Big, compound movements involve more than one joint. Think of the difference between a squat and a bicep curl. These compound movements use the greatest amount of muscle and therefore have the greatest metabolic effect, which equates to more calories used and a greater ‘afterburn’ effect for fat-loss.
These types of movements also provide the greatest transfer to daily life because they are similar to the usual human movement patterns, we use all the time. Finally, they are very time-effective because they use many muscle groups all at once.
Primal, compound movements include squats, lunges, pushing and pulling movements, deadlifts, and snatches and cleans.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use machines though. For simplicity, well-designed gym machines like the leg press, seated row, lat pull-down, and chest and shoulder press, all help make workouts fast and convenient and with less need for instruction. Cables provide a versatile, multi-plane training experience too.
If you’re unsure of how to perform these exercises correctly, see a good strength coach or personal trainer.
Use big, compound movements as the ‘base’ of your strength training
From Carb-Appropriate 101 by Cliff Harvey PhD
Carb-Appropriate 101 gives you 101 daily tips to help you achieve the energy, health & performance you deserve. It includes daily tips for nutrition, movement, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, sleep, stress-reduction, and more! These tips are some of the themes that Cliff has written and spoken about over his decades in practice, in ‘bite-sized’ mini-articles.
Read the book from cover-to-cover, applying a tip a day, or simply open the book to any page to find a valuable health and performance tip to help you feel and perform at your very best.
