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Compound vs. Isolation Exercises: Which is Right for You?

When it comes to strength training and building muscle, there are two primary categories of exercises: compound and isolation. Each type has its benefits and serves different purposes in a fitness routine. Understanding the differences between these two forms or resistance training can be extremely useful and inform your personal training routine.

Compound Exercises

Compound exercises involve multiple muscle groups and joints working together to perform a movement. If more than one joint is working, more than one muscle group is working. These exercises recruit a range of muscles making them extremely effective for overall strength and muscle gain. Some examples of compound exercises include squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups.

Advantages of Compound Exercises

• Efficiency – Compound exercises are time-efficient because they work multiple muscles at once. This means you can achieve a full-body workout with fewer exercises.
• Functional Strength – They promote functional strength, helping you perform everyday activities more efficiently.
• Calorie Burn – Compound movements burn more calories due to the increased muscle engagement, making them beneficial for weight loss.
• Hormonal Response – Compound exercises stimulate the release of hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, which help muscle growth and overall health and wellness.

Isolation Exercises

Isolation exercises target a single muscle group and involve movement at only one joint. Bicep curls, tricep extensions, and leg extensions are examples of isolation exercises. These exercises are often used to target specific muscles.

Advantages of Isolation Exercises

• Muscle Focus – Isolation exercises allow you to isolate and target a specific muscle group, making them useful for strengthening specific areas of the body.
• Injury Rehabilitation -They are valuable for rehabilitating injuries or strengthening weaker muscles that may not be ready for compound exercises. Isolation exercises are a must for anyone rehabbing after mild to severe injuries.
• Mind-Muscle Connection – Isolation exercises help develop a strong mind-muscle connection, enhancing your ability to feel and engage the targeted muscle.

Which should you choose?

You should choose to do both variations of resistance exercises. Compounds will help to improve overall strength and can add large amounts of muscle to the body when compared to isolation exercises. However Isolation exercises are extremely useful at given times, for example when a client of mine is feeling a little fatigued I will incorporate more exercises to the session as they require less energy and when done correctly the risk of injury is extremely low.

Both variations have their benefits and a well rounded training program will make use of both Compound and Isolation exercises.

When working with a client I will use a variety of exercises including Compound and Isolation along with a varied exercise range and muscle contractions to promote muscle growth and a healthier well functioning body that can perform a range of functional movements.

If you want more information about the topics discussed in this article get in touch today and we can arrange a phone consultation or better yet book a session and we can start you on your path to a healthier lifestyle.

“Jason – Can I work out so that I loose fat from my: stomach/back/legs/arms” – you name it!

This question is one of the most repeated questions that I receive from my PT clients. It has long been believed that spot reduction, the ability to selectively lose fat from specific areas of your body by exercising a particular muscle group will in turn lead to fat loss in that area.

Unfortunately, this is not based on any scientific evidence. Our bodies burn fat from all over the body, not just one particular area.

Here’s why spot reduction doesn’t work and some recommendations for a more effective approach to fat loss.

Body Fat Distribution: Your genetics largely determine where your body stores and loses fat. While you can tone and strengthen specific muscle groups through exercise, this does not mean that fat will be reduced from those area of the body.

Calory deficit: The most effective way to lose fat is to be in a state of calorie deficit, where you consume fewer calories than your body needs. This prompts your body to use stored fat for energy, leading to overall fat loss.

Cardio exercise Cardio exercises like running, cycling, or swimming can help you burn calories and increase your overall metabolic rate. This contributes to fat loss throughout your body, not just in one spot.

Resistance training: Building muscle through resistance training is essential for long-term fat loss. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, so increasing the amount of muscle your body holds can help boost your metabolism and in turn, fat loss.

A Balanced Diet: A healthy, balanced diet is crucial for fat loss. Focus on single ingredient foods such as chicken, vegetables, rice, if there is an ingredient list avoid if at all possible.

For more information like this that will help you to achieve your fitness goals in the shortest time possible get in contact today and book your free consultation…

I have been working out of gyms for almost 30 years now and this is the one tip I wish I could pass on to as many people as possible.

It’s a very simple muscle contraction that is the most effective for building muscle. This is called the eccentric muscle contraction. An eccentric muscle contraction occurs when a muscle lengthens while under tension,
typically during the lowering phase of an exercise. For example, when you lower a dumbbell during a bicep curl, your bicep is undergoing an eccentric contraction. Eccentric contractions can be beneficial for muscle due to increased muscle damage: Eccentric contractions cause more micro-tears in muscle fibres compared to concentric (shortening) contractions. This increased damage triggers the body’s repair and growth processes, leading to muscle hypertrophy (growth).

Another benefit is that muscles can handle more load during eccentric contractions than during concentric ones. This means you can work with heavier weights during the lowering phase, which can stimulate greater muscle growth. Growing muscle like any discipline has a right and a wrong way, in my 30 years of resistance training I have learned how to grow muscle in a safe and effective way. One consideration for training in this way, is that you will often need a training partner or personal trainer to spot you during this eccentric phase (and to help with the concentric phase of the lift – think shoulder press) – and that’s where I come in.

Get in touch if you’d like to train together and break through any current plateaus you have. Would love to hear from you!

Jason

As a running coach based out of Galway, I get alot of questions from potential clients about running, speed development and running technique. Here’s some of the most frequently asked questions I get asked:

• Is running good for me?

Yes running is absolutely one of the most all around beneficial forms of exercises you can partake in. Running uses all the major muscle groups, from calves to glutes to back and shoulders. The cardiovascular benefits are also second to none with higher speeds of running really challenging the heart and lungs to function effectively.

• How do I start running?

Start slow and start short. Start by running slowly, allow your body to adapt to your new form of exercise by focusing on running technique. Start short with small runs, 5 minutes away from your house and 5 minutes home.

• Is running good for fat loss?

Running has been proven to be the best form of fat loss when you are moving at high speeds, this is known as sprinting but at high speeds our risk of injury goes up so build up to your top speed slowly over the course of several weeks.

• Do I need to warm up before running ?

Yes a warm up is strongly recommended before running, running is a dynamic form of movement and any dynamic form of movement requires a warm up. This can be as short as 10 minutes of light jogging on the spot, squat movements, lunges and arm swings will all have a positive effect.

• Should I stretch before running ?

Yes stretching is extremely beneficial, but dynamic stretching is strongly recommended where static stretching is recommended only after your training session is over.

• How often should I run?

This is a serious issue with many runners, loading is important, overloading the body and an injury is inevitable. If I were to try Christiano Ronaldo’s weekly training I would expect an input within a week or two, allowing the body time to adapt to the new loading stress.

• What mileage should I be doing weekly?

This is linked to loading and there is no set distance per week you should be running, some weeks I run 5km, some weeks I run track sessions that are about to little more than a mile total. Listen to your body, if it feels loose and healthy you can further load it, if it feels fatigued and tight it’s time to take a break and allow for a recovery period.

• How do I avoid injuries?

Loading, warm up, stretching, running technique, and allowing for recovery time will reduce injuries by a shocking margin. Start slowly and short, warm up, stretch before and after and let your body rest and injuries can often be completely avoided.

• How do I improve my running times?

Strength and conditioning, plyometrics, shorter faster runs will greatly reduce your running times.

• Will running give me large muscles?

Yes and no, the glutes, quads, calves and hamstrings will definitely become more muscular while the upper body shows little sir of muscle development. Any movement pattern that causes fatigue will build muscle but you will not create a bodybuilders physique though running, although you will create a lean athletic physique.

I hope you found some of these frequently asked questions about running useful, if you’d like to have a chat about your running journey, be it from a beginners point of view or as a GAA athlete or similar, please get in touch. 

Jason – Should I lose fat or build muscle first?

This is a question that I have heard many times in my 20 years experience in health and fitness. And it’s definitely not going to be the last any time soon! A quick Google search for the answer makes it even more confusing even to myself. The answer you will get is to lose fat first, however this makes very little sense to anyone who is in the know! I have even heard on occasion that losing fat and building muscles can’t be done at the
same time.

This is of course absolutely false, you can lose fat and build muscle at the same time, in fact I strongly recommend it. The more muscle your body has in terms of its power output, i.e how much power can your muscles produce will inevitably use more energy than weaker muscle with less capabilities to produce power. Being active all day requires muscle that doesn’t fatigue quickly, and being active all day will require more energy. So how does this affect the outcome of the question of fat V muscle first?

Powerful muscle that can be effective for longer uses more energy, and what is fat used for in the body? Energy! Food is our energy, excess intake of energy results in excess body fat. Now at this point a calorie deficit must be touched upon, if you are below your energy requirements/ food intake for the day you will burn off your reserve energy supply, body fat! So a calorie deficit is as always required when losing body fat.

So powerful muscles that you use all day will burn off more fat so logically more muscle will use more energy. So if you begin immediately following a resistance training program that will result in hypertrophy/muscle growth you will gain more muscle which will in turn use your body fat as an energy source, with the right nutritional guidance body fat will begin to be removed from your body instantaneously.

I hope you found this helpful and if you want to understand more about building muscle and losing body fat try my online coaching program which covers resistance training, cardio including anaerobic and aerobic cardio with tailor made nutrition plans. Get in contact and book your free consultation today – I would love to hear from you!

Jason

The first leg session will be initially dictated by an assessment of the athletes mobility and flexibility abilities. If for example there is an ankle mobility issue this may force a change in
the planned session. If there are no underlying issues that need immediate attention the initial leg session will look extremely similar to the following:

• Initial warm up including hip releasing exercises, glute activation and posterior chain release.
• Glute med activation through abduction resisted movements which often causes problems in the lower back due to a weakness and inability of the glute med to assist the stronger gluteus max.
• Hip thrust- this is the best glute focused exercise an athlete can perform. This exercise is very low risk and this allows us to load the bar without fear of movement pattern failure which often results in injuries.
• Basic back squat with both high bar and low positioning being incorporated. The high bar squat position will utilise the quad and glute muscles but will force the quads to do more of the work. A low bar squat position will force the glutes to do more of the work.
•  Box squat which will assist with starting from a place of inertia to maximum speed in the shortest time possible.
•  Single leg / Bulgarian split squats: a unilateral movement pattern exercise that forces a single leg to work which will strengthen and create more power during the running process which is itself a unilateral movement pattern.
• Nordics / glute ham raise, an essential exercise for any athlete that requires stable, strong and durable hamstrings. This exercise alone can reduce injuries in the hamstring by 50%, a number that no serious athlete should ignore.
•  Hip flexor variations – hip flexor strength is a vital part of the athletes over all ability to move at a high speed. For the leg to move fast the hip flexors must be both strong and fast.
•  Calf raise variations – The calf muscle needs to be stiff and strong, not to be confused with tight and strong. By performing a variety of calf raise exercises we can develop calf power and Achilles strength and durability.

Who is interested in speed development? GAA Teams, Beginners and Advanced running clients alike. Contact me if you would like to chat about your running goals – I would be delighted to hear from you!

When working with clients who are new to personal training, I often start our first “leg day” addressing the most common issue I come across when beginners hire me to transform their physique –  The glute/ quad issue. Perhaps this has happened to you too, you start any resistance program that includes squats, lunges, single leg squats etc and your quads/ thighs are absolutely on fire but nothing else seems to be fired up. We all want bigger stronger glutes but not everyone wants big quads. If you can relate then you are quad dominant and need to focus on posterior chain exercises. Any exercises that can access the quad are off limits for the first few weeks until we can swap the quads for the glutes as the dominant muscle group.

So what does this look like?

Floor exercises such as donkey kicks are a great starting point. Donkey kicks rely on your own body weight and movement patterns to fire up the glutes and start sending a signal to the glutes to get moving and start taking the workload away from the quads.

Kickbacks are typically next on the list as they are a similar movement pattern to donkey kicks but with the added bonus of a level of resistance of our choosing. Next is typically an RDL which is a hip hinge movement pattern but again does not require the quads to do any of the work. This is definitely the most technically difficult of the beginner glute exercises but it is an amazing exercise that uses all of the posterior chain muscles.

The last exercise is the hip thrust which is in my opinion the best glute exercise on the market. But this can begin to bring in the quads if the resistance is too high so lighter is better here. And even if the weight is not very heavy the glutes will get tired and your intelligent brain will incorporate the quads to help you out so as soon as the quads are even beginning to burn the set is over.

This will continue until we have enough glute development and they are now the dominant muscle group. At this point we incorporate squats, single legs squats, lunges, box squats, heavy hip thrusts and any other relevant exercise that will help grow and develop your leg and glute muscles.

The decision to work out at home or at the gym depends on several factors, including personal preference, budget, and fitness goals.

The average cost of a personal trainer in Galway is €40 per gym session. Do you think this is expensive? Let’s break it down and see if it’s worth the cost…

1. Expertise: Personal trainers are experts in fitness and can provide guidance on proper form, exercise selection, and program design. If you decide to wing it and figure it out as you go, you ring the risk of injuries first and foremost, and a much longer time period to see results. The removal of mistakes immediately results in better time management. You are paying for knowledge that will result in you reaching goals and targets quicker.

2.Motivation: Personal trainers will help keep you motivated by setting goals, providing feedback, and holding you accountable. Often a trainer is there to keep you on the right track, they will ask questions about your commitment, nutrition and achieving goals. Your trainer acts as your training partner who won’t let you slack off and miss the days when you don’t feel like showing up.

3. Injury: Without proper guidance on form and technique, you may be at a higher risk of injury. Personal trainers can help ensure that you are using proper form and technique, which can reduce the risk of injury. An injury is costly on your bank balance, often a physio will charge more than a trainer. Your progress may come to a grinding halt and then rehab begins where achievements should be.

4. Plateaus: If you are not varying your workouts or pushing yourself to new limits, you may experience a plateau in your progress. Personal trainers can help you avoid these plateaus by introducing new exercises, increasing the intensity of your workouts, and providing new challenges. This is called progressive overload and it is essential to constant progress. The body needs something to adapt to make progress.

5. Time Management: Personal trainers can help you create a workout program that fits your schedule and lifestyle. Without their guidance, you may struggle to find the time to exercise. With a trainers guidance no time is wasted. Your time is precious and making the most of all of the time you can allow to your sessions is extremely important to achieving goals and targets in the shortest amount of time possible.

6. Longevity: Your over all health and your longevity are greatly increased though regular exercise. Resistance training will increase muscular strength, bone density, and ligament and tendon durability. Cardiovascular exercise will increase your heart strength, your lungs will be able to take in more oxygen and with a stronger heart your circulatory system will function at a much higher rate. You get one body to live your life with and a stronger body that has a high rate of cardiovascular ability results in increased longevity and a vastly increased quality of life.

Hiring a personal trainer can be costly, however a good trainer is worth paying for. A healthier version of you is not only possible but an absolute guarantee if you hire a good personal trainer. Your life, happiness and wellbeing are worth far more than the short term cost of a personal trainer.

Hiring a personal trainer in Galway can be an excellent investment in your health and fitness journey, but it’s essential to choose the right one. Unfortunately, many people make common mistakes when hiring a personal trainer that can lead to a less-than-ideal experience or even result in injury. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the most frequent errors people make when hiring a personal trainer and how to avoid them. Whether you’re new to working out or looking to switch trainers, keep reading to ensure you make an informed decision

1. Not being clear about goals: Many people hire a personal trainer without a clear idea of what they want to achieve. Think about what you would like to achieve, be it fat loss, gaining muscle, general health and fitness, or all of the above and then ensure that your trainer understands those goals.
2. Not communicating effectively: Communication is vital when working with a trainer. Are you comfortable with the exercises you are doing? Do you feel they are effective? Why are you doing this exercise? It’s important to be open and honest with your trainer about your needs and concerns.
3. Not following through on their trainer’s advice: A personal trainer will likely provide recommendations for exercises, nutrition, and lifestyle changes outside of the gym. This advice is going to be beneficial to you and help you achieve your goals. Listen to this advice.
4. Overlooking the importance of rest and recovery: Rest and recovery are essential for progress in fitness. Many people ignore the importance of rest days, sleep, and nutrition when working with a personal trainer. Every training session is breaking down the body; rest and recovery is when the body repairs itself, and this is when progress is made.
5. Focusing too much on short-term results: While it’s important to see progress in the short-term, it’s also important to focus on long-term goals.
6. Not being consistent: Consistency is key when it comes to fitness. Many people start off strong with their personal trainer but eventually fall off track due to lack of motivation or commitment. Motivation is temporary, dedication is long-term. Dedicating yourself to your goals results in achieving those goals, and consistency is vital.

A trainer is an investment, and of course, you want the most from your investment. Be clear about your goals, communicate those goals, trust the trainer you have invested in, and commit yourself to achieving your desired goals, and your investment will pay off.