Whenever I’m at the gym I see people trying to build big biceps and triceps in ways that train everything except these muscles. A common error is performing what should be an isolation exercise as a compound movement. Isolation exercises are designed to force the targeted muscle to perform with minimal assistance from other muscle groups. Preacher curls, “skull crushers” and alternating dumbbell triceps extensions are examples of isolation exercises that, when performed correctly, are very effective for building big biceps and triceps.

On the other hand, compound exercises encourage simultaneous and coordinated work between various muscle groups. Squats, bench press and power cleans demonstrate compound weightlifting movements. While compound movements excel for developing overall body strength, isolation exercises stimulate superior growth in a targeted muscle area. When an isolation movement is performed in compound fashion, the intended benefit of isolation training is lost.

For example, I highly recommend preacher curls for building big, muscular biceps. While this exercise is very effective when done properly, incorrect performance simply wastes time and energy. The most common mistake with preacher curls is swinging or rocking the torso as the weight is lifted and lowered. Preacher curls are intended to build massive upper arms by isolating resistance on the biceps as much as possible through strict training movement. But jerking or rocking the torso during this exercise enlists help from the shoulders and upper back. As a result, the intended benefit of doing preacher curls to build big, muscular biceps is lost.

Similarly, many novice and experienced bodybuilders rock or jerk their upper bodies during so-called “cheat curls” with a barbell or EZ-curl bar. It’s no wonder that they’re called cheat curls since the amount of shoulder, hip and back assistance in this exercise effectively “cheats” the biceps out of working sufficiently. Instead of wasting time and energy trying to build big biceps with cheat curls, the better approach is to perform standing barbell or EZ-bar curls while leaning slightly back against a wall. This simple adjustment prevents the upper body swing that prevents the biceps from doing sufficient work during cheat curls.

Technical errors that waste time and energy during arm building workouts aren’t limited to biceps training. When done properly, “skull crushers” or lying triceps extensions with an EZ-curl bar are great for building big, muscular triceps. But failing to keep your elbows in, lower the weight directly over your forehead and raise it at an 85-90 degree angle upon extension of your triceps will defeat the entire purpose of this exercise.

One reason that these types of training mistakes occur is ignorance. While nobody would intentionally waste time doing ineffective workouts, many people just don’t know how to properly perform isolation exercises to build big biceps and triceps. Another and perhaps more prevalent cause of poor training technique is the impatient desire to lift too much weight too soon. Many bodybuilding magazines encourage such impatience by constantly trumpeting the need to “blast” your arms with increasingly heavy workloads for maximum growth.

While it’s true that progressively increasing the weight in resistance training is essential to building big, muscular arms, you shouldn’t work with weight that is heavier than you can lift naturally and with proper workout technique. Don’t ever be concerned with impressing or keeping up with anyone else in the gym – especially if you’re just starting out. Even if you think it looks impressive to workout with enormous weight, you won’t get much benefit and will in fact delay your progress if you cheat on your isolation training techniques.

A popular bodybuilding notion asserts the superiority of compound weight lifting exercises as compared with isolation movements; proponents claim that the most efficient method of training involves choosing weight lifting exercises that involve the greatest number of muscle groups. Moreover, supporters of this form of weight training believe that because the amount of weight used in compound weight lifting exercise is greater than isolation movements, overall muscle growth should also be far superior, and therefore a workout session should focus upon compound exercises as its foundation. But many take this idea one step further, eliminating isolation exercises altogether from their workout routine, focusing completely on compound weight lifting alone, with the idea that this will provide the most dramatic muscle size gains. As usual with bodybuilding folklore, the truth is somewhat different from the popular claims, as although compound weight lifting exercises are in fact extremely effective, and should become the basis for any effective weight lifting workout routine, certain isolation exercises are also a necessity for any individual who wishes to produce the most dramatic muscle gains, and those who neglect isolation exercise can begin to develop a disproportional physique, with certain muscle groups, such as the arms, becoming far less impressive as the chest and back regions begin to burst with muscularity, all due to a lack of proper isolation workout efforts. Arms are in fact one area where this is very common, with some saying that heavy compound back exercises are sufficient to promote complete biceps development, and consistent compound chest and shoulder movements will beef up the triceps with massive amounts of muscle, all without any isolation exercises to target these specific areas. Obviously, performing heavy compound weight lifting movements will no doubt allow the smaller muscles such as the biceps to improve, but the emphasis of the workout set when performing a compound weight training exercise such as seated rows is the back, with the biceps, in this example, used as a supporting muscle group in completing this exercise. The goal is to fatigue the back muscles during seated rows to the point of failure, and by this very definition, the arms will not receive sufficient overload, since the back muscles are to achieve maximum emphasis, therefore, the biceps are only trained to a certain percentage of their potential capacity. This same concept applies to triceps during bench press, where the goal is to fatigue the pecs, and the triceps are not to fail prior to the chest in order for the exercise to function as intended, therefore, the triceps only receive partial overload. Because of this, isolation exercises targeting smaller, assisting muscle groups become necessary if those areas are to reach their genetic potential, meaning that isolation weight lifting exercises shunned by some bodybuilders, such as preacher curls, barbell curls, side laterals, and triceps pushdowns become critical in providing sufficient overload to reach failure for smaller muscle groups, as a bodybuilder, with these additional exercises, is then able to push those isolated muscles to complete failure, and therefore produce the greatest possible muscle growth. There is no doubt that an effective weight training workout plan cannot be based upon isolation exercises, and some on the other extreme become obsessed with performing every possible weight lifting variation of a particular exercise, extending their workout length to a point of ineffectiveness. Therefore, the proper combination of compound and isolation exercise is necessary for those who wish to produce the most dramatic gains in muscle size, without neglecting any specific muscle group. The mistake many make is to either stuff their weight lifting workout routines with far too few isolation exercises, where they neglect providing sufficient overload to certain individual muscle groups, or they instead perform such a wide variety of isolation movements that their weight training workout sessions lack intensity, which destroys the potential for maximum muscle building. Remember that the most effective bodybuilding technique involves a proper balance of both compound and isolation weight training exercises to avoid any of these potential pitfalls. If you currently find that smaller muscle groups such as the biceps, triceps, shoulders, forearms and lower back are lagging in size when compared with your larger muscles (chest, back, quads, etc), then you should strongly consider adopting some isolation exercises for these specific muscle groups so that they can grow to their maximum genetic potential.

An article on Muscle building workout routines

This means you can also say goodbye to neck and jaw tension that often accompanies crunches. The core muscles are the muscles in the back and stomach region which work together to assist the body in virtually all aspects of movement, they include; the erector spinae, the transverse abdominals, the internal and external obliques and the rectus abdominis. Pole dancing is also another good option because you definitely require strong core muscles to swing around a pole in mid air!Pilates is one of the exercise routines where you do have to lie down to perform many of the exercises, but it involves some highly effective core muscle work. For the majority of these exercises you don’t even have to lie down to perform them. Exercising in a hanging position like this means you have to really work all the stomach muscles to perf muscle building workout routines
orm the exercise.If you like to workout at the gym a great way to exercise all the stomach muscles is to support yourself with your upper body on a pull up device and then bring your knees to your chest.Striptease workouts are a novel new way to effectively work the core muscles.So if you haven’t already given up your 100 crunch a day routine in favour of some of the new more effective ways of exercising the stomach, today is the day to start! If you perform these exercises regularly you will help keep your back healthy and will improve the appearance of your stomach. Our core muscles are what provide us with the stability to hold a balance pose. Also enquire about what abdominal exercises can be done with the fit ball because many of these work deep core muscles. You could also try Tai Chi or martial arts because the movements in these routines also require the use of deep core muscles to provide stability to movements. There are many forms of exercise which utilize several core muscles all within the one routine. Workouts like the “Carmen Electra aerobic striptease series” incorporate many isolation exercises that work deep core muscles. A lot of yoga poses employ the use of our deepest stomach muscles both the transverse abdominals and the internal obliques.One of the most effective ways to exercise all of the core muscles is to take up Belly dancing. Crunches only utilise the rectus abdominis which is actually the weakest of all the core muscles. To build a strong stomach that will look flat in appearance and provide good support for the spine you need to perform stomach exercises which utilize all the core muscles. The good thing about this style of workout is that you can fit all your tonal and cardio work into a short period of time.Many yoga practices also utilize all the core muscles within the one workout. . During a Belly dancing routine you will probably work muscles that you never knew you had! Belly dancing involves repetitive isolation movements that work deeply, but gently on the stomach muscles. This is because crunches fail to work all the “core muscles”. Pilates, in particular is a good way to exercise the deepest abdominal muscle group, the transverse abdominal muscle. This is because the poses in yoga typically require a good deal of balance. Research has now confirmed that crunches are one of the least effective ways to exercise the stomach. In virtually every Pilates exercise you will be told to pull your bellybutton to your spine. Keep this up throughout the entire workout and you