Compound Vs. Isolation Exercises for Fat Loss

Quiet often when someone is using resistance training and weights for trying to  “lose weight” or “lose fat” they fall into the trap that the best way to do that is use small isolation exercises for each individual muscle group and to tone up each trouble spot on their body…

Many people trying to lose weight and lose fat often believe that lifting weights might make them big and bulky and give them big muscles and so they shy away from any big demanding exercises and focus on the smaller less intense movements…

This is a BIG mistake and a HUGE misconception!

You see even if you are not looking to build big muscles or become the next muscle bound bodybuilder (don’t worry you won’t by accident) you should, sorry you MUST, perform the big compound exercises when trying to lose weight and lose fat!

And here’s why…

In order to lose body fat, tone up, get lean and define you MUST create a calorie deficit and train your body to burn more calories and fat by raising and increasing your metabolic rate.

And the number one, second to none, absolute best way to do that is through big compound resistance training movements. You see it all comes down to ROI (Return On Investment). You want to burn as many calories as possible while you work out and you want to increase your metabolic rate as high as possible so that you continue to burn more calories and fat even after you have finished your workout.

When you perform a small isolation exercise, you may feel the muscle working, you may feel it burn and you may like the sensation of working on those troublesome areas of yours, HOWEVER, big compound exercises will give you much more bang for your buck and a much greater ROI!

That’s because compound exercises involve all the major muscle groups, use a much greater number of muscle groups to perform the movement and involve multiple joints, which results in much more energy being used, meaning more calories and ultimately more fat, being burnt.

Compare that to an isolation exercise, which you may feel more, but only involves one muscle group, minimises the use of other muscles and only uses one joint, therefore resulting in only a small output of energy, a much lower demand placed on the body and therefore far fewer calories, and less fat, being burnt, both during and after the workout. 

That doesn’t mean that isolation exercises do not have their place in a well balanced and structured workout or that you should never use them, it simply means if your goal is weight loss and fat loss and you want to get the most results in the least amount of time then you should definitely opt for a compound exercise over an isolation exercise whenever possible!

Here a list of common isolation used in the gym and a list of compound exercises that we recommend you replace them with as often as possible.:-

Isolation Exercises                                      Compound Exercises

Leg extension machine                                    Barbell Squat

Leg curl machine                                                Dumbbell Lunge

Chest fly machine                                               Chest press or push up

Tricep kickback                                                   Tricep Dips

Shoulder raise                                                      Overhead press

Back extension                                                    Bent Over Row

It’s also worth pointing out that if you are following the “correct eating plan” and have a “structured nutritional strategy” in place to support your weight loss and fat loss goals then you will automatically be in a calorie deficit on a regular basis and therefore will not put on muscle size or bulk regardless of the exercises you use because your nutrition plan will not support weight or muscle gain (bulk)!

So, the take home message here is focus on BIG compound movements for BIG results in the gym and for the BIGGEST ROI (Return On Investment) in regards to weight loss and fat loss.

Now get moving!