Isolation for mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MastaDon
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MastaDon

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First off I would like to thank you for your time and care to share knowledge with me.

I had a very sedentary childhood, mostly because we moved from place to place as refugees and most of my time was spent in administrative environments than not.

Additionally, I had a terrible elbow injury at the age of 3 which prevented my folks from encouraging strenuous physical activity. This elbow injury persists and I have a "bow" elbow which puts a different and unpleasant strain on my shoulder and triceps on the injured arm especially on my BB bench. Whereas the uninjured arm is screaming for more weights I cannot lift the same amount on the other arm. This hasn't stopped me from attaining what I consider an above average physique-- I have more knowledge, lift better and heavier than most guys at my gym.

Anyways, 2 knee surgeries have also made it challenging to squat the 220kg I did at my peak. I am currently at about half that strength after recovering from my second surgery.

What I noticed recently is that I can lift much more confidently on the isolation machines where you can load plates, such as these:

Hammer_Strength_V-Squat_HS-B027.jpg


Is it worthwhile to train isolation and achieve the appreciable level of mass I am looking to achieve?

Has anyone achieved results by using such equipment in lieu of free weights?

Any suggestion is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

P.S.
The use of clips in the above picture is pretty ridiculous!
 
Bro, let me first say you seem like a very strong willed individual. now if your able to lift heavier and with more confidence on certain exercises/machines then use those cause thats whats gunna cause the most muscle growth for you.
 
Thank you warrior!

Does lifting 270kg on a hack squat isolation machine really produce comparable benefits to the traditional squat? How about all those different bench press variation isolation machines; can they do the job or assist with progress in developing the strength on bb?

How do you suggest to approach this? Say, do you recommend spending an entire 6-10 weeks on these machines or to regularly incorporate the traditional free weights alongside during the week?

For instance on this split:

Chest day-
hammer strength bench isolation machine. Warm up followed by 4-8x6
DB presses. Warm up followed by 5x5

Legs day-
Hack squat isolation machine. Warm up followed by 10x10
DB Lunges 15x4
BB Deads 5x5

Back and shoulder-
weighted pulls/chins to failure x 5
Bent over rows 8x6
military press isolation machine. Warm up followed by 5x5
weighted dips to failure x 5

2 days rest and repeat

Would this be suitable for mass?

Thank you in advance. Cheers and go sox! (lay off the Ortiz jokes ok?)
 
hack squats are great for quads, but if your able to do squats too then do them also on a different day. if your not then dont even worry about its not worth it. DB presses are just as good for chest development some people say even better then bb. again if you can do bb press then try em and c which you like best bb or db. imo you only have to switch out an exercise when you have stopped progessing on it meaning you cant do anymore weight. imo low volume training works best. id do 2-3 exercises 3-4 sets per bdpt. remember dont just move the weight control the weight. hope this helped a lil.
 
for sure it helped a lot! you've addressed all my concerns and now it's time for me to put in the effort albeit with a new sense of invigoration. Thank you sir and all the best.
 
not a problem bro. just wanna clarify myslef a lil when i said 3-4 sets per bdpt i ment 3-4 work sets so no warm ups included in that. anyway good luck!
 
If all you can do is machines, that's way better than doing nothing. Since a lot of stabelizer muscle are taking out of the equation a variety of machines would help. Hell I can't do squats cause of an injury to my right shoulder. The limited range of motion just prohibits me holding the bar. So I use this elevated. It's this way or nothing cause I also can't go to a gym for use of all the things allowing me to attack legs at different angles.
 
That brand of equipment has the name "Hank" in it...so its gotta be good to go! :D
 
Lokedogg said:
If all you can do is machines, that's way better than doing nothing. Since a lot of stabelizer muscle are taking out of the equation a variety of machines would help. Hell I can't do squats cause of an injury to my right shoulder. The limited range of motion just prohibits me holding the bar. So I use this elevated. It's this way or nothing cause I also can't go to a gym for use of all the things allowing me to attack legs at different angles.
Click to expand...

that's pretty hardcore being able to hold up what you can squat,,, massive bro. wish i could get half your size!!
 
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