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Why Compound Exercises Should Be Part Of Your Next Workout, Plus 10 To Try
If you want to make your workouts efficient, diverse, and extra spicy, listen up! Compound exercises, or compound movements, are arguably the aces of fitness. While they don't get much airtime, you're probably already doing them in your workouts. And if you're not, well, don't worry, we'll convince you.
Find out why top personal trainers and fitness instructors use compound movements as part of their fitness routines.
What are compound exercises?
"Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at the same time rather than just one," explains Sydney Miller, founder of HOUSEWORK. Compound exercises are also called multi-joint movements because they involve more than one joint. When you do a movement that involves multiple joints, you're recruiting all of the muscles that help to flex that joint.
If you've taken a HIIT, strength, Pilates, or yoga class, you've done compound movements before. Traditional exercises like squats, which involve flexion at the hip, knee, and ankle joints and work several muscles including your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and abdominals are considered compound movements as well as more complicated movements, like a beast crawl or a kettlebell swing.
"Often, compound exercises can mimic everyday movements we typically undertake in everyday life such as lifting heavy items, reaching up to higher shelves, or carrying groceries," says Scott Thompson, athletics director at F45 Training.
Compound vs. isolation exercises
Isolation exercises are the opposite of compound exercises—they involve only one joint. You're likely used to seeing both types of movements in your workouts. "For example, a triceps kickback is a very common isolation exercise that involves only the triceps—the arm is bending and extending at the elbow and the tricep flexes," explains Miller.
But you can work your triceps and other muscles at the same time by doing a compound exercise like a triceps pushup. "Not only are you working your triceps as you bend and extend at the elbow to lower and lift yourself, but you are also working shoulders, back, abs, and even biceps."
As Thompson explains, "Compound exercises are great for a holistic training program, while isolation exercises can be executed to grow specific muscle groups."
If you've ever biceps-curled into oblivion, you can already see the appeal of compound movements. "The variety can be fun, engaging, and keep workouts interesting, leading to an increase in motivation and consistency, which in turn leads to sustainable fitness goals long term," says Thompson.
But aside from being more interesting to perform, there are several physical benefits of compound movements to pique your interest.
Benefits of compound exercises:
They're time-effective.
"Compound exercises tend to be more efficient than an isolation exercise because essentially you are getting more bang for your buck and working different parts of your body at the same time," says Miller. This means you can spend less time working out while still getting the benefits of exercise.
"This type of training is becoming more and more trendy for people with busy schedules. You don't need to spend hours on end at the gym," explains Thompson.
You'll support strength goals.
If you're looking to improve strength, compound movements are the way to go. "Compound movements like a squat, bench press, or deadlift provide the foundation for future training," says Thompson. "Compound movements engage more muscles, which means that under tension there is more mechanical damage to muscle fibers resulting in an increase of muscle mass and strength."
In one study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, people were split into two groups—one that completed a workout routine with only compound exercises and one that did only isolation exercises. Both groups did the routines three days a week for eight weeks and performed the same total work volume, or reps multiplied by sets and load. While both groups improved their strength, the people who did compound movements improved their strength to a greater extent1, meaning their workouts were more efficient.
You can improve coordination.
"You'll see increased coordination as multiple muscle groups and joints are moving in unison," explains Sweat Factor founder Mike Donavanik. Obviously, this is important for athletes (and yes, your happy hour soccer league totally counts!), but it's also a factor in injury prevention. When you trip over a rock on your trail run, your muscles are well-primed to act at the same time and catch you.
They're also a cardio workout.
"Compound movements will typically spike your heart rate, compared to their single-joint counterpart," says Donavanik. While compound movements won't give you the standard steady-state cardio that you'll get with running, biking, or swimming, depending on the moves you choose and the way your workout is programmed, you can definitely get a dose of anaerobic exercise, he explains, which uses your fast-twitch muscle fibers.
"Compound movements are not just for resistance training," agrees Thompson. He points to everyone's love-to-hate move, the burpee, which works multiple muscle groups and elevates your heart rate.
Miller also loves compound moves like pushups into shoulder taps, squat pulses with a hop at the top, and army crawls.
10 compound exercises to try:
Bulgarian Split Squat
- Hold a single medium to heavy weight in your left hand, and stand next to a chair. Lift your left leg onto the chair, pivot so you're facing away from it, then rest the top of your left foot on the chair.
- Sit your hips back and down, with a slight hinge, and lower down until your left knee is pointing toward the ground. Drive through your right heel to press back up to start. That's one rep.
Reverse Lunge
- Hold a single medium to heavy weight in your left hand. Start in a standing position. Step your left leg behind you.
- Hinge at your hips, reach your back leg behind you, and bend your knees to lower down. Return to start. That's one rep.
Curtsy Lunge Curl and Press
- Start in a standing position, with a single dumbbell in your left hand and right hand on your right hip.
- Bring your left foot back behind your body and lower down into a curtsy lunge.
- From here, complete a biceps curl with your left hand, then press the weight up overhead, using your abs to keep you stable.
- Keeping your arm overhead, rise back up to a standing position. Bring the weight back down to start. That's 1 rep.
Pushup and Thrust
- Start in a high plank position with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Move through a pushup, then immediately jump your feet to meet your hands, coming into a low squat position.
- Maintaining the squat, bring your dumbbells up to your shoulders.
- Pause, then reverse the movement and return to start.
Jump Squat
- Start in your squat position.
- At the bottom of the squat, squeeze your glutes, press into your heels, then roll through your feet and propel upward off your toes.
- Land softly on your feet, then use the momentum from landing to move into your next squat. That's one rep.
Bird Dog in Knee Hover
- Start on all fours. Float your knees a couple of inches off the ground, and hold.
- Without shifting your hips, inhale and extend your right arm forward. Exhale as you crunch your abs and pull your elbow toward your torso. Reach it back out, then return it to the ground.
- Inhale as you extend your left leg out; squeeze through the glutes. Try not to lift your leg up much higher than your torso. Then exhale to curl your spine and crunch your body inward.
- Repeat with the opposite arm and leg.
Modified Burpee
- From a standing position, plant your hands on the mat, and step your feet back into a plank.
- Then, step your left foot up to your hand, then your right foot.
- Come up to standing, squeezing your glutes and abs at the top.
- Bring your hands down, step back into your plank, and repeat the movement.
(Note: You can jump back into your plank to make this a full burpee.)
Chair Pose Triceps Kickback
- Start in a standing position. Hold a pair of dumbbells in your hands, and bring them in front of your chest, palms facing in.
- Sit your hips back, bend your knees, and lower down into chair pose.
- Engage your triceps as you press the weights behind your body until your arms are fully extended.
- With control, return to start.
Person Makers
- Start in a high plank position, with a dumbbell in each hand, and your shoulders stacked over wrists.
- Move through a pushup. At the top of the pushup, row your left dumbbell up to torso height. Return to start, then repeat on the right side.
- Then, jump both feet forward to meet your hands. Bring both weights up to your shoulders.
- Press through your heels to rise up to a standing position, pressing your arms overhead.
- Bring your hands back to the ground, then return to a plank position. That's 1 rep.
Plank Jacks
- Come into a high plank position, with your shoulders stacked over your wrists.
- Jump your feet out so they're wider than your mat. Then quickly jump them back to start.
How to fit compound exercises into your workout routine
If you have general fitness goals, like building strength and muscle, compound exercises are a great tool to add to your routine, says Donavanik. These tips will help you get started.
Try an online class
"Online workouts and classes are a great place to start to learn compound movements," recommends Donavanik. It's also a way to find compound movements you enjoy and want to add to your arsenal.
Look for workouts that focus on things like strength, HIIT, and Pilates, advises Miller, all of which are sure to include compound exercises. (Check out our mbg moves or head over to our YouTube c series for a variety of great workouts!)
Start your workout with compound exercises
If you prefer to put together your own routines and move at your own pace, it's very simple to slot in compound exercises. Just make sure to program them at the beginning of your workout, advises Thompson. "There is less muscle fatigue in the beginning, which means you are more likely to maintain proper lifting techniques," he explains. That also means you can go heavier.
Double up your single-joint movements
Is this a cheat? Maybe, but it's an efficient trick for getting in more compound movements: Do two isolation exercises at the same time. For instance, add a biceps curl to a curtsy lunge or perform an overhead triceps extension while doing heel raises. This lets you get the best of both worlds without sacrificing moves you enjoy doing.
Skip the machines
While the exercise machines found at most gyms definitely have their place, many are designed for isolation exercises, like the leg press or hamstring curl machines. While some machines work multiple muscles (take the lat pulldown), you can often do an even more efficient compound move off of the machine.
The takeaway
Of course, this doesn't mean you need to completely abandon your favorite isolation exercises.
"Isolation exercises will help strengthen the muscles you use during compound movements. They work in tandem," says Donavanik. Specifically, they can be very effective at strengthening and sculpting specific muscle groups like biceps, triceps, calves, quads, and glutes, he explains. Varying your training using multiple movement modalities is always a great way to keep your fitness well-rounded.
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