I can be infuriating sometimes… I don’t like to take statements at face value. Well – I do. When I hear them – I’m like that makes sense… but then I let them settle and question after question pops out in my head – typically WHY is that the case?
And that’s what I’ve been asking myself about why isolation exercises don’t work… you hear it lot… and most recently read about it from Nate Green’s book. But – rather than just stating the fact, Nate actually provided the background as to why they don’t work… for ordinary people.
So here’s the logic:
Way back when, bodybuilders used to do total-body workouts. But when steroids came along, the great thing about them was the more you worked your body, the better the steroids worked.
As such, you see all these huge bodybuilders working isolation exercises, as they get the greatest benefits from it. People watching see these huge, muscular people (and seeing them in magazines, with routines that are designed specifically for the ‘pros’) doing these isolation exercises, want to mimic their size, and start doing them themselves – but without the aid of the steroids.
And things grew… given the popularity of the workouts, gyms started accommodating them with the body part machines… relatively few locations will actually be set up properly for heavy full body lifting!
So there’s the logic – to me it makes sense… and it makes even more sense in Nate’s book!