The Benefits of Reverse Training For Building Muscle

For the most part, the information you read regarding how to go about setting up a workout program states that you should be starting with your core lifts, and then moving towards ones that are more isolated in nature.

The primary reason for this is due to the fact that many of the muscles worked during isolation movements are going to be worked during the core movements as well. Therefore, in order to generate a maximum amount of strength on the core movements, you're going to want to ensure the smaller muscles are not already fatigued.

If you are performing isolated exercises first, then you will be fatiguing and therefore will not be doing everything you can to develop a maximum amount of strength.

That said, there are times when it might be beneficial to reverse the order and start with the isolated exercises first.

Here's why.

A Plateau

Many people experience a plateau at some point or another and when this occurs, changes must be made. One of the easiest ways to go about making changes then is to simply shift around the exercises you're going to perform during your workout.

This small change might be enough to get the results coming again, however you shouldn't make this a permanent change because of the reason stated above.

For a couple of weeks though, training with isolated exercises first can be a good plan.

To Bring Out Definition

A second reason why you might want to start with isolated exercises is to bring out more definition in your muscles.

Because you are often working with heavy loads while doing compound lifts, you usually are correspondingly working in a smaller rep range of 4-7 reps.

In order to bring out max definition however, you should be aiming for a slightly higher rep range; around 8-12 reps per set.

This is usually more what's done when you do those isolation exercises, and furthermore, because isolation exercises target in on one movement, you will really enhance the particular definition you see with the muscle group you are targeting.

To Force Your Main Muscles To Work Harder

Finally, the third reason to perform isolated exercises first is to force your bigger muscle groups to do more work.

Consider this for a second. If you're doing a bench press, what are you primarily working? Your chest and triceps.

Now, if you fatigue your triceps, the only muscle that's really going to be generating force is the chest, thus enhancing the gains you see on it.

While this won't give you optimal strength development, think of it as a good isolation technique for muscle groups that are often harder to target just themselves.

So, if you're looking for something to shake up your workout program, keep reverse training in mind. One thing that is for sure though is that should always be using a spotter when doing compound movements after isolation exercises have been performed, due to the fact that it's going to be harder to ‘save' yourself should a problem arise.