Aren't isolation triceps exercises just for shaping. Most mass comes from compounds?

[Liberal3lite]

One strange thing I noticed about this forum is that people say the bench press doesn't do much for triceps. I had a thread a while ago asking if the triceps are activated more in flat, decline, incline or overhead. People were just saying focus on your chest/shoulders and don't worry about the triceps. While it's true that the primary target is not the triceps, most of the mass you build in your triceps comes from compound exercises.

If you look at the various bodybuilding youtubers, whether it be the Hodgetwins, Jeremy Ethier, or others, they all say isolation exercises are for shape/aesthetics because they help activate individual heads of the triceps muscle. They go on to say that the bench press and other compound exercises are where you build most of your mass because that's where you can overload with heavier weights.

So I'm a little confused right now. If I don't care much about shape and aesthetics, should I ignore the various isolation exercises like extensions and kickbacks? If sheer size is all I'm concerned about for now, wouldn't I be better off just doing more sets of incline press, overhead press, dips, etc.?

[Ironface]

It’s all broscience. “Shaping” a muscle = making it bigger while reducing fat.
Iso’s are just a way of making muscles bigger.

It’s like the whole “high reps for toning”. Absolutely zero truth to it

[air2fakie]

That’s some pretty inaccurate paraphrasing of what “this forum” and “all” youtubers say.

[Liberal3lite]

That’s some pretty inaccurate paraphrasing of what “this forum” and “all” youtubers say.

What's your opinion on the matter, sir?

[TolerantLactose]

If I wanted to build a house, I would pour the foundation before I install the crown moldings.

Sorry. Went off on a tangent there.

[SuffolkPunch]

Resistance training builds muscle. Isolations affect less total muscle fibres than compounds - but might reach some fibres that compounds don't reach, that's the point of isolations...

The mechanism is exactly the same for both - resistance training can only increase muscle mass or increase efficiency of how motor units are coordinated. That's all it does. Muscles respond locally, they don't confer with adjacent joints and say "hey this guys is doing a compound!"

[air2fakie]

What's your opinion on the matter, sir?

Either will grow size.

If sheer size is all I'm concerned about for now, wouldn't I be better off just doing more sets of incline press, overhead press, dips, etc.?

Depends on current size, program and results. The answer may just be time, proper diet and consistency either way. Regardless, as you progress, some isolations would likely be helpful without going crazy - particularly to grow the long head which can increase arm size significantly.

[Ghawk21]

Fun fact, some pro bodybuilders and most definitely youtubers same some of the most dumb unfounded chit you can find on the internet.

[smokinal]

Resistance training builds muscle. Isolations affect less total muscle fibres than compounds - but might reach some fibres that compounds don't reach, that's the point of isolations...

Ed Zachary

This is why I start a given muscle group with a heavy compound but usually finish with an isolation. Personally, I feel you could achieve hypertrophy with all isolations if your rep scheme and RPE is correct.

[Heisman2]

Look here: https://www.physio-pedia.com/File:Tr...ee-origins.png

The medial and lateral heads attach at the elbow and arm bone. The long head attaches at the elbow and scapula.

Thus, for the medial and lateral heads, anything that requires elbow extension will work them. The more elbow flexion you have at the beginning of the movement the greater the stretch they will experience and this will result in them being worked through a longer range of motion. The only other consideration for exercises are the strength curves and force vectors. For example, with a bench press you'll move a lot of weight at the top of the movement but the load is close to parallel with the line of the triceps at the top. With an overhead cable extension at full extension the line of force will be more perpendicular to the triceps. Thus you will use less weight but the actual resistance the triceps feels may be similar or even greater. With a bench press their is limited elbow flexion at the bottom compared to a triceps pushdown done with a full range of motion and you will have more assistance from the chest and shoulders at the start so the triceps will be more overloaded in the latter half of the movement relative to the triceps pushdown where they will more overloaded at the beginning and middle portions.

For the long head, elbow flexion will lengthen it but also raising the arm overhead will lengthen it as it attaches to the scapula. Thus, you will get a better stretch and work it over a longer range of motion by doing isolations with an overhead component then you will be able to with a bench press.

[Garage Rat]

Not necessarily,going heavy on a "shaping"movement can help you gain size.
Say your doing a one arm standing DB tricep extension behind the head.
If you use say 75 pound dumbbell on it (if you could), you certainly would gain some size

[MyEgoProblem]

Fun fact, some pro bodybuilders and most definitely youtubers same some of the most dumb unfounded chit you can find on the internet.

The most accurate thing ive seen all day!

Soo many get where they do DESPITE what they do n it say. If they actually even do what they say 😏

[NMS3]

You can’t shape a muscle, like some others ^ pointed out; that’s mainly genetic. Isolation exercises are just that: isolation. It’s usually recommended for beginners to focus primarily on progressively overloading on the compound lifts; that will never change for a lifter.
But even for a beginner, IMO, there is still room to perform certain isolation exercises; particularly for the biceps/triceps.