As much as we all love working out at the gym, we also love using our time efficiently and getting the most “bang for our buck” when exercising.

One way to make your workouts as efficient as possible is by doing compound exercises, which not only save you time at the gym, but also improve your coordination, calorie burn, and strength.

In this blog, we’ll explain what compound exercises are, their benefits, and the best compound exercises to add to your workouts at our Thornton gym.

What Are Compound and Isolation Exercises at the Gym?

The best way to define compound exercises is to compare them to isolation exercises. Here’s the difference between the two:

Compound exercises are strength training exercises that use more than one muscle group to complete the exercise. These exercises often replicate the way your body naturally moves.
Isolation exercises train one specific muscle group at a time. These exercises are often used in physical therapy to strengthen certain muscles or to rehabilitate after an injury or surgery.

An example of a compound exercise is a squat, which works the quadriceps, glutes, and calves. Compound exercises can also combine two exercises into one move to target multiple muscle groups, for example, a lunge with a bicep curl.

An example of an isolation exercise would be the leg extension machine which focuses on your quads, so it “isolates” working that muscle group. Another example is skull crushers, which target your triceps.

What Are the Benefits of Compound Exercises at the Gym?

The biggest benefit of compound exercises is that they help you use your time efficiently at the gym. We all have a limited amount of time to work out all the muscles in our bodies, and with compound exercises, you’ll work more muscles simultaneously. After all, why do three different isolation exercises when you can target the same muscle groups with just one exercise?

Other benefits of compound exercises include:

They burn more calories than isolation exercises.
They improve your intramuscular coordination.
They improve your flexibility.
They make you stronger than isolation exercises.
They help you gain more muscle mass.
They elevate your heart rate, which adds a cardiovascular element to the exercise.
They improve your functional fitness because in everyday life, you rarely use your muscles in isolation.

When you think about it, whether you’re hoisting your luggage into an overhead bin, lugging a big bag of pet food into the house, or carrying your child to bed, you’re using several muscle groups together all the time. Compound exercises can help you get those muscles in shape so your daily chores become easier to handle, especially as you age.

The Best Barbell Compound Exercises at the Gym

The barbell is a top choice of equipment to complete your compound exercises. There are many different barbell exercises available that will test multiple muscle groups simultaneously. And, the fun thing about barbells is, you can almost always add more weight to make your compound exercises more challenging as you get stronger.

Below we’ve listed the best barbell compound exercises you can do at the gym.

The Barbell Squat

Weighted squats are probably the No. 1 compound exercise at the gym when it comes to building muscle and strength throughout the entire body. This exercise will help you create a great physique as it works your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core muscles.

Rack your bar a little bit below shoulder height. Place a pad on the bar if desired to make the exercise a little more comfortable.
In a split stance, bend below the bar and come up on the other side so that the bar is resting on the back of your shoulders.
In a split stance, lift the bar off the rack, still resting the bar on your shoulders.
Keep your core tight and step back away from the rack so you have plenty of room to complete the exercise.
Set up for your squat by placing your feet about shoulder-width apart. Keep your abs tight, your chest up, and your head up throughout the exercise.
Sit back into a squat position, as if you’re about to sit in a chair. Your thighs should be parallel to the ground. Keep your feet flat on the ground and your knees behind your toes.
Drive back up through your heels to a standing position, keeping your core tight, chest high, and looking straight ahead.
Repeat for as many reps as desired, anywhere from 6-20 reps.
When you’re done, step forward to the rack, get in your split stance, and place the bar back on the rack.

The Barbell Deadlift

The barbell deadlift is a gym favorite that works pretty much every muscle in your body, especially your glutes, back muscles, and hamstrings.

With the barbell on the floor, stand with your feet under the barbell. Your feet should be just inside shoulder-width apart.
Make sure the barbell is directly over the middle of your feet, about an inch or two away from your shins (but not touching your shins at this point).
Bend down and grab the bar, with your hands outside of your legs.
Once you have a grip on your barbell, take your shins to the bar. Don’t roll the bar toward you and don’t push the bar away from you.
Once you’re in this position, lift your chest up. This will get your back into the correct lifting position, parallel to the ground. Don’t worry about pushing your hips down.
Focus your eyes on a point on the ground about 10-15 feet in front of you. This puts your neck in a neutral position.
Take a deep breath, hold it, and lift the bar straight upward by dragging it up your legs.
The barbell should maintain contact with your legs throughout the entire pull.
Once you’re standing with the barbell, you’ve finished the pull. Don’t overextend backward, just remain in your regular standing position.
Now it’s time to set the barbell back on the ground, just the opposite of how you lifted it up.
Unlock your hips and knees, move your hips backward, and let the bar slide back down your shins. You don’t need to remain as slow and controlled as the lift itself, but you do want to maintain some stiffness in your back.
Perform as many reps and sets as desired.

The Barbell Romanian Deadlift

You can think of the Romanian deadlift, also known as an RDL, as the top-half of the conventional deadlift. This exercise works your hip extensors, including your hamstrings and your glutes, as well as your back muscles. Also, compared to a conventional stiff-legged deadlift, the probability of herniating a disc in your spine with a Romanian deadlift is significantly lower.

Make sure to maintain a neutral spine throughout this exercise, with your head up and your chin somewhat tucked in.
Stand with your feet under the barbell with your feet just inside shoulder-width apart.
Bend down and grab the bar, with your hands just outside of your legs.
Start by lifting the barbell off the floor to your hips into a deadlift position as described above. You can also lift the bar off a rack so that you don’t need to bring it up from the floor. Keep your shoulders back.
From there, keep the bar as close to your body as you can as you lower the bar by pushing your hips and butt back. Bow forward, bending your knees so that you feel a stretch through your hamstrings.
Keep your back straight and lower the bar to about mid-shin. Don’t go so low that you round your back or droop your shoulders.
Bring the bar back up as you push through your hips, flex your glutes, and get a full hip extension.
Repeat for as many reps as desired.

The Barbell Overhead Press

For this exercise, you’ll be lifting a barbell straight above your head. All the muscles in your chest, shoulders and arms – like your pecs, triceps, deltoids, and rhomboids – are engaged during this exercise, as well as your abs.

Place the barbell on a rack at about shoulder height and center yourself in front of the bar.
Grab the bar with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart and step forward so that your elbows are under the bar and your hands are lined up directly above your elbows.
Bring your feet to shoulder-width apart and lift the bar off the rack, holding the bar in front of your body at shoulder-height.
Step back until you’re clear of the rack and your feet are back to shoulder-width apart.
Bring your head back slightly and start pressing the bar skyward. Keep your forearms parallel with each other.
Lift the bar until your arms are straight and the bar is over your head, behind it slightly.
Bring the bar back down to shoulder height, keeping your elbows under the bar and forearms parallel.
Repeat for the desired number of reps, and then place the bar back on the rack.

The Barbell Bench Press

Muscles trained with the bench press include the pecs, triceps, deltoids, rhomboids, abs, and almost every other muscle in your upper body. No wonder it’s such a legendary compound exercise!

To perform a bench press, you’ll need a barbell that’s racked above a bench.
Lie back and keep your back flush with the pad of the bench. Avoid arching your back. Your eyes should be directly under the bar.
Grab the bar with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
Lift the bar off the rack and position it above your chest with your arms straight up.
Inhale and lower the bar to the lower part of your chest. There’s no need to touch your chest with the barbell. Your elbows should be bent at about 90 degrees.
Push the weight back up as you exhale. Your elbows should be fully extended, and your forearms should be basically parallel with each other.
Move the bar slowly and in control. Avoid any jerky movements.
Repeat for the desired number of reps and return the weight to the starting position.

The Barbell Bent-Over Row

The barbell bent-over row works your all your back muscles – your lats, rhomboids, traps, posterior delts, teres major, teres minor, and infraspinatus. This exercise also trains your biceps, forearm muscles, and your grip.

Place the bar on a rack so that it’s about mid-shin height off the floor.
Stand in front of the bar with your feet hip-width apart.
Bend over and grab your barbell with your hands just over shoulder-width apart.
Your back should be straight, your body should be at a 45- to 65-degree angle, and you should have a slight bend in your knees.
Using just your arms and keeping your body stationary, pull the bar right in toward your hips. This will engage your lats more.
To target your traps and posterior delts, pull the bar more toward your sternum.
Lower the bar back to your knees.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Compound Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do at the Gym

If you’d rather not use a barbell or other weights like dumbbells or kettlebells, then there are also many bodyweight compound exercises to give you a solid whole-body workout. These include:

Pushups
Bodyweight squats
Pullups and chinups
Dips
Planks
Situps
Step-ups
Lunges

Adding Compound Exercises to Your Workout at AFAC Gym

Compound exercises are an effective and efficient way to maximize your time and results at the gym. By mixing up your workout and adding new compound exercises to your routine every few weeks, you can work even more muscle groups and prevent your body from plateauing.

Just remember that compound exercises are more complex than isolation exercises, so it can be a little more difficult to get your form perfect at first. If you’re a beginner or just want to make sure that your technique is correct, speak to our personal trainers at AFAC gym. They can teach you all about compound exercises and the proper form to use.

We can also help you design the perfect strength training and cardiovascular exercise program to suit your goals, needs, and fitness level. We understand that you want your fitness program to improve your body composition, and our staff is here to support you!

To learn more about becoming a member of AFAC gym — the best gym in Thornton, Colorado — please stop by or give us a call anytime. We’ll be happy to assist you. You can also contact our gym owner, Susan, at 720-849-0245 or susan@adventurefitness.club for assistance.