…continued – Muscle Isolation
Do you ever wonder why even the most advanced weight equipment doesn’t produce the same effects as free weights?
Since the inception of Nautilus equipment back in the seventies most weight equipment manufacturers have been going in the wrong direction with the machine development. They have continued to design and develop weight equipment that is more focused on muscle isolation. This is the wrong approach. This is why, even with the most advanced weight equipment, free weights are still the most effective weight lifting equipment for building muscle.
The equipment designers have yet to figure this out. Building muscle is a blend of common sense thinking and rigid science. You must understand the physiological science that is involved in building muscle and how to apply this science in the real world. This is where the equipment manufacturers fall short.
Just as the equipment manufacturers have come up short, so do all the “training gurus” and exercise physiologists. Like the high-tech result-less machines, this is a good example of why performing exercises in an ultra strict manner is less effective than using your body’s natural mechanics. Using ultra-strict form simulates a machine. It locks you into a rigid range of motion that limits overload and limits muscle fiber stimulation.
Muscle Isolation
Isolating a muscle during training sounds like a good idea, but if it limits muscle overload it is certainly not the most effective training method
Muscle isolation exercises sound like they would be more effective, but they are not. Isolating a muscle during resistance training limits overload, limits muscle fiber stimulation, and limits growth. I do not know of a single isolation movement that does not limit overload. There are only a few exceptions where muscle isolation can be used with effectiveness and I will detail these later.
Here are popular isolation exercises that you should avoid.
- Dumbbell Flys
- Cable Flys
- Concentration Curls
- Preacher Curls
- Any exercise machine or exercise that is designed to isolate a muscle
In the next pages you’ll find a rundown of the most effective chest and bicep exercises in Max-OT training. I will explain the most effective way to perform the movements, what primary muscle they overload, and the secondary muscles involved.
