I see so many people who got really crappy form at the gym and also lift way too heavy for an effective workout. The current dogma in the weightlifting world seem to be that you should aim to lift heavy to get big. While this is true in a lot of ways I think it is a bit oversimplified.
When you decide to start lifting you actually need to understand what your goal is to get the best results. If your goal is to get very muscular then you should definatly not only lift to get big numbers or only use compounds.
I see some serious misuse of certain exercises in the gym. Basically there are three types of lifts. The really intense ball breaking compound movements such as deadlifts and squats (and a few similar variants), the compounds such as bent over rows, bench presses, dips and pull-ups. Then there are the isolation exercises such as biceps curls, triceps extensions, etc.
The problem I see is that a lot of newbie people use the same compound/lift heavy mentality when it comes to isolation exercises. The thing is, the heavier the exercise, the less you need to worry about hitting the right muscles. When I do squats I don't feel which muscle is working, I just feel that it's really heavy and I aim to get the weight up (with good form).
When I do compound I still use force but I also make sure that I get a decent muscle activation of the right muscles. Say I bench press, I make sure that my chest is activated. To do this I might need to use a slightly lighter weight so I can target the right muscles and my stronger muscles don't overtake my chest. I find this is the best way to avoid stalling in exercises, adding small weights every workout but working with slightly lower weights than I am capable of lifting (i.e. not going to failure too often). It is easy to train the activiation of motor units (nervous system activation) than training muscle if one lift as heavy as possible all the time.
When I do isolation I care very little about weight. In my head it is all about mind-muscle connection. If I do a biceps curl I close my eyes and I become my biceps, I can feel the weight tearing it up. The purpose of isolation exercises is to isolate your target muscle. There is no point in lifting very heavy in the curls for example, it will only activate the wrong muscles. Lift as heavy as you can while maintaining the right muscle activation. It might take a bit of practice and you might need to lower the weight. I know a few guys who do like 3-5 reps on the curls, this is counter productive and gross misuse of isolation exercises. Do a bit higher reps on isolation so you can target the right muscles.
So in conclusion, the fewer the muscles an exercise activates, the more you need to aim towards muscle activation instead of just lifting heavy. If you have a lagging bodypart, then it might be a good idea to focus on activating this muscle using isolation exercises.
my 2 cents.
When you decide to start lifting you actually need to understand what your goal is to get the best results. If your goal is to get very muscular then you should definatly not only lift to get big numbers or only use compounds.
I see some serious misuse of certain exercises in the gym. Basically there are three types of lifts. The really intense ball breaking compound movements such as deadlifts and squats (and a few similar variants), the compounds such as bent over rows, bench presses, dips and pull-ups. Then there are the isolation exercises such as biceps curls, triceps extensions, etc.
The problem I see is that a lot of newbie people use the same compound/lift heavy mentality when it comes to isolation exercises. The thing is, the heavier the exercise, the less you need to worry about hitting the right muscles. When I do squats I don't feel which muscle is working, I just feel that it's really heavy and I aim to get the weight up (with good form).
When I do compound I still use force but I also make sure that I get a decent muscle activation of the right muscles. Say I bench press, I make sure that my chest is activated. To do this I might need to use a slightly lighter weight so I can target the right muscles and my stronger muscles don't overtake my chest. I find this is the best way to avoid stalling in exercises, adding small weights every workout but working with slightly lower weights than I am capable of lifting (i.e. not going to failure too often). It is easy to train the activiation of motor units (nervous system activation) than training muscle if one lift as heavy as possible all the time.
When I do isolation I care very little about weight. In my head it is all about mind-muscle connection. If I do a biceps curl I close my eyes and I become my biceps, I can feel the weight tearing it up. The purpose of isolation exercises is to isolate your target muscle. There is no point in lifting very heavy in the curls for example, it will only activate the wrong muscles. Lift as heavy as you can while maintaining the right muscle activation. It might take a bit of practice and you might need to lower the weight. I know a few guys who do like 3-5 reps on the curls, this is counter productive and gross misuse of isolation exercises. Do a bit higher reps on isolation so you can target the right muscles.
So in conclusion, the fewer the muscles an exercise activates, the more you need to aim towards muscle activation instead of just lifting heavy. If you have a lagging bodypart, then it might be a good idea to focus on activating this muscle using isolation exercises.
my 2 cents.