Isn’t any kind of exercise good just as long as you train regularly? Sure, any exercise in most cases is better than none. We will be discussing the benefits of doing certain types of exercise routines over others. Depending on what kind of outcome you are looking for, there might be more efficient exercises than the ones you are doing.
We know some people just don’t have enough hours during the day to get everything done and time is scarce. This is why doing the right type of exercise is important, so you don’t waste time doing exercise that is practically useless for you.
What are single-joint exercises?
People tend to focus on specific muscle groups when they start out a training routine. For example, if you want bigger arms you might focus on your biceps by doing bicep curls and triceps extensions or when you want six-pack abs you will focus on your ab muscles by doing hundreds of crunches or sit-ups. What if you want perfectly shaped calves? You will add calf raises to your routine. These are so-called single-joint exercises and only focus on specific muscles. Don’t get me wrong here, other muscles get activated as well, but primarily one muscle group gets the bulk of the workload.
If you already have a low body fat composition, then sure go ahead and do single-joint exercises to develop the muscle you like. Then again doing multi-joint exercises is just much more beneficial especially when you are trying to burn fat and get your body fat percentage down.
Why are multi-joint exercises better?
Doing exercises focusing on more than one muscle group will burn a lot more fat than just one isolated muscle group. Developing more muscle groups in a more all-around exercise program will boost your resting metabolic rate because muscles use considerably more energy to function than fat at a resting metabolic state.
The only problem with exercising a lot to build multiple muscle groups is the urge of eating more. Burning so many calories make you hungry and your body needs more food to function. You need to control your food intake and eat correctly when doing regular intense training routines. Many people may reach for the nearest fast-food shop, these foods are mostly energy-rich but nutrient-poor. This means lots of calories (sugar) without nutritional value. Nutrient-rich foods have lots of vitamins and minerals, fiber, protein, and essential fatty acids. Foods with empty calories have lots of added sugar, sodium, and saturated fats.
Examples of multi-joint exercises (compound lifts)
This type of exercise will include squats, lunges, step-ups, swings, snatches (kettlebell), pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, push-ups, etc.
Multi-joint movements are also generally bigger than single-joint movements and lifting or moving your weight further will burn more calories, because more work gets done.
Conclusion
Compound lifts work for several large muscle groups at once, whereas isolated lifts normally focus on one specific muscle group to do the bulk of the work. The general concept is that you get a better overall response from the body doing multi-joint exercises. By working a larger number of muscles, compound training burns more calories, stimulates a greater excretion of fat-burning and muscle-building hormones, and is more useful for sports and everyday chores. Sports and everyday activities very rarely involve just single joint movements and exercising like this could even be detrimental for athletes.
Doing intense exercise involving multiple muscle groups will boost your RMR up to 48 hours after the workout. Repairing muscle fibers and building muscle both require energy, so you will burn calories even when resting or sleeping.
