To isolate or not to isolate muscles when you are working out? Should you focus on compound exercises that are more functional or do you need to isolate those biceps to get bigger arms?

What is a Compound Exercise?

A compound exercise involves multiple joints being utilised in a single movement. A squat is a great example of a compound movement. Your ankles, knees and hips along with all the muscles surrounding these joints are actively performing the movement. Compound exercises are great for strengthening movements that we associate with everyday life such as lifting, jumping, or throwing. They also have a higher calorie expenditure due to the larger number of muscle groups involved in the movement.

What is an Isolation Exercise?

Isolation exercises focus on a single joint, often involving only a single muscle. The most common example of this is the bicep curl where the muscles of the bicep and possibly the forearm are responsible for bending the arm. If you want to focus on a single muscle because it is weak, because there is a muscle imbalance or you just want to get those bigger biceps, then isolation exercises make a great choice.

Are Compound or Isolation Exercises Best for the Biceps?

Most of the time we tend to perform isolation exercises on the biceps at the expense of compound exercises, but these are also highly effective. Ultimately you need to reach a balance between the two methods and you’ll get the best of both worlds.

A good strategy would be to program your isolation exercises at the end of a “Pull Day”. The biceps assist in most rowing or pulling exercises. To increase the training load on these muscles, finish with a couple of isolation exercises.

As they are already pre-fatigued, you will get a greater hypertrophy response. If you require greater focus on the biceps then reduce the number of compound movements and include more isolation exercises. The opposite is true if you are short on training time. Focus more on compound exercise knowing that your biceps will still get a good workout.

Compound Bicep Exercises

Chin Up

Head on over to a Squat Rack With Pull Up Bar. By having an underhand grip for chin ups, your biceps are more active than they would be in a standard pull up, giving you a great bicep workout while still targeting the muscles of the back.

Seated Cable Row

When you use a cable machine, with your arms close to the chest, the arms bend more than in a wide grip row. This provides a greater recruitment of the bicep muscles.

Underhand Grip Bent Over Row

While the overhand grip row still trains the biceps, by having an underhand grip the biceps are forced to work a bit harder.

Isolation Bicep Exercises

Preacher Curl

By having your arms resting against a pad all momentum is removed, making this a tough isolation exercise. The Mirafit Bicep Curl Machine raises the bar (literally) when it comes to preacher curls. The grip of this machine allows you to do curls, hammer curls and tricep push downs in both unilateral and bilateral versions. A great option if you don't have access to a dedicated Preacher Bench

Single Arm Cable Curl

Cable exercises place a constant strain on muscles, as opposed to weights which get easier to lift once you are past the sticking point. This constant tension on your bicep will help develop more strength.

Incline Dumbbell Curl

By lying on an incline bench to perform bicep curls you not only remove moment from the curl, but your starting position is with your arms behind your body. This position stretches the biceps more and increases the range of motion that the dumbbell has to move through which helps stimulate muscle growth.

Reverse Grip Barbell Curl

While this exercise still targets the biceps, by having a reverse grip the muscles of the forearm are also active, creating muscle growth in both the biceps and around the forearm.

To get the most out of your bicep training you should use a range of both isolation and compound exercises. Find a balance that suits your training goals and routine. Use more compound movements if your time is limited or increase isolation exercises if you are making biceps the main focus of your training. To stimulate growth in the biceps use a variety of hand positions and training methods and get those biceps that you want.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength