Build Muscle Mass Fast

Many avid exercise buffs emphasize isolation exercises for faster muscle gain. You will hear, let's do those 21's for the biceps or let's do 200 abs. Isolation exercises have been taken in the wrong context and in fact they are responsible for stopping your muscle growth.

What is an isolation exercise?

Any exercise that moves only one of your joints can be called an isolation movement. Examples are biceps that bends your elbow, calves that bend your ankle, and so on.

In contrast, compound exercises move the body through two or joint movements. For example bench press that engages your elbow and your shoulder, or leg press that engages your hips and your knee.

The main drawback of isolation exercise is that it fatigues minor muscles at the expense of major ones. A tired biceps prevents your lats to get a good workout or a tired triceps will not help you get a pec pump out of your bench press. So you will push yourself even harder and waste more time at the gym.

Compound exercises are better than isolation exercises for at least three reasons.

1) More muscle fibers are stimulated during a compound exercise which means that you can work a wide range of muscles by performing fewer exercises. Bench press can develop your pecs your delts and your triceps in one movement.

2) You lift heavier weights with compound exercises. This will result in a total body "spill over" effect for overall growth in size and increase in overall strength.

3) Compound exercises increase anabolic hormone production. Muscles growth in response anabolic muscle-building hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone that naturally occur in the body is improved. The most effective way to increase the production of these hormones is through the use of intense, compound exercises.

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