Compound Weightlifting Exercises
Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at once, and involve movement around more than one joint at the same time. The capacity of a compound exercise to target more than one muscle group in a single repetition makes it a very efficient component of any workout.
As much as I love biceps curls, they are not a compound weightlifting exercise. They target only a single muscle group, and the movement (the curl itself) includes only one joint (in this case, the elbow). The bench press, on the other hand, is a great compound exercise. The press movement incorporates both the elbow and shoulder joints, and works not only the chest but also a number of the shoulder and upper arm muscles. The effect is like combining a chest fly, shoulder raise, and triceps extension into a single motion.
Compound weightlifting exercises can save time in the gym by working more than one muscle group at once, and have the added benefit of requiring muscles to work together much as is demanded of them in everyday life. After all, if I reach down to pick up a shopping bag from the backseat of my car, I’m not only using any one muscle group: I need them all to be functioning well together.
Like the bench press, the shoulder press is another good compound exercise: working many muscles in a single movement. Come to think of it, almost any exercise with the word “press” in it (declined press, military press, and leg press, to name a few more) is most likely a compound exercise.
Lunges and squats include movement at the hips and knees, and can effectively work almost every part of the gluts, upper leg, and lower leg muscles. To recreate the effect of one of these exercises using muscle-isolating machines you would need at least the following: a leg extension machine for quadriceps, a hamstring curl machine, a machine for calf raises, an inner and outer thigh machine, and something particularly for the gluts.
Single muscle exercises have their place in almost every strength training workout, but the addition of compound weightlifting exercises to any regimen will add efficiency, challenge muscles in new ways, and increase their overall functional strength. So why not give compound exercises a try?
Tags: bench press, compound weightlifting exercises, strength training workout, Weightlifting Exercises