Pull-ups are the worst. I can do push-ups all day long, but the most pull-ups I've ever been able to do at once is 15. Sit-ups always feel bad for my back. It is hard to work your abs without killing your spine. And running... I just can't motivate myself to run. I have to have a ball at my feet in order to get any running in.
I do weighted decline sit-ups with 45 pounds. The thing is, you need to work out your back, too.. or it will go bad. Deadlifts are great for your back.
The best are resistance exercises againts your body. Everything else is vanity bullshit. What was it? Self improvement is masturbation? Something like that. If a muscle can only do more work, and won't do more work for you, why bother?
While I agree with you to some extent, you should know (and you probably do) that different kinds of exercises have different kinds of effects. Doing bar and dumbell curls, while they seem vain, are actually pretty useful in my experience. Once I started doing those in my exercises, I've found that I've been able to do more chin-ups... higher reps through all my sets. If you want brute strength and not necessarily endurance, then vanity bullshit can be pretty helpful.
And don't forget... the vanity bullshit can help you get laid. I don't know why you guys are working out, but I use powertools and heavy equipment do do my manual labor. I work out so that other people will like me. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah. I know. But for some reason the act of isolating muscles seems to be a useful concept in some instances. Perhaps because you're using 100% of your concentration and focus on a small set of muscles and it helps tear fiber. Perhaps the level of concentration means that that small set of muscles don't have to vie so much for fluids, O2 and nutrients. I still do rows and chin-ups on my back days. But I find that compound and isolation exercises complement each other well. Especially if you time the rest periods between the two in an optimal way.
Well ISOs can be great... but not on their own. Compound movements release more testosterone for growth than do isolation exercises. So, doing the big compound moves like I do... you have a higher potential for growth. However, say you are doing barbell rows for bicep growth. Your lift in this exercise is limited by your weakest points. If you have a weak grip, your rows will suck. If your biceps are weak, you'll have a weak row. If your lats are weak, your row will suck. You'll notice that doing something like rows puts a bit less emphasis on single muscles groups but your overall growth will be greater because you release more testosterone. Those that squat tend to have larger arms than those that don't. When you do them long enough, you'll have balanced utilization of all the muscles involved and this is when growth starts to take off. Isolations do have their place, esspecially for those people that have laggy parts for whatever reason (past injury, bad genes, etc..). The rules of thumb for 3 compound movements for every 1 isolation exercise.
I would say from what Iv read, that Squats of all lifts release the most testosterone, If you wanna get big do squats, if you want your arms bigger do squats... ect Seams to work, I life and run every day, used to run more (6-9mi /day) but to much college hehe. ne way, i noticed a difference after I added squats to my lifting routine. Note: the first time you do squats you will be insainly soar! ehhe
