EXERCISE SELECTION
Equipment other than the basics usually serves joint exercises deliver the biggest payback per train-
to divert attention from where most application
should be given. When presented with many dif-
ferent pieces of gear, trainees nearly always get con-
fused and lose sight of training priorities.
The advantage of a well-equipped gym is that it
is likely to have a power rack, squat rack and other
important basic items, and maybe some of the bet-
ter pieces of machinery. Ironically, the well-equipped
gym with its many sources of potential distraction
and confusion may be your best bet for equipment
because in amongst its abundance of gear is what
you really need.
Some outstanding but relatively inexpensive
equipment is promoted in this book, e.g., Trap Bar,
cambered bar, thick bars, parallel-grip shoulder-
width bar for the pulldown and cable row, little
discs, grip machine and some other specific items for
training the grip. This gear is rarely found, even in
well-equipped gyms. Try to persuade the manage-
ment of where you train to invest in this equipment,
or buy some it yourself and trade it for membership
fees, or consider investing in your own home-gym.
A few suppliers of some of this gear are listed in
Resources, on page 209. You can even get the more
simple of these pieces of equipment made by a local
metal worker, even one who has no prior experience
of making exercise gear.
No mania for isolation exercises
Never forget the central aim of bodybuilding and
strength training: progressive poundages in good
form for plenty of reps. This applies to all exercis-
es, but especially the big multi-joint ones. Gener-
ally speaking, if you are not getting stronger in the
multi-joint exercises, your training is not working
well.
Even fitness trainees should employ compound
exercises as the spine of their programs. The multi-
ing minute.
A few trainees gain well despite including many
popular isolation (i.e., single-joint) exercises such as
leg extensions, leg curls, laterals, pec deck work, tri-
ceps kickbacks, and cable crossovers. (Of these, the
leg curl is the most valuable, though not included
in this book.) Unless you are one of their number
and are gaining well without any joint irritation, do
not copy their example. But even these easy gainers
would probably progress quicker if they dropped
much of the isolation work and focused more on the
big compound movements.
A lot of isolation work usually is needed by com-
petition-level bodybuilders who are already very big
and strong, and who want to add “spit and polish” to
their physiques. But what is needed by fewer than
% of those who lift weights should be of no concern
to the other 99+%. Countless trainees like to think
they are more advanced than they really are, to try to
justify imitating the routines of the top competitive
bodybuilders. But they are fooling themselves, and
as a result experience minimal or zero progress.
An emphasis on specific isolation work is often
needed during rehabilitation following an injury or
accident. This book does not, however, deal with the
specific needs of rehabilitation work.
Though the multi-joint/compound exercises
occupy the most space in this book, important iso-
lation exercises have been included too. These are
needed to develop the balanced muscular strength
necessary to help keep you injury free and able to
benefit from the big compound exercises. The BEST
approach for most people for most of the time is a pru-
dent mixture of both multi- AND single-joint move-
ments, using PERFECT form for both groups.
3