6.

) Just for variation to mix in with compounds

Not the strongest argument for isolations, but isolating puts forces through different parts of
muscles than compounds do, and may activate and grow parts of the muscle different from the
usual ones compounds cover. Just every now and again, you might want to try isolation moves to
get a different stimulus, like doing leg curls instead of GHRs for a couple of blocks.

7.) Assisting muscles are too big relative to target ones

If you have HUGE glutes and tiny quads, squats might just make this asymmetry worse. If you’re
working for a more balanced look,
look, be it for the stage or just IG, perhaps some
some isolation work for
the target muscles can help bring them up while keeping the responder muscles from becoming
obscene. Not that obscenely large glutes are bad. In fact, many would say bigger glutes are always
better.

So all that being said, when someone tells you that you need more isolation work or that you need
to change an exercise you’re doing to make it isolate a target muscle more, just go through each of
the 7 points above and if you hit a “yes,” then their advice might be good! If you hit a “no” on all
of them, get violent with them quick so they know not to fuck with you again.

For example, I do a little bitty shrug at the top of my lateral raises. It makes my shoulders feel
better and is just a side effect
effect of trying to produce high forces during the movement.
movement. I could fight
it off and stop doing it, but, let’s see the checklist:

Does the little shrug:

1.) Overdo my systemic fatigue? No.

2.) Overwhelm my axial loading? Nope.

3.) Prevent me from feeling the move in my lateral delts? No way.

4.) Limit me from using lateral delts more? Nuh uh.

5.) I’m not hurt. Nor does that shrug hurt me.

6.) I have eliminated the shrug in other variations of lateral raises I sometimes do. (They usually
don’t work that well for me.)

7.) My side delts are, by ratio, bigger than probably any other muscle on my body, with my traps
lagging far behind.

Hey! Looks like I can keep my current technique! Take that, IG technique trolls!

In the end, remember to always ask WHY you are doing something and when someone tells you
to switch something, they had better have good reasons. Think shit through, work hard, and