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Letter to the editor

Compound exercises maximize muscle use

By DAVID NORRIE, Fitness
Published December 21, 2007

With a 40-hour work week, household chores and kids to deal with, budgeting time for exercise can be difficult.

In order to maximize not only your time, but your energy, it may be necessary to change the way you train. Most conventional workouts consist of training a single body part or muscle at one time, then moving on to a different movement or body part. But tweaking your routine to incorporate compound exercises will prove beneficial not only in time management, but in overall strength, muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness.

Compound exercises move the body through more than one joint movement, using multiple muscle groups, while isolation exercises only move the body through a single-joint movement. For instance, instead of doing squats for legs or military presses for shoulders, combine the two. Or combine lunges and biceps curls into one movement.

When you do these movements, which involve more than one large muscle group, in conjunction with one another, your body is forced to use more oxygen while creating a better environment in which to release critical hormones necessary for growth. In addition, multiple movements will have a decided effect on your balance and coordination, both of which are essential to reaching an optimal performance level for those weekend athletes who engage in sports.

You can perform compound movements using repetitions, just as you would an isolation exercise. But for peak performance and endurance, I recommend utilizing a clock and performing the exercises based on time. This helps because we often set a predetermined number of repetitions that is either too easy to attain, and therefor undermining our potential, or too difficult to obtain, setting us up for failure. By using the clock, for example doing squat-presses for one minute intervals, you can budget your effort and maximize each set.

You should still do three or four sets using time intervals (for example one minute on, 30 seconds off). This will allow a workout to be structured and completed within a reasonable time limit, say, 20-30 minutes.

Another tip I highly recommend is using dumbbells when performing compound exercises. Dumbbells allow for a greater range of motion and for the joints of the body to move in a more natural fashion.

The example I use is the squat-press. I would likely give my client a set of dumbbells ranging from 5 pounds (for women) to 15 pounds (for men) depending on experience, and have them stand with their feet shoulder width apart. Begin with the dumbbells raised at shoulder height, and lower your body, bending at the knee, into the squat position. The dumbbells remain at shoulder height during this portion of the movement.

It is not until the squat is completed and the body is erect again that the dumbbells are pressed above the head, utilizing the deltoid, or shoulder, muscles. Once the press is completed and the dumbbells are back to shoulder height, the second repetition can begin.

Once you establish correct form, then a natural rhythm should occur and the movement will become fluid and done at a stable pace, incorporating a greater aspect of cardiovascular conditioning.

The same can be done with a lunge-curl combination. With the dumbbells by your side, one leg would step forward and the other would bend toward the ground. As the knee and the hips descend, the arms (biceps) curl the dumbbells toward the shoulders. As the body rises again to the starting position, the arms lengthen again to their original position. Of course, you'll alternate legs in either a stationary position or by performing walking lunges.

You should notice a significant difference in the amount of oxygen needed and the difficulty of the movements. And remember there are a handful of secondary muscles that come into play when doing these exercises. In addition to all the muscles in the legs, your core, triceps and upper back muscles are highly utilized in a squat press. The calves, lower back and forearms are stressed during the lunge-curls.

It helps to be creative in the gym, and there are endless possibilities such as those I've mentioned, which can be incorporated in order to stay fresh and save time. Look around you. See what other people are doing. Experiment a little. And most of all, be intense.

David Norrie of Westchase is a personal trainer and freelance sports writer.

[Last modified December 20, 2007, 21:33:45]