Expert opinionExercise selection
Position-stand and review evidence indicates that muscles are best developed by loading them through their functions and at varied joint angles, so combining compound multi-joint lifts with some single-joint work and modest exercise variation helps target a muscle completely. Exercise choice should match the muscle's line of pull and the regions a lifter wants to develop.
Rule: Build sessions around compound lifts for the target muscles and add isolation or angle variations to cover regions the compounds under-stimulate.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL (2021). Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum doi:10.3390/sports9020032