Compound stands for compound. Compound exercises are therefore compound exercises. In the so-called isolated exercises, only a single joint movement is performed. The bicep curl is such an exercise where you train your biceps by bending your forearms at the elbows and bringing your hands to your shoulders. Therefore, the goal with an isolated exercise is to train one muscle group. Whereas a compound exercise actually puts more muscle groups and multiple joints to work.
The bench press, also called bench press, is an exercise in which you lie on a bench and lower the bar to your chest and then push it away from you. When bench pressing, in addition to your chest muscle, you also train your shoulders, triceps, glutes and abs. Although it is not always a popular exercise with women, in most cases it is precisely for them too that it is important to train those chest muscles, for example with bench press. When underlying chest muscles are trained, you will see that the breast tissue feels firmer and is better held in place.
In addition, the squat is also a common compound exercise. Freely translated, squat stands for making a knee bend. This exercise is so important because of the amount of muscles you have to engage to make this movement. In fact, in addition to the thigh muscles and hamstrings, the largest muscle in the human body, the large gluteus muscle, also works with it. The hip flexors, calf and abdominal muscles and the muscles in your lower back also have a role in making this movement. The movement you make in this knee bend is one that you often perform in everyday life as well. So it is very important to keep these muscles strong and powerful.
One that is also definitely not to be missed in the list is the deadlift. This exercise is so named because you have to lift "dead" weight off the ground. The muscles you train with the deadlift are the glutes, hamstrings, low back muscles and abs. In addition, your leg muscles at the front of your thigh (quadriceps), the muscles in your shoulder girdle (trapezius), your broad back muscle, calf muscles, and forearm muscles all work with you. Despite the fact that this exercise puts a lot of pressure on your back muscles, if performed technically well, you can ensure that back pain is reduced.
The shoulder press is another great compound exercise to include during your workout. When you perform this exercise correctly you not only improve the strength in your shoulders, but also in your triceps, trapezius and abdominal muscles. The shoulder press can be performed with two dumbbell weights, which also requires a bit of your coordination. Because you can perform the shoulder press with barbell weights, it is possible to learn to perform this exercise correctly with very little weight.
The last compound exercise we would like to suggest as a good compound exercise is the row. The row gets its name from the rowing motion you make. It is a compound exercise that trains your upper back. This exercise can be performed both with a barbell and barbell weights. In addition to the upper back muscles, you also train your biceps, shoulders and forearms with this exercise. And...yep, there they are again, your abs.
As you have read, when you perform compound exercises correctly, you put your abdominal muscles to work to provide optimal core stability (trunk stiffness). Good core stability prevents injuries! When your core stability is not optimal, your body has less strength to keep functioning properly and carry the body. For example, your posture slumps, which can cause your back to suffer, among other things.
If you want to know more about these important compound exercises, it is possible to look them up under movement, within a workout (including video) in the VYTAL app or, of course, you can check with your coach or trainer.
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