In this article I want to add my humble opinion to the "Isolation Exercises" discussions. To break it down simply, an isolation exercise is any exercise that targets a specific muscle in a specific action that as the name implies: isolates all other muscles during the exercise. The theory behind it is that you can precisely target specific muscles and areas and train that area to achieve a desired outcome.

Isolation exercises are best used when injured as to not strain or aggravate the injured muscle or limb, to strengthen a particular area such as the back or even targeted muscle growth to help a particular aspect of a sporting movement. All those reasons are fine by me.

For me however, I feel the use of isolation exercises is sometimes geared towards a more cosmetic or visual aspect. They are well utilised in the world of body building where you want every single muscle to be defined and clearly worked. This in itself is fine and quite a necessary part of the body shaping or body building sport and I believe when used for this purpose, isolation exercises are fine.

However, my whole approach to fitness and health is overall, total body workouts which improve your fitness and of course your physical body using programs and methods designed to be doable by all walks of life including those busy lives with families, kids, long work hours etc.

So although I agree with some of the reasons isolation are used, I feel that some of them are really not all that helpful and some can actually be downright dangerous! The body is designed to be worked, trained and sculpted all over and there is nothing more ridiculous looking than un-proportioned parts of the human body because they have been trained excessively while other parts have been neglected or just plain ignored. Some of the actions involved when doing isolation can also cause you to put unnecessary pressure on different parts of your body which can cause strains and injuries.

For me, if the action seems to have no end purpose and also doesn't feel right then it is a good idea to cease this exercise. Two exercises I have to say I really don't like are overhand wrist curls and also weighted shrugs. In my eyes, they serve no real purpose, hurt when you do them and generally just don't feel right while I am doing them. I am sure they can create a bulge somewhere if done over and over again but it is really not what I am out to achieve!

So friend, there you have it! Just my opinion on isolation exercises and their worth and to be sure, many people would disagree and that is fine. My final word of advice on isolation exercises is just to be sure on what reasons you have for doing the exercise, what are your desired outcomes and above all, how does it feel? If you use these criteria for all of the exercises you choose to do - isolation type or otherwise - and make your decisions on the overall benefits they will provide you with, then you can't go wrong!