compound.

The rational is something about the larger leg muscles taking longer to warm up. So there’s less risk of injury doing squats and dead lifts at the end of your leg workout when you know the muscle fibres are warmed.

Now this advice came from a mate, who I respect and is well fit, but he’s no expert. I’m interested in what you guys think. Is there anything to this theory? When combining compound and isolations movements how do you split them up?
 
You want to do your compounds before hitting isolation exercises. While I am certainly no expert I assume is the same for both upper and lower body.

If you want to warm up (which you should), I like to do a bit of dynamic stretching and to do a light initial set to get my form and legs going before starting the workout proper.
 
You should start with compound movements (ex: bench press) and then finish with single-joint movements (ex: bicep curls). The reason behind this is that you want to do the most demanding movements first, then finish with the easier ones. In my example, your biceps are getting work while you bench press. So if you were to just work them before you benched, you wouldn't be as efficient.
 
PrISM said:
You should start with compound movements (ex: bench press) and then finish with single-joint movements (ex: bicep curls). The reason behind this is that you want to do the most demanding movements first, then finish with the easier ones. In my example, your biceps are getting work while you bench press. So if you were to just work them before you benched, you wouldn't be as efficient.
Click to expand...


You are correct about compound before isolation but i never been able to work my biceps while doing bench press LOL :p did you mean tricep push downs or some sort of isolation exercise for triceps haha
 
It probably doesn't feel like you are because the larder muscles are doing the bulk of the lift....but I assure you your triceps are being used.

Try a closer grip on the bench if you want to give the triceps a harder time.
 
Waxy, since nobody actually answered your question about the legs, I will do it. A muscle is a muscle is a muscle. No better way to warm up a muscle group that to perform the same movement with light weight (aka warm up sets). Why warm up your quads by doing leg extensions when it works the muscles differently than squats? Right?

So, there's your answer. Warm up the muscles using light weight warm up sets. Another thing is, when doing the warmups like this, you also work in all the little supporting muscle fibers that are involved in the movement...which don't get hit when you do single joint movements.
 
Hi,

I always used to agree with the above, that compounds should go first, and it makes perfect sense.

but today, for some reason, I decided to try it the other way round. I did cable bicep curls, then lat pulldown and dumbell rows, and it felt really good!

Usually I can never seem to exhaust my synergist muscles without exhausting myself first (running out of energy). E.g. I would work my back, using maybe 3 types of row/pulldown, then finish with a bicep curl, but i could only handle light weights as my biceps were so weakened, and I could never get my biceps aching the next day.

by doing isolation first, i really felt my biceps pumpd like never before! I moved on to the compounds, and surprisingly I could almost do the same reps and weight as when i did them first, just a little less weight on the lat pulldown...and, I felt my back pump more than usual as well!

My explanation is that as my biceps were tired, so forced my back to do more work.

No scientific evidence, just that it felt really good for me today so i will definitely be trying this with chest and triceps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top