The benefits of multi-joint exercises

Many people follow exercise routines laid out in magazines, told by friends, or written for them by the fitness instructor at their local gym. But how many of them get the results they want?

Many gym routines today focus on bicep curls, chest presses, crunches, etc. Now, I’m not saying there’s no place for these exercises, they can be very helpful when used correctly. time and when necessary.

However, they will not give 90% of people the results they want/need. These single-joint muscle isolation exercises add to the dysfunction and could be the cause of much of the aches and pains in today’s athletes.

You see, in nature, we rarely use a muscle on its own. I honestly couldn’t think of any situation where you might need to perform a bicep curl without some degree of shoulder flexion or rotation. The biceps will never work on its own. There will always be activation of the surrounding muscles, and 99% of the time, the core muscles as well.

Now I’m just using biceps as an example here, there isn’t a muscle in your body that is any different. All muscles will always work with other muscles to create the movements that we use every day.

So in order for the training to be representative of the movements we use regularly, we need to stop isolating the muscles and start working the movements. This means using large movements that engage as many joints as possible through their available range of motion.

A multi-joint exercise is one that uses movement through two or more joints. Going back to our biceps curl, that would mean using the elbow and shoulder.

These multi-joint exercises not only better mimic our natural movements, but also work more muscles in the process.

All the muscles and joints in your body are linked, so movement in one area will affect the rest of your body in some way. This is called the Kinetic Chain.

As with any chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link, so by isolating a muscle you are making one link stronger than the rest of the chain. This will cause an imbalance and therefore dysfunction (which could present as pain).

To create an optimal feature, you need to ensure that all links are as (relatively) strong as each other. This will mean that your body is in balance and functioning at its best.

These multi-joint or compound movements will not only translate more easily into everyday movements, but will also save you a lot of valuable time in the gym by working many muscles at the same time instead of concentrating on single-joint, single-muscle exercises that are They are very time consuming and usually require gym routines to be broken up to train a particular muscle group one day, another the next and so on. Doing this means that you can work all your muscles in one gym session, and therefore each muscle group will be worked more than once a week as with a split routine.

These compound exercises have also been shown to produce more strength gains than isolation exercises. So if you want to bulk up, these are the moves to train! However, that’s not to say that those of you who don’t want to get bigger or just want to burn fat shouldn’t do these exercises.

Since it’s muscle that burns energy (calories), it makes sense that the more muscles you’re working, the more calories you’ll burn. So for fat loss and definition, these are the exercises for you too!

Two of the best multi-joint exercises are the squat and the deadlift. These are great for improving overall strength and working almost every muscle in the body. However, you can’t just do these exercises every time you train or you might get a little bored. So, try adding a few other movements, like pushups, dips, lunges, pull-ups (pull-ups), and use the many new training tools we have available today like medicine balls, cable machines, resistance bands, etc. . All of this makes it even easier to add some rotational exercises to the mix, which are also very important, daily movements that will engage many joints and muscle groups.

In short, multi-joint exercises provide more muscle stimulation than their single-joint alternative, which means shorter, more efficient workouts, greater strength gains, and more calories burned per workout.

So whether you’re looking to build strength, lose weight, gain definition, or simply improve overall function and fitness, try a multi-joint exercise routine for a few weeks. When done correctly, you will notice the benefits within a few weeks, especially if you play sports.

good luck,

Mark Broadbent
I ask. PT, Dives. IIST, KCA

www.markonefitness.es