Isolation, or single-joint, exercises like curls, lateral raises, and flys have gotten a bad rap of late. Functional training purists are quick to deem them non-functional, relegating them to bodybuilding protocols only.
While the focus of training should always be on big multi-joint movements, isolation training is often the best strategy for strengthening synergists, regressing multi-joint exercises, and activating “sleepy” muscles.
For this reason, most everyone’s training will benefit from the inclusion of a few select isolation movements. In analogy to food, after you’ve eaten your meat and potatoes (compound lifts), you should feel free to indulge in a bit of dessert (isolation lifts).
Of course, if you’re going to eat dessert, you want to make sure it’s worth it. Like adding chocolate syrup to vanilla ice cream, a slight tweak to the way in which an exercise is traditionally performed can confer a drastically greater benefit. Below are six such tweaks.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to stop off in Hudson, Massachusetts, for an afternoon on my way to Boston. What’s in Hudson, you ask? Not a whole heck of a lot — besides, of course, the Mecca of sports performance facilities: Cressey Performance. Being in such close proximity, I just had to complete the pilgrimage to see what CP was all about.
"Overtraining, fatigue, and burnout are a state of mind. Certainly, we all get tired after putting in miles of laps, but the notion of burnout is really a psychological one."
-Three-time Olympian Janet Evans
During my swimming career, I took the above sentiment to heart. More was always better -- more pool sessions per week, more laps, more dryland training. I even went so far as to perform 1000 "abs" per day for a while, as per Evans' recommendation.
As it turns out, I'm not Janet Evans, and neither are you, probably. (Unless you are, in which case, thanks for reading, Janet!) Looking back, I was always in my best shape at the very beginning of the college season, after having trained more moderately during the summer. By mid-season, I was exhibiting numerous signs of overtraining, like constant lethargy, decreased performance in competition, and low motivation to train.
A week or two of strategic overreaching (an abrupt and generous increase in training volume) and subsequent supercompensation through a deload (an abrupt reduction in training volume) or complete rest is one thing. But training past exhaustion day after day, week after week, is simply counterproductive and a recipe for overtraining.
The knock here isn't on Evans, of course. Her training methods obviously worked for her. Some genetically-gifted individuals will be able to train twice a day, every day, no problem. Most mere mortals, however, will not. The key is to find your unique sweet spot in terms of training frequency.
The Terminator and the Fitness Pollenator recently joined forces. Back from the future, we have a few pieces of advice for you on resistance training for years to come, including a sample three-day training program!
Follow the link below to read all about it in my Schwarzenegger.com article titled 'Live Long, Lift Long:'
http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/live-long-lift-long
There are a million and one ways to exercise the human body, and different strokes certainly work for different folks. That said, when it comes to resistance training, there are a few tried-and-true strategies for making the most of your time. So without further ado, here are 8 Simple Rules that are guaranteed (or your fitnesspollenator.com membership money back!) to improve your very next workout, as well as many more thereafter.
