Types Of Exercises That Can Help You Bulk Up

Article by James Brown

Types Of Exercises That Can Help You Bulk Up – Health – Fitness

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Isometric exercises vs isotonic exercises

In isometric the muscles flex and hold a stationary position. No movement of a load takes place, and the exercises require little in the way of equipment. An example of an isometric routine is placing the palms of the hands against each other and pushing. Isometric exercises are primarily used in physiotherapy and injury rehabilitation because the intensity can be rapidly and precisely adjusted, which makes them very safe. They are now rarely used outside this context.

In isotonic the muscles are used to push or pull a weight. Any object can be used for weight training, but dumbbells, barbells and other specialized equipment are normally used because they can be adjusted to specific weights, and are easily gripped. Elastic resistance bands are a cheap and portable alternative. Some exercises, such as the push-up, use the individual’s bodyweight instead. Advanced practitioners often add weight to bodyweight exercises such as the crunch by, in this case, holding a dumbbell on their chest.

These terms combine the prefix “iso”, meaning same, with “metric” (distance) and “tonic” (strength), meaning that in “isometric” routine the length of the muscle does not change, and in “isotonic” exercises the force applied to the muscle is relatively unchanged.

A third type of training, which is less common–except in sport-specific training or in rehabilitation–is isokinetic, or “same-speed” exercise. In isokinetic rouitine, an exercise machine is used which registers the force applied to it by the user, and offers just that amount of resistance. This allows the user to exercise at the speed optimal for their needs, without the danger of being subjected to more weight than they can handle.

Isolation vs compound exercises

The leg extension is an isolation.

An isolation routine is one where the movement is restricted to one joint and one muscle group. For example, the leg extension is an isolation exercise for the quadriceps. No other muscle groups are involved, and movement occurs only around the knee joint.

Compound exercises work several muscle groups at once, and include movement around two or more joints. For example, in the leg press movement occurs around the hip, knee and ankle joints. This routine is primarily used to develop the quadriceps, but it also involves the hamstrings, glutes and calves.

Compound routines are generally similar to the ways that people naturally push, pull and lift objects, whereas isolation exercises often feel a little unnatural.

The leg press is a compound exercise.

Each type of exercise has its uses. Compound build the basic strength that is needed to perform everyday pushing, pulling and lifting activities. Isolation routines are useful for “rounding out” a routine, by directly exercising muscle groups that cannot be fully exercised in the compound.

Free Weights vs. Machines

Swiss balls allow a wider range of free weight routines to be performed

They are also known as exercise balls, gym balls, sports balls, therapy balls or body balls.

Free weights are dumbbells and barbells. Unlike exercise machines, they do not constrain users to specific, fixed movements, and therefore require more effort from the individual’s stabilizer muscles. It is often argued that free weights exercises are superior for precisely this reason.

But because exercise machines largely prevent users from performing routines with poor form, they are safer than free weights–particularly for beginners. Moreover, since users need not concentrate so much on maintaining good form, they can focus more on the effort they are putting into the exercise–which may lead to faster progress.

Some free weight routines can be performed while sitting or lying on a Swiss ball. This makes it more difficult to maintain good form, which helps to exercise the deep torso muscles that are important for maintaining a good posture.

The bench press can be safely performed on the Smith machine without the help of a spotter

There are a number of exercise machines that are commonly found in neighborhood gyms. The Smith machine is a barbell that is constrained to move only vertically upwards and downwards. The cable machine consists of two weight stacks separated by 2.5 metres, with cables running through adjustable pulleys (that can be fixed at any height) to various types of handles. There are also exercise-specific machines such as the leg press. A multi-gym includes a variety of exercise-specific mechanisms in one apparatus.

One limitation of many free weight exercises and exercise machines is that the muscle is working maximally against gravity during only a small portion of the lift. Some exercise-specific machines feature an oval cam (first introduced by Nautilus) which varies the resistance so that the resistance, and the muscle force required, remains constant throughout the full range of motion of the exercise.

About the Author

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James Brown

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