Ooooooo how I have a love hate relationship with compound workouts.
Love = how they make me feel.
Hate = how they make me feel.
See, I told you! Dang, how compound exercises make my heart race and my muscles quiver, but dang how I have to take more frequent breaks because my heart is racing and my muscles are quivering!
Compound moves are so beneficial though and I do try to incorporate them into my routine every now and then.
Some benefits of compound workouts include:
- They’re quick and efficient-they burn more calories in less amount of time. You can easily get in a quick 20-30 workout if you add in compound moves….more bang for your buck so to speak.
- Compound moves increase strength. Again, anytime you’re working multiple muscle groups at one time, you’re burning more calories and fat and increasing strength.
- Compound workouts provide a great total body workout. While I also love isolation exercises, it totally depends on your goals and what you’re trying to accomplish.
When I add compound moves into my workout, I try to balance it out with single muscle exercises. So for these supersets you can see I paired a compound move with a single isolate move.
Superset #1
Deadlift/Upward Row
Biceps Curls
Superset #2
Squat with a Shoulder Press
Bent Over Row
Superset #3
Walking lunges with a Bicep Curl
Overhead Triceps Extension
So can you see how this circuit can work your entire body? We’re covering lower body with glutes, hams and quads, along with upper body with arms, triceps (those dreaded bat wings) and your back.
They’re are so many variations you can try and you can always check out my YouTube channel for exercise demos!
Hope you enjoy!