Is Isolation The Way To Go?

[El Jugo Bueno]

I recently replaced almost all my chest exercises with purely isolation. If i continue to do this will I see no gains in mass, only in cuts? I used to never isolate and I've seen minimal results, but should I do a combination of both?

[bigsd67]

i would suggest doing a combo....i usually do incline, flat bench, and chest press....4 sets 6 reps heavy heavy weight.

[Mr. Death]

It's always best to do a combination of both. If you only use isolation movements you more than likely won't work the entire muscle and you won't strengthen the supporting muscles.

[inheritmylife]

Cuts are from leaness, not exercize choice. Unless you are massive for your height, I suggest doing primarily compound movements. Isolation movements IMO, are best used by the advanced trainee who has achieved some serious size, and wants to work on symmetry and proportion. When I weigh 230 at 5'9", then I'll think about concentration curls and cable flies.

[ripsid]

If you're trying to gain in size, I'd say go heavier for minimum of 8 and gotill you can't go anymore! I'm a firm believer in 20+ sets per body part...Kill it bro!

SID

[BigGreen]

With so many suggesting a combo, and rightly so, might i suggest you take that combo to the next level and, every once in a while, superset an isolation exercise with a compound exercise - ideally using the isolation exercise as a pre-exhauster for the compound. A personal favorite of mine is to bust out a nice set of flyes and follow that immediately with a classic set of bench. Be forewarned, if you're honest about your flyes, have a hell of a lot less weight on the bar than you normally would. Additionally, i think this is invaluable in that it "teaches" you how to most effectively "connect" with the pecs in the bench press, as it's often difficult to mitigate the involvement of the triceps and delts in favor of the chest.