Single-joint exercises to a training routine with basic exercises adds nothing

[Arnold]

Whether you use anabolic steroids or not, adding single-joint exercises to a training routine with basic exercises adds nothing

Whether you use anabolic steroids or not, adding single-joint exercises to a training routine with basic exercises adds nothing
If bodybuilders already target a muscle with a multi-joint exercise, then it makes little sense to also train this muscle with a single-joint exercise. This also applies to bodybuilders who have been training with weights for years, and also to bodybuilders who use anabolics, report Brazilian sports scientists in the Journal European Journal of Sport Science.

Study
The Brazilians experimented for 8 weeks with thirty male recreational bodybuilders, who had been training with weights for at least three years. The bodybuilders consumed 2.5-3 grams of protein per kilo of body weight daily.

The researchers divided the bodybuilders into four groups. The first group trained their main muscle groups with some basic multi-joint exercises [MJ], the second group added a few single joint exercises to those basic multi-joint exercises [MJ + SJ]. These two groups did not use anabolic steroids.

More information about the training schedules that the Brazilians used can be found here.

A third group of test subjects also trained exclusively with multi-joint exercises, and a fourth group of test subjects trained with multi-joint plus single-joint exercises. These two groups combined the strength training with the use of 600 milligrams of testosterone cantantate and 200 milligrams of stanozolol per week [AAS].

Results
Adding single-joint exercises to a training routine with multi-joint exercises did not cause the test subjects to become stronger.

For example, the bodybuilders with triceps extensions in their training program had just as much progress in terms of strength as the bodybuilders without triceps extensions. This applied to the subjects' bench press strength, but also to their triceps extension strength.

One factor that did weigh in was the use of anabolic steroids. That is not surprising of course. More remarkable is that the addition of single-joint exercises to the training program did not add anything in the group of steroids users either.

Using clippers and measuring tapes, the researchers determined the effect of the training regimes on muscle mass and fat mass. But here too the single-joint exercises proved to add nothing.

Conclusion
"Our study shows that the addition of single-joint exercises to a resistance training programme that already contains multi-joint exercises brings no additional benefit in terms of muscle performance and anthropometric changes in trained men, whether they are using anabolic steroids or not", write the Brazilians.

"These results might help to design more time-efficient resistance training programmes, since it suggests that trained men can save time not including single-joint exercises in their routines and still achieve optimal results."

"For those interested in bodybuilding recreationally who, unlike professionals, may be unable to dedicate considerable time to the pursuit these findings are potentially valuable."

Source:
Eur J Sport Sci. 2019 May 9:1-8. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2019.1611932. [Epub ahead of print].

 

[Milford King]

I don’t believe it adds nothing...

you’re telling me finishing chest day with single arm tricep pulldowns wont help to add muscle, strength and tone? Bicep curls on back day? Because it does, in my observation. I used to hit large volume workouts with both compound lifts and single joint lifts and my arms were much bigger back then.

 

[Montego]

I don’t believe it adds nothing...

you’re telling me finishing chest day with single arm tricep pulldowns wont help to add muscle, strength and tone? Bicep curls on back day? Because it does, in my observation. I used to hit large volume workouts with both compound lifts and single joint lifts and my arms were much bigger back then.

You can't "tone" a muscle

 

[dpaytonenator]

Wouldn't single joint movements define or make the muscle have more definition ?

 

[Montego]

Wouldn't single joint movements define or make the muscle have more definition ?

No such thing as defining a muscle or, growing or shrinking a certain part of the same muscle belly.

A muscle gets bigger or smaller.

 

[Milford King]

So isolated ‘accessory’ movements do ‘nothing’? I still don’t buy it. Any form of stress will induce growth up to a point.

 

[Montego]

So isolated ‘accessory’ movements do ‘nothing’? I still don’t buy it. Any form of stress will induce growth up to a point.

They can induce more fatigue but they don't tone or sculpt a muscle.

 

[Milford King]

They can induce more fatigue but they don't tone or sculpt a muscle.

fatigue leads to repair which causes growth, correct?

This article made it sound like you’d better off be sitting in the couch if your only doing single joint exercises (by the way, I don’t know any one who focuses solely on isolated ‘single joint’ routines.)

ive always started my workouts with the compound movements for whatever specific muscle group I was hitting and then finished it off with single movements usually lower weight higher rep ranges (except when I focus solely on mass building)

for me, I just want to get back at it, recomp my body and get to a point where I can lift heavy without fear and start building mass again. Obviously right now my focus is on burning fat.

 

[Montego]

fatigue leads to repair which causes growth, correct?

This article made it sound like you’d better off be sitting in the couch if your only doing single joint exercises (by the way, I don’t know any one who focuses solely on isolated ‘single joint’ routines.)

ive always started my workouts with the compound movements for whatever specific muscle group I was hitting and then finished it off with single movements usually lower weight higher rep ranges (except when I focus solely on mass building)

for me, I just want to get back at it, recomp my body and get to a point where I can lift heavy without fear and start building mass again. Obviously right now my focus is on burning fat.

Fatigue doesn't always lead to growth.

Foo Foo exercises have a place but it's not a big one and it needs to be part of a bigger overall training set up.

I'm not saying they don't help build muscle but, they're an after thought really.

 

[HPM3TAL]

Fatigue doesn't always lead to growth.

Foo Foo exercises have a place but it's not a big one and it needs to be part of a bigger overall training set up.

I'm not saying they don't help build muscle but, they're an after thought really.

Bent over tricep extensions are the king of foo foo exercises.

Sent from my LG-H871 using Tapatalk

 

[Jswole220]

Fatigue doesn't always lead to growth.

Foo Foo exercises have a place but it's not a big one and it needs to be part of a bigger overall training set up.

I'm not saying they don't help build muscle but, they're an after thought really.

so then why wouldn’t a bodybuilder only do the big three and maybe some pull ups? They definitely have a place

 

[Montego]

so then why wouldn’t a bodybuilder only do the big three and maybe some pull ups? They definitely have a place

I didn't say they don't have a place. I said the do but it's small.

The more you're adapted training, and the more muscle you have, the more these type of exercises will be worked in successfully.

There does come a point when doing heavy compounds doesn't lend itself to deliver enough metabolic stress since intensity and strength can't be that high forever. You'll be smoked but the muscle won't be fully exhausted because you've adapted to that level of workload. This is when you have choices of what you can do like, adding in Foo Foo stuff or increasing volume on the heavier lifts at a sub maximal effort.

The Foo Foo stuff, I keep calling it that for fun, it's just a joke don't get your panties twisted I do some Foo Foo stuff too, does have the advantage of targeting the intended muscle better, USUALLY, and can help alleviate stress on joints and the cns.

It's just like any other intensity technique.

Do I believe One arm tricep extensions build as much tissue as close grip bench, given that you target the triceps equally on both movements,? Fuck no.

Do I believe that if you've exhausted the muscle fully with heavy compound movements but, you've adapted to that level of metabolic stress and muscle damage that Foo foo's can be useful? Yes.

 

[dpaytonenator]

Thanks for breaking it down monte. Now it makes more sense to me. It’s like a beginner trying to build mass on his tris using tricep extensions when he should be doing close grip bench press

 

[HFO3]

cables activate muscle fibers don't believe this nonsense lol

come at me!

 

[Montego]

Thanks for breaking it down monte. Now it makes more sense to me. It’s like a beginner trying to build mass on his tris using tricep extensions when he should be doing close grip bench press

Yup

 

[Milford King]

Look at that boys, productive dialogue involving training techniques.

I’ll always finish up with the foo foo shit because I love the pump. But I confess, I need to learn to dial volume back and increase intensity on the main heavy compound lifts (without ripping my tendons off) once I master this... I shall return with vengeance and feel confident mowing the yard with my shirt off again

 

[Jswole220]

I didn't say they don't have a place. I said the do but it's small.

The more you're adapted training, and the more muscle you have, the more these type of exercises will be worked in successfully.

There does come a point when doing heavy compounds doesn't lend itself to deliver enough metabolic stress since intensity and strength can't be that high forever. You'll be smoked but the muscle won't be fully exhausted because you've adapted to that level of workload. This is when you have choices of what you can do like, adding in Foo Foo stuff or increasing volume on the heavier lifts at a sub maximal effort.

The Foo Foo stuff, I keep calling it that for fun, it's just a joke don't get your panties twisted I do some Foo Foo stuff too, does have the advantage of targeting the intended muscle better, USUALLY, and can help alleviate stress on joints and the cns.

It's just like any other intensity technique.

Do I believe One arm tricep extensions build as much tissue as close grip bench, given that you target the triceps equally on both movements,? Fuck no.

Do I believe that if you've exhausted the muscle fully with heavy compound movements but, you've adapted to that level of metabolic stress and muscle damage that Foo foo's can be useful? Yes.

well said and I 100% agree with everything you just stated