07/09/2022
What even are “Compounds”?
A term bandied about in the gym, but what does it really mean?
Compound movements just mean exercises that use multiple muscles in one action.
Alternatively it could be two exercises combined into one compound.
Such as a curl (which isn’t a compound) into a shoulder press - now the curl is part of a compound movement.
Another great example is the squat, basically sitting down and back up again, which uses tonnes of leg muscles!
Squatting uses your quads, hamstrings, glutes and core (front and back of your legs and bum, of course 😉) and because it uses so many muscles we call it a compound.
If an exercise uses exclusively one muscle then we call it an isolation exercise!
Most exercises you come across will be some sort of compound exercise - however it’s not always straightforward.
The term is often used for more complex barbell exercises, these are often deadlifts, bench press, squats (of all kinds), overhead press, bent over rows, etc.
These are often highly regarded exercises as they make training much more efficient as many muscles are activated all at once for more progress in less time!
The bottom line: you now know what a compound is and it’s really rather simple.
Final top tip for making it to the end! If you’re wanting to know how to structure your workouts - starting with compound exercises is often the best way forward.
You need more energy for compounds as they generally use more muscles, so you don’t want to leave them to later in your workout when you’re more tired.
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