When you think of isolating a muscle, thoughts of bicep curls, triceps kickbacks, and shoulder shrugs come to mind. I have always disliked isolation work and would like to say its pointless and a waste of time, but I wont.
My dislike does not stem from a tragic childhood memory. I don’t know what that would entail. If I were to take a shot at it, it would definitely involve that documentary about Greg Valentino and his exploding biceps, which I watched as an impressionable teen; or that one scene in the movie Anchorman:
In this weeks post I will make a case for the benefits and the use of isolation work in your program, but I will only do that after I give you the reason why you should avoid doing lots of isolation work.
My Two Cents on Isolation Work
I’ll title this section: Definitional Snobbery
To isolate a single muscle is impossible in the weight room, so the idea that by doing bicep curls you are just working the bicep brachii, is not true. To perform a simple bicep curl you have forearm flexors griping the weight, involvement from the brachiradialis and brachialis, not to forget about shoulder stabilizers, and even the triceps. There is a lot going on behind the scenes to just complete a simple curl.
The only way to truly isolate a muscle is to electrically stimulate the individual muscle. Other than that, you are not doing true isolation.
Isolation work is not the best use of your time
If you are an athlete, I see no need for small muscle movements. Your time in the weight room is valuable and if you want to get the most out of it you will be better off doing heavy multi joint movements, such as pull ups, squats, benching, and other heavy barbell exercises. If you are new to the weight game, then your time should be spent getting stronger, not worrying about your arm girth.
For the person trying to loose weight. You will be better off doing big multi joint exercises that use big muscle groups. This will keep your body temperature up and you heart rate.
Overuse
My last dislike is the fact that it can lead to overuse injures or muscle imbalance. Too much use of one muscle group or doing the same repetitive motions over and over again can lead to injury.
Going back to the biceps if you perform lots of curls and don’t do anything to strengthen your back. You can end up with shoulder pain in your biceps tendon. The over active bicep will pull your shoulder blade forward, which will lead to a smaller acromial space. This all accumulates to pissed off shoulders.
To put it simply, I think your time can be much better spent doing bigger and better exercises then curls and press downs.
The Other Side of the Coin
Here is where I will argue for the side of isolation work.
But first lets admire this great seen from Pain and Gain
Attacking Weaknesses
Isolation work is great for working on weakness. If you find that you have weak shoulder stabilizers then some YTI’s and shoulder internal external exercises might be right for you.
When benching you may find that your lack of triceps strength is holding you back. So spending some time hammering the triceps would be a good idea to get that muscle group back up to par with the rest of the muscles.
Getting Back in Alignment
Hell, most abdominal work is muscle group specific. I would like to think doing squats, deadlifts, and just keeping good form is enough to develop a strong core, but I know that’s not always the case. That’s why we do specific ab work to help prevent muscle imbalance.
Recap
Positives of Isolation work:
- Good way to work on weak spots
- Help prevent imbalances
- Good for getting muscular size
- As shown by Mark Wahlberg, isolation work is also great for thinking through your problems
Negatives of Isolation work:
- Lead to over use injury
- Not the best use of time for gaining strength
- If you are weak then you have no weak spot, you’re just weak. Stick to the multi joint lifts.
- Can lead to lapse in broing out, which leads to you spending long periods of time flexing in the mirror, which could lead to you being late for important life events.
Conclusion
There is a time and a place for everything, well almost everything I can think of a few example of things that should never be done, like if your friend suggests that you watch the movie Pi. If this does happen here is an appropriate response, fell free to use.
“No, I don’t need that crap in my life, and you and I are no longer friends because you have poor judgment and I don’t need your bad decision making affecting my life.”
Where was I? O, yes. There is a place for isolation work. If you have a weak spot, attack it, if you’re unbalanced hit it up, if you want to get big arms it is what it is.
To answer my own question, “Is there a need for it?” I would say yes, BUT it all depends on the individual and the context in which isolation work is used.
Best
Josh Williams
