Madeeha Syed

Explore the advantages of compound exercises. Meri Sehat introduces three effective moves to include in your routine for comprehensive fitness.

The Benefits Of Compound Exercises: Three Effective Moves To Include In Your Routine

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Three Exercises For A Stronger Back

Overview

The muscles in our back play a critical role in our body&#39;s mechanics. These muscles are engaged in everyday movements such as twisting, bending over, extending the <a href="https://merisehat.pk/article/decompress-your-spine-with-acroyoga">spine</a>, lifting, pulling, and shrugging our shoulders. In addition to stabilising our spine, back muscles provide structural support to our entire torso and assist in breathing. Here are three exercises that can help strengthen your back. 
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Primary Muscles Of The Back

There are various muscles in the back, but most exercises target the following primary muscles:

<ul>
	<li>Latissimus Dorsi (Lats): These are the largest muscles in the upper body, running down the sides of the spine to the lower back.</li>
	<li>Rhomboids: A group of two muscles that connect the shoulder blades to the spine.</li>
	<li>Trapezius (Traps): Two triangular muscles that extend over the shoulder blades and meet in a V over the mid-back.</li>
	<li>Erector Spinae: A group of muscles that sit deep beneath the skin and run down the back along the spine.</li>
	<li>Levator Scapulae: A group of small muscles that start on either side of the neck and connect to the top of the shoulder blades. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Other muscles that can be found in the back include the serratus posterior inferior and superior muscles, as well as the transversospinalis muscle group. All of these muscles are recruited to varying degrees in exercises that focus on the back. 
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<h5>Banded Pull Aparts</h5>

Banded pull aparts are an easy-to-do exercise that require minimal equipment - one resistance band. This isolation movement targets muscles in the upper back and shoulders, including the traps, rhomboids, rear delts, and rotator cuffs. Banded pull aparts improve posture and shoulder stability, while increasing upper body strength. 
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<h5>How To Do A Banded Pull Apart:</h5>

<ul>
	<li>Stand with feet hip-width apart, grounding them firmly while standing tall.</li>
	<li>Hold a resistance band at shoulder length with an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders.</li>
	<li>Keep your arms long with a slight bend at the elbows, and your shoulders slightly protracted.</li>
	<li>Pull the band apart with control, retracting your shoulders and squeezing your upper back.</li>
	<li>Pause for a second once your arms are in line with your shoulder blades and squeeze your upper back a little more.</li>
	<li>Slowly return to the starting position, protracting your shoulders as you do so. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h5>Supermans</h5>

Supermans require no equipment and can be done anywhere. This exercise targets a range of muscles along the back, including the upper traps and the erector spinae. Being a compound movement, supermans also strengthen the core, glutes, and hamstrings. This is a great exercise to manage lower back pain, stabilize the spine, and improve posture. 
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<h5>How To Do A Superman:</h5>

<ul>
	<li>Lie facedown on the floor with your arms reaching over your head.</li>
	<li>Lift your arms, shoulders, and legs off the floor while maintaining a neutral neck.</li>
	<li>Pull your hands and feet away from your body and contract your upper and lower back.</li>
	<li>Gently release and return to the starting position with control.</li>
</ul>

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<h5>Deadlifts</h5>

Deadlifts are an extremely functional compound exercise that recruits large muscle groups throughout the body, including the core, legs, glutes, and back. Deadlifts build the body&rsquo;s capacity for pulling and lifting motions as it stabilizes the core and strengthens the posterior chain. In the back, deadlifts call on a range of major muscle groups, including the lats, traps, rhomboids, and erector spinae.

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<h5>How To Do A Deadlift Safely And Effectively</h5>

Deadlifts are a popular exercise for building overall strength and muscle mass. However, if performed incorrectly, they can lead to injury. Here are the steps to perform a deadlift safely and effectively: 
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<ul>
	<li>Begin in the Starting Position: Stand facing a barbell with your feet hip-width apart and facing outwards. Ground your heels and soles firmly into the floor. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Hinge Your Hips and Bend Your Knees: Start to hinge your hips, mimicking the motion of sitting down, while bending your knees simultaneously. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Grasp the Bar with Proper Form: Grasp the bar with your arms just outside your knees. Keep your arms long with a microbend in the elbows. Be mindful not to round your upper back. Maintain a slight retraction in your shoulders and make sure you&rsquo;re not shrugging them. Keep a neutral spine and neck. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Engage Your Core, Glutes, and Legs: Brace your core and glutes. Engage your legs. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Lift the Bar Off the Floor: Pushing your feet into the ground, begin to lift the bar off the floor, coming into a straight standing position. Once standing, extend slightly at the hips. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Lower the Barbell with Control: Begin to hinge and bend again, with control, bringing the barbell to the ground.</li>
</ul>

Remember, deadlifts can cause injury if not done properly. If available, ask a trainer to demonstrate the movement to you or watch online videos before attempting. 
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Conclusion

Strengthening your back is important for overall health and fitness. By incorporating exercises like the bent-over row, pull-up, and deadlift into your workout routine, you can target different muscles in your back and improve your posture and overall strength. Remember to always use proper form and start with a weight that you can handle comfortably. With consistent effort and dedication, you can build a stronger, healthier back. 
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Ayesha Binte Rashid

When <a href="https://merisehat.pk/article/why-is-both-cardio-and-strength-training-important-for-a-total-body-workout">strength training</a>, there are two kinds of exercises you can include in your workout routine: isolation and compound exercises. Isolation exercises focus on working a single muscle group at a time, while compound exercises recruit multiple muscle groups. Also known as multi-joint movements, compound exercises require you to move multiple joints simultaneously. 
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compound movements in exercise

Including compound movements in your exercise regime has several benefits:

<ul>
	<li>Improved Balance And Coordination: Moreover, in our daily lives, we rarely engage in movements that require us to use just one muscle group or bend just one joint. Compound movements improve our body&#39;s balance and intramuscular coordination, enabling us to more efficiently perform the movements required of us. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Time Efficient: Compound exercises are also time-efficient, allowing us to train multiple muscles simultaneously. Using more muscles also allows us to move more weight, which increases our body&#39;s oxygen requirements. This leads to an elevated heart rate and a greater caloric burn. 
	&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Muscle Building: Compound exercises can help you build more muscle mass in a shorter period of time. When you strength train, you cause your muscles to break down. This damage signals the release of certain growth hormones to replenish muscle fibers. Since compound exercises break down more muscles, your body releases more growth hormones, leading to greater overall muscle building. This new muscle mass will require more energy, raising your resting metabolic rate. Your body will burn more calories even while sedentary, enabling you to burn through fat stores more quickly. Thus, compound exercises can quicken your journey towards fat loss. 
	&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Most compound exercises can easily be scaled for difficulty level. Here are three compound movements you&#39;ll find in most movement regimes:

<ul>
	<li>Squats: Squats mimic the hip hinge and bending that is required for many everyday activities, such as sitting on a chair, getting up from the bed, and picking up a heavy item. They also strengthen muscles that are engaged in common movements like walking and climbing stairs.</li>
</ul>

Squats target a range of muscle groups in the lower body, including the glutes, the thigh&#39;s hamstrings and quadriceps, abductor muscles in the groin, hip flexors, and calves. In addition, squats engage muscles in our core and back, such as the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, obliques, and erector spinae. 
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<ul>
	<li>Chest Press: Like the squat, there are a number of ways to do the chest press, depending on how difficult you want to make it and the equipment you have. You can do a barbell bench press and dumbbell bench press, both of which can be done on an incline or decline. If you don&#39;t have access to a bench, you can do a floor press, a single-arm floor press, and even a glute bridge chest press.</li>
</ul>

A standard bench press primarily works the pectoralis major and minor muscles in the chest, as well as the front deltoids in the shoulders. The movement also recruits triceps in the upper arms. A floor press calls the same muscles into action, albeit with differing emphasis. In this movement, it is the triceps that are primarily recruited, while chest and shoulder muscles are worked to a lesser degree. 
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<ul>
	<li>Lunge Bicep Curl: This movement is an example of a compound exercise that combines two separate movements. Simply put, you do a bicep curl as you go down into every lunge and release the curl as you stand up. This is a great example of a time-efficient exercise as it allows you to build strength for two movements simultaneously.</li>
</ul>

Bicep curls are an isolation movement that focus on your body&rsquo;s elbow flexion, or the inward bending of your arms at the elbow. On the other hand, lunges are great compound movements even by themselves. You can shift the primary muscle group by doing different variations such as the front step lunge, the back step lunge, and the walking lunge. Lunges work a range of muscle groups in the lower body, including the quadriceps, the glute muscles, the hamstrings and calves. In addition, they work muscle groups in the upper body, including the transverse abdominis and obliques in the core and the multifidus and erector spinae in the back. 
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Compound exercises are functional exercises that replicate movements we engage in our everyday lives, such as pushing, pulling, hinging at the hips, bending, and squatting. Compound exercises strengthen our body&#39;s ability to perform these movement patterns. They are an efficient and effective way to build strength and improve overall fitness. They mimic movements that we engage in daily, fortify our body&rsquo;s ability to perform these movements, and improve balance and intramuscular coordination. 
 
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