Your beliefs, gentlemen?
Always. Why would anyone wanting to build large amounts of muscle avoid isolation exercises? Clearly compound are going to build the most muscle, but it should never be an all or none case.
Always
Maybe less when cutting, but I don’t see why you’d ever use none at all
From day 1 and year round.
Couple of reasons why:
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Single joint movements, when performed correctly, will increase your ability to recruit muscle groups that may not received adequate stimulation during multiple joint movements, due to other other muscle groups with greater neural ‘connections’ dominating the lift.
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Bodybuilding is about overloading individual muscle groups to adapt to training stress, in order to achieve it, they have to be exercised adequately and directly.
[quote]cally wrote:
Always. Why would anyone wanting to build large amounts of muscle avoid isolation exercises? Clearly compound are going to build the most muscle, but it should never be an all or none case.[/quote]
QFT!
Hey, this forum is really improving 
when you have something to shape. i get guys in the gym asking me all the time “how can i build a peak on the biceps” i tell them you need to build a bicep first.
[quote]slimthugger wrote:
when you have something to shape. i get guys in the gym asking me all the time “how can i build a peak on the biceps” i tell them you need to build a bicep first.[/quote]
and the fastest way to do that is rows, chins, AND curls.
Smart bodybuilder? don’t you know thats an oxymoron?
Seriously though, both bodybuilders and athletes should always be using a combination of both compound and isolation exercises.
It’s pretty hard to work smaller muscles like calf and biceps hard enough to fatigue them without isolation work.
If your question was when in your workout you should use iso exercises then I would say nearly always after compound exercises unless you are using pre exhausting techiniques.
The fifth book of Ghidorah states that isolation movements should be added EXACTLY on the day leading to the night of the mongolian harvest moon, when the first leaf blade falls into the closest running stream.
[quote]tribunaldude wrote:
The fifth book of Ghidorah states that isolation movements should be added EXACTLY on the day leading to the night of the mongolian harvest moon, when the first leaf blade falls into the closest running stream.[/quote]
you’ve used that one before.
But it works, and I use this as the basis for all my training and diet-related decisions.
[quote]Invictica wrote:
tribunaldude wrote:
The fifth book of Ghidorah states that isolation movements should be added EXACTLY on the day leading to the night of the mongolian harvest moon, when the first leaf blade falls into the closest running stream.
you’ve used that one before.[/quote]
[quote]tribunaldude wrote:
But it works, and I use this as the basis for all my training and diet-related decisions.
Invictica wrote:
tribunaldude wrote:
The fifth book of Ghidorah states that isolation movements should be added EXACTLY on the day leading to the night of the mongolian harvest moon, when the first leaf blade falls into the closest running stream.
you’ve used that one before.
[/quote]
horseshit! Ghidorah can’t write books. He’s a big three headed ass kicking monster. Please refer to the following link.
If he could write books, I would definetly like to take advice from him.
whenever you want
If you’re asking when to use isolation exercises within a given session, I find they are more effective at the end, following complex lifts.
Right boys,
Just to clarify, I started on the MAX-OT system back in '03 when I first realised how useless my routine - which had no Squats, no D/L’s, no Bench work (apart from DB curls!!) only shoulder flys, and at best machine OHP’s.
From then on it was compound or corpse. Learned to Squat and D/L, dropped most of the machine work and hit the free weights, But still on a diet that never exceeded 150Gms a day except on weekends.
CUT TO FIVE YEARS LATER…I’m 245Ibs with about 35Ib’s to cut, and I’ve noticed I have 17" bi’s dwarfed by the 50" chest between them. Can’t bench as I don’t want to aggravate a shoulder injury that is healing up.
So, I’m thinking, howz about I revisit my good friends, the dumbell curl, the tricep pushdown, etc etc?
Doing a lot of isolation stuff this week and giving my shoulder a nice break while I strengthen the cuffs/soft tissue. Bombed my arms yesterday with GVT. Felt like running a marathon on my hands.
Result? Half an inch onto my arms, and, best of all, through the flab, I saw a tricep head - the outer one - for the first time in my LIFE.
When you’re in solitary confinement.
:rimshot:
I start out with a compound exercise at the start of my workout. Monday;Bench, Wednesday; deadlift, Thursday; weighted pullups, Friday; squat. Then after doing the compound exercise I’ll use some isolation exercises to really focus on the muscle being worked. after about 4 weeks I’ll use alterating versions of the compound lifts I listed above to really keep the muscles guessing. I find this to work really well with putting on size!
It is ok to use isolation exercises as long as they are not in place of your compound exercises.
My split routine goes like this and I’ve gotten massive:
Monday:Leg extensions
Tuesday: preacher curls
Wednesday: Cable flys
Thursday: Leg extensions
Friday: Preacher curls
Saturday: Cable flys
Sunday: off
My entire workout. Best thing I’ve ever done.
P.S. I hope a beginner doesn’t read this lol