30 Seconds Summary
Compound vs. isolation exercises: which is best?

  • The study by Paoli et al. (2017) compared isolation (single-joint) and compound (multi-joint) exercises to evaluate their impacts on muscle growth, strength, and cardiorespiratory fitness.
  • Participants were 36 soccer players who underwent 8 weeks of training, divided into two groups performing either only isolation or only compound exercises, after a 4-week familiarization phase.
  • Both groups used similar total workloads and trained to failure, but the compound group showed greater improvements in VO2max and strength for exercises like bench press and squats.
  • Despite these differences, there was no significant difference in overall body composition changes between the groups.
  • The study's design had some limitations, including non-matching exercises in the groups and varied muscle group focus, which could affect the results.
  • Ultimately, while the multi-joint exercise group demonstrated greater gains in strength and cardio fitness, body composition changes were similar, suggesting benefits from either type of exercise given equal total work volume.
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