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Weight Training Exercises: Part 2



In my previous article, I spoke about movement patterns and compound exercises. Here, I'll talk about specific muscle groups and how to target each of them.

The major muscle groups can be classified as


  • Legs
    • Hamstrings
    • Quadriceps
    • Calves
    • Glutes
  • Back
    • Latissimus Dorsi
    • Rhomboids
    • Trapezius
    • Erector Spinae
  • Chest
    • Pectoral major
    • Pectoral minor
  • Shoulders
    • Anterior deltoid
    • Posterior deltoid
    • Lateral deltoid
  • Arms
    • Biceps
    • Triceps
    • Forearms
  • Abdominals
    • Rectus abdominis (The top blocky layer visible to us)
    • Transverse abdominus (Beneath the rectus abdominus)
    • Obliques (Side abs)

Compound exercises usually work 3+ muscle groups.

For example, a standing shoulder press mainly works the anterior and lateral deltoids, triceps, traps and a little bit of the pectoral major. The latissimus dorsi and glutes act as a stabilizer.

A barbell row mainly works the rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, biceps, posterior deltoid and traps. The lower back and shoulders act as a stabilizer.


Isolation exercises usually work only one muscle group at a time.

An example would be a bicep curl. It works the two heads of the bicep while using the shoulder and triceps (for the elbow) as stabilizers. 

Isolation exercises don't provide any additional benefits expect to tire the muscle more, thereby allowing more micro-tears to occur as a result of which more muscle growth can occur. However, it doesn't mean that isolation exercises are purely for muscle growth only. Several studies have shown that the cross sectional area of a muscle is directly related to the strength of the muscle. So performing isolation movements will improve your strength too; albeit to a lower extent.

Isolation exercises are generally recommended in the 8+ rep range. Since you won't be using as much weight as compounds, it's easy to do sets of 8,12 or 20 repetitions. 



In order to understand how compound exercises are different as compared to isolation exercises, consider the following:

Most athletes (powerlifters, weightlifters, rugby players, shot put, discus throw), who weight train to improve their performance in their sport, look very imposing and are well built. They tend to have big legs, a big back and a thick strong waist. They almost exclusively only use compound exercises. Isolation exercises are generally not very useful to them.

A bodybuilder, whose main goal is to look very good, would perform both compounds as well as isolations. They usually do about 2 compound exercises and 4-6 isolations every workout.


Hafthor Bjornsson, a Strongman competitor

Steve Cook, a professional bodybuilder

As seen above, the bodybuilder might not be as athletic/strong as the guy above him, but aesthetically, he looks much better.  

So, depending on your goals, you can decide what type of exercises you can do. What I've found works best for me is a combination of 1 or 2 compounds with 2 to 4 isolations. This way, I can get stronger and more athletic while also building a good amount of muscle.


Let me list down some of the popular isolation exercises
  • Biceps
    • Barbell/dumbbell curl
    • Hammer curl
    • Concentration curl
  • Triceps
    • Skullcrushers(does exactly what it says if you're lax while performing the exercise!)
    • Tricep pushdown
    • Overhead extension
    • Close grip push-up/bench press
  • Deltoids
    • Anterior deltoid
      • Front raise
    • Lateral deltoid
      • Lateral raise
    • Posterior deltoid
      • Face pulls
      • Rear delt fly
  • Legs
    • Leg extension (to target the quads)
    • Leg curl (to target the hamstrings)
    • Calf raise (to target, you guessed it, the calves)
  • Chest
    • Cable/dumbbell fly
    • Cable crossover
  • Back
    • Shrugs (to target the trapezius)
    • Straight arm pulldown

Here is a link which contains a comprehensive list of almost every mainstream exercise present.

The larger muscle groups such as back, legs and chest don't have too many isolation exercises since they are worked to a large extent on compound movements.

Try to perform the isolation exercises in a controlled fashion. Since you won't be using very heavy loads, by slowing down the exercise, you'll get the best contraction and actually feel the muscle working.  

You can choose 2-3 exercises per muscle group and perform them for about 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps.
This is what I find optimal for myself, but it could be different for you. Experiment with different set and rep ranges and find what suits you best.




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