There are many different ways to go about working out, depending on your goals. Your aim might be to increase cardio, size, strength, explosiveness, etc. Here, I want to share how I workout- and the goal is to challenge myself and keep my muscles engaged.
If your goal is bodybuilding, there is definitely some value to put some time into isolation exercises- exercises that target one single, smaller muscle. As an example, the bicep curl. However, what I’ve found to be most efficient, is to put the energy and effort into compound movements- exercises that target many muscles at once.
Some compound exercises are: Bench Press, Dip, Leg Press/Squat, Pullups. When doing these movements- let’s say the Bench Press- you hit your chest, but also your shoulders and triceps.
Since there are more muscles engaged, you can lift more weight. And more weight means more progress, either in size or strength.
Right now, I work on my Chest/Back one day, and then Legs another day. I hit my shoulders on another day where I do lighter exercises- paired with other movements in a circuit fashion. I do that due to shoulder tightness.
So that’s just what works for me- I used to do the major muscle groups first, then switch to isolation- and that can work too. But for now I focus on the compound movements as much as possible with the goal of challenging myself and engaging the muscles.
Wishing you health and strength.
