Quote:
Originally Posted by Ripspeed
just wondering, why do you do a lot more reps for iso movements?
wont they benefit from heavy weight in the 6-8 rep range just like any other muscle?
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Here's the short answer:
Stop the over use of iso moves and instead rely soley on compound movements to build big muscles!
Here's the long version
With compound movements obviously there are at least two joints assisting in the movement of the lift, while an isolation movement will only involve one joint. So, many supporting muscles are involved in the completion of a compound movement and thus the weightload isnt spread over just one single joint as it is with iso moves.
Because only one joint is used to lift a weight when doing an isolation movement, rarely will supporting muscles come into play to assist in the movement and as a result your joints and ligaments (connective tissue) will take the load and punishment. So performing iso's with a proper rep scheme will help to decrease the chance for injury to the connective tissue, which is one of the most common training related injuries there is.
So are you trying to tear down your joints or build up the muscle???
Because all the idiots I see in the gym doing skullcrushers with 3-4 reps are doing far more DAMAGE over time than anything. Why do that when you can take that stress off the connective tissue by using lighter weight and forcing the muscle itself to do the work. So for myself, I'd rather let my muscles do the work and save my joints for years to come.