Secondary body parts assist and are worked less, sometimes only during part of the movement. Power cleans are a compound and ballistic exercise that you should feel more in your traps than any of the many other muscles worked. Incline dip: Instead of crossing your ankles behind you, raise your thighs in front of you, so that both your knees and hips form 90-degree angles. The sooner you get to know these classic gym moves, the faster you’ll start making serious strides towards your goals. A compound exercise engages more than one body part. Mix and match the moves below and get started! Because compound movements engage more muscle (a.k.a. This is the starting position. Squats, hack squats, Smith machine squats, and leg presses—and all their variations (one leg, front, etc. Other than leg extensions and leg adduction and abduction, every quad exercise is compound. This is the starting position. The Best Full Body Workout Exercise 1: Barbell Bench Press More Compound Exercises Press-up The press-up is primarily a chest-builder, but it also recruits your triceps, shoulders and – as long as you keep your body ramrod-straight – core. Compound Movements. A science type might tell you that other joints move too — the whole “foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone” concept — but, primarily, the movement occurs at your shoulder joints. This is where the awesomeness of compound exercises come in. Pause, and then lower yourself slowly to a dead hang (try to take five seconds to do so). Pause, and then slowly lower yourself back to a dead hang. What are Compound Exercises? Whether with a machine or parallel bars, stay upright when doing dips and locate the movement in your elbow joints. Planks stress the abs along with much of the body. Now we come to perhaps the most difficult body part to hit with an all-compound workout. So the bench press, push-up, squat, row, and lunge are all compound movements, whereas the biceps curl, dumbbell fly, and triceps extension are all isolation exercises. Thank you for signing up. You can also focus deadlifts on your traps by doing only the top of the movement with the bar in a power rack and the supports set just above your knees. Keeping your elbows tucked toward your body and your head in line with your spine, lower your body until your chest is a few inches from the floor. Compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups, especially those in the lower body, burn more calories and boost your heart rate more than most exercises, especially isolation movements. “That leads to greater ‘mechanical tension,’ which is a key growth stimulus,” says Thieme. Stand with your feet hip-width apart (step a foot slightly behind you for stability if necessary), holding two dumbbells in front of your shoulders, palms facing each other. Stand holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms in, with your feet hip-width apart. Performing the squat is similar to standing up from a seated position, whereas doing an isolation move like the leg extension is similar to, well, nothing you’d typically do anywhere else besides the gym. For example, an overhead press works the deltoids and triceps. While holding dumbbells, rise on the balls of your feet as high as possible on each stride. Because the many types of pullups, pulldowns, and rows are all compound, it’s likely you’re already doing an all-compound back routine. Grab a chin-up bar with an underhand grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder-width, and hang at arm’s length (a position known as a dead hang). So with that being said, let’s take a look at what the optimal full body workout might look like. Copyright 2020 JW Media, LLC, parent company of Muscle & Fitness. Beginner compound exercises. Simultaneously jump up and pull your upper chest to the bar with your legs pointed slightly in front of you. Pause, and then push yourself back up to the starting position. A compound triceps routine will look similar to one for chest: presses and dips. Compound the Burn With Compound Exercises. This workout also uses compound movements, which are some of the best for building muscle while simultaneously burning fat. Keeping your feet flat on the floor, your core engaged, and your lower back pressed into the bench, slowly lower the weights to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows at a 45 degree angle to your body (not flared). The lower back and calves may also chip in. Incline bench press: Performing this exercise on a bench set to a 30-degree angle emphasizes the upper pecs.