The Truth About Mulit Joint And Single Joint Exercises

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Weight training is essential when it comes to building lean muscle and losing body fat. It is the main area of exercising that every man should focus on when going to the gym. Weight training increases your resting metabolic rate meaning you burn more calories, even after your workout. I am going to explain the different types of weight training exercises and why one is better than the other for faster results!

There are two common weight training exercises:

* Multi-joint exercises (compound lifts)
* Single joint exercises (isolation lifts)

Compound lifts work larger muscle groups with one lift whereas isolation lifts tend to only work one particular set of muscles with one lift. Examples of exercises that are compound and isolation lifts are as follows.

COMPOUND LIFTS - Deadlifts, squats, swings, snatches, bench presses, shoulder presses, lat pull downs, pull ups, clean and press, bent over rows, push ups, chin ups, dips.

ISOLATION LIFTS - barbell curls, dumbbell curls, shoulder lateral raises, pectoral flyes, legs curls, leg extensions, triceps extensions.

Compound lifts are better as you are working a larger amount of muscle. Due to this you burn a higher amount of calories per lift compared to isolation exercises and release higher amounts of fat burning and muscle building hormones. Although isolation lifts do have some benefits, your workout routines should mainly focus on compound exercises for a leaner muscular body.

EXAMPLE

I am going to explain and show you an example that will hopefully convince you that multi-joint exercises are better than single joint exercises.

Your work rate = W

The amount of weight in pounds moved in the exercise = F

The distance in feet you moved the weight = D

Therefore the amount of work achieved in any given exercise is:

W = F x D

I am now going to show you two examples of very different workouts and calculate the amount of work achieved in each workout routine.

WORKOUT #1

Pectoral Flyes, 45 lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

Barbell Bicep Curls, 90lbs x 3 sets x 12 reps

Shoulder Shrugs, 275lbs x 4 sets x 10 reps

Calf Machine Presses, 315lbs x 3 sets x 15 reps

WORKOUT #1 RESULTS

Pectoral Flyes:

Distance moved during each rep = 2 feet

Work = 45 x 3 x 10 x 2 = 2,700 lbs/ft

Barbell Bicep Curls:

Distance moved during each rep = 2 feet

Work = 90 x 3 x 12 x 2 = 6,480 lbs/ft

Shoulder Shrugs:

Distance moved during each rep = 0.5 feet

Work = 275 x 4 x 10 x 0.5 = 5,500 lbs/ft

Calf Machine Press:

Distance moved during each rep = 0.42 feet

Work = 315 x 3 x 15 x 0.42 = 5,954 lbs/ft

Total work completed in workout #1 = 20,634 lbs/ft

WORKOUT #2

Barbell Squats, 175lbs x 5 sets x 5 reps

Barbell Deadlift, 200lbs x 4 sets x 5 reps

Barbell Clean and Press, 150lbs x 5 sets x 4 reps

Barbell Bench Press, 115lbs x 4 sets x 5 reps

WORKOUT #2 RESULTS

Barbell Squats:

Distance moved during each rep = 2 feet

Work = 175 x 5 x 5 x 2 = 8,750 lbs/ft

Barbell Deadlift:

Distance moved during each rep = 3 feet

Work = 200 x 4 x 5 x 3 = 12,000 lbs/ft

Barbell Clean and Press:

Distance moved during each rep = 7 feet

Work = 150 x 5 x 4 x 7 = 21,000 lbs/ft

Barbell Bench Press:

Distance moved during each rep = 4 feet

Work = 115 x 4 x 5 x 4 = 9,200 lbs/ft

Total work completed in workout #2 = 50,950 lbs/ft

As you can see workout #2 completes over double the amount of work compared to workout #1 within roughly the same amount of time. The intensity of workout #2 is greater meaning you will burn more calories, increase your metabolic rate and have a greater hormonal response. If you haven't already noticed, workout #1 consists of single joint exercises and workout #2 is comprised of multi-joint exercises. Notice that the distance moved in workout #2 is far greater compared to workout #1 meaning you have to work harder to complete one rep.

Therefore if you want to get lean and ripped then I would concentrate more on multi-joint exercises instead of single joint exercises. You will see faster results and wont be wasting hours down the gym.

Mike Geary's Program The Truth About Six Pack Abs concentrates fully on high intensity weight training sessions that use mult-joint exercises in his routines to get you lean and muscular. Check out his eBook here!

WHAT MULTI-JOINT EXERCISES DO YOU USE IN YOUR WORKOUT ROUTINES? SHARE WITH US IN THE COMMENTS.

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