Doing WHOLE BODY exercises vs ISOLATION.

[Big Balta]

I've long a go come to a road block in my natural bodybuilding/lifting career. People complement me with my shirt on, but when my shirt comes off I have some fat to lose and if I lose it, I'm afraid I'll look smaller.

I came across an article that basically shits on the split routine. It says that it will be mostly effective for those who are on gear, but not so much for those who are natural. It goes to say that in order to build muscle and strength as a natural athlete you need to do whole body exercises and lift no more than 3 times a week. I've been doing a lot of isolation and 4-5 times a week.

What do you guys think about isolation vs whole body?

[Awesome_Archy]

I prefer isolation exercises but i have to mix it up every few weeks or i get bored with the same routine. I like to do an entire week with body weight exercises. ie: pushup/pullup/squat variations when you say isolation exercises are you excluding deadlifts and squats? Both are compound lifts that work nearly the entire body and i could never replace either of them.

[Big Balta]

I rarely do deadlifts or squats. Do you think if I continue with isolation, but incorporate these two, I will see some results?

[Awesome_Archy]

Yes, definitely like i said done correctly these two exercises each hit almost the entire body.

[600@50]

Squats and deadlifts are without a doubt 2 of the best compound movements. They both really tax the body when done right (high intensity). For the squat you can go narrow or wide stance, high on the traps or low on the rear delts or any variation of sets and reps. DL you have regular and sumo.

Variation is key to confusing the muscle and stimulating growth. REST and nutrition are equally important. You must rest to grow. Lots of good info in this forum. Workout and nutrition sections are a must read.

[Big Balta]

Thanks guys. I'll start incorporating some compound exercises like you guys mentioned and see where it gets me. My rest hasn't been that great. One night of drinking and I can't fall asleep till 2 am now. Need to get back on normal schedule. And I need a more consistent diet.

[Awesome_Archy]

Thanks guys. I'll start incorporating some compound exercises like you guys mentioned and see where it gets me. My rest hasn't been that great. One night of drinking and I can't fall asleep till 2 am now. Need to get back on normal schedule. And I need a more consistent diet.

Gotta be disciplined, no drinking. post your stats and goals in the nutrition forum.

[spywizard]

depends on what you want to accomplish...

genetic potential vs enhanced build..

[Big Balta]

depends on what you want to accomplish...

genetic potential vs enhanced build..

Well, like I said, I'm all natural. I read that the split routine works best for those enhanced. I realize that if I were to be using gear the split routine I'm currently doing would work even better, way better. The reason I'm looking into compound/ whole body exercises is because I am not growing at all anymore and I haven't really been into squats/deadlifts although I did them from time to time.

I read in a lot of places that doing split routine on a natural body is useless... I can't say it's completely useless as I have made pretty good gains from it. But having been stagnant for years I am starting to look for other ways to push myself. Obviously, I thought of AAS and I want to do it when the time is right but right now I'd like to see what compound exercises do to my body, and a good diet of course.

[Awesome_Archy]

Everybody plateaus at some point and the key ussually is to just mix it up. If youve been training isolations for years it might be best to switch to a full body workout for a while, or take a week off.

[Big Balta]

I'm taking the weekend off to start fresh. Right now I got this going on, with no specific days, but you get the idea:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: - off -
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms

Here's what I'm thinking from now:
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Arms + Deadlifts
Wednesday: - off -
Thursday: Back
Friday: Shoulders + Squats

[Awesome_Archy]

Monday: chest/ shoulders
Tuesday:back/arms
Wednesday: off
Thursday: legs

[spywizard]

Monday: chest/ shoulders
Tuesday:back/arms
Wednesday: off
Thursday: legs

mon: chest/shoulders
tues: legs
off
thurs: back arms

in this order the upper is only worked after 48 hr recovery..

I'd suggest also doing static training, the deal with that is you take 72 hours off between workouts.. most people can't do that for 6 weeks..

[Awesome_Archy]

mon: chest/shoulders
tues: legs
off
thurs: back arms

in this order the upper is only worked after 48 hr recovery..

I'd suggest also doing static training, the deal with that is you take 72 hours off between workouts.. most people can't do that for 6 weeks..

sounds much better

[Alex66]

in my opinion, both have a place, i start my workouts with compound exercises because they allow you to handle the most weight, and really fatigue your muscle, then ill switch to isolation movements when my muscle gets more tired, and finally ill use machine movements when my stabilizer muscles are shot

[Conrad0032]

If you do isolation definitely start with the compounds and get your deadliest and squats in!! At the moment I'm doing full body routine 3x a week that takes 120-150 minutes to complete but it seems to be working awesome. I only do compound lifts on those days 1 explosive, 1 for legs, 1 push movement, 1 pull movement then some arms sometimes. I am doing this for power though and not bodybuilding. It depends what your going for I suppose.

[Blergs]

every other day work out
hit one- two spots per workout
train same spot ONLY 1-2 times per week.
dotn train more than 3-4 days a week
go for 45min-1.5hrs per workout
lift heavy max reps per set 6-8

thats what I go by. works well for me

[Blergs]

for bulking anyway

[Big Balta]

I heard that anything more than 1 hour at a good intensity is overtraining, but hey do you if it works it works...

[gbrice75]

Are we talking about bodypart split routines vs. total body workouts, or isolation exercises vs. compound?

Seems to be some confusion based on the replies i'm seeing.

[Conrad0032]

For bodybuilding over 60 minutes is usually counter productive. But for power and strength, those routines can go on for a couple hours if needed.

[busybody]

Personally I think every routine should be based on compound, big muscle group work, and then if you
want to work on a certain area, you can do it after you've done your compound.
I'm a big believer in usable strength. Stuff like squats, chin ups, etc. That's real life applicable
stuff. it's awesome if you can curl 180, but if you can't do a single chinup, it's kinda pointless.

[DiamondJim]

Compound exercises 3x a week.


Remember , you grow during rest. Super-composition theory says that we can build on our past workout with proper rest.

This applies for natural athletes who are not considered world class or elite.