A Trick to Building Lean Muscle

I've been a self-proclaimed strength training "enthusiast" since college.  It was my trick to fighting off that "Freshman 15", and maintaining my physique.  With extra lean muscle, I quickly learned I could eat what I wanted (sort of) and not gain a bunch of weight (read Why Women Should Lift Weights).

I started researching weightlifting 101 back in college and slowly formulated my training plan, adjusting as I went and paying close attention to how my body would respond.  In summer 2008, after completing my junior year, that's when I probably noticed my physique started to change.  I started to see more definition in my abs and arms, and my leg muscles started to increase in size.  It's a slow process, but today, I can certainly see a difference in my overall physique and I would attribute that to one of my tricks to building lean muscle...

...begin each workout with compound exercises, and leave the isolation exercises for the latter half of your workout.

So, what exactly does this mean?  Well, remember how I split my workouts into "push", "pull", and "legs"? (read about my workout split here)  Each of my workouts is targeting a specific muscle group, and my trick is to incorporate compound exercises into the beginning of the workout, and slowly shift to isolation exercises.

For instance, take "legs" day.  If you've done any amount of research, you've probably noticed most leg workouts start with squats.  Why are squats such an effective exercise?   Because it works multiple leg muscles at the same time.  This is what "compound" essentially means -- you are working multiple muscles during the same exercise.  Other examples are push ups (chest, triceps) and pull ups (back, biceps).

Compound exercises like squats are great because they work the entire leg while also burning more calories in the process.  A squat works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hip flexors, etc.  To build muscle, you need to stimulate your muscles and then exhaust them. But isolating a particular muscle can result in weak areas that you may neglect.  For example, leg extensions solely work your quad, but forgetting about your hamstrings, calves, etc. limits muscle gains and increases likelihood of injury.  A squat ensures you are working EVERYTHING.  And working EVERYTHING MEANS MORE CALORIES BURNED.

The way I've slowly gained muscle is through compound exercises, that's my trick.  I would encourage you to take a look at your training plan and ensure you are starting with compound exercises.  Isolation exercises aren't as effective as compound exercises, proven fact.  Google it.