Multi-Muscle Movement: The Challenge

These exercises require several muscle groups spanning at least two joints to work together to get the job done. If even one of them isn’t up to the task (e.g., because it's fatigued or not yet strong enough to pull its own weight), the rest of the team (read: your body) suffers, leading to sub-par performance and sub-optimal results.

Compared to isolation exercises such as the biceps curl, dumbbell fly, and calf raise, which target a single muscle group and move a single joint, compound (multi-muscle, multi-joint) movements provide significantly more bang for your strength-training buck. Indeed, by recruiting and engaging mor...