Business of Fitness: Production Possibilities Curve, Productive Efficiency, Compound/Isolation Lifts

As the title suggests, this article will look at fitness through a business/economic lens. This article will break down a simple principle and will apply this concept to compound and isolation lifts.

Compound/Isolation Lifts: What are they?

To simply put it, each lift or exercise in the gym is broken down into either a compound or isolation lift. As the word may suggest, a compound lifts targets multiple muscles through one exercise. They are essential to improving general functionality of the body as a whole through the movement of multiple body parts, as well as being a focal point for boosting strength. Think of compound lifts as a blanket that general trains your whole body.

Examples of Compound Lifts:

• Deadlifts

• Back Squats

• Barbell Rows

• Pull ups

• Shoulder Press

• Bench Press

In contrast to compound lifts, as the word isolation may suggest, isolation lifts simply target one muscle through 1 simple movement. Although isolation lifts may seem minimal and ineffective, individually training each muscle group is essential when it comes down to muscle growth. Isolation lifts provide the definition and specificity to muscle groups that compounds lifts don't provide.

Examples of Isolation Lifts:

• Bicep Curl

• Shoulder Shrugs

• Hamstring Curls

• Lateral Raises

• Bulgarian Split Squats

• Tricep kickback

• Sit-ups

• Pec Flyes

Essentially, compound lifts improves the general strength and movement to your body, while isolation lifts provide definition and individually improve respective muscle groups.

The balance between Compound & Isolation Lifts: Modelled Through Economics

How do you know how many compound lifts or how much time you should spend on isolation lifts isn't necessarily easy? That is because their isn't a golden ratio given that everyone has their own objectives, time constraints, and energy that can be spent per workout.

Economists are always looking at how efficient certain tasks are. Productive efficiency is one of the main ways that economists determine how useful and methodical certain things are. Similarly, compound lifts are probably the most efficient way to train as it targets multiple body parts in 1 single movement, saving time and energy or as an economist would describe it: Productively efficient. That doesn't mean you should neglect isolation lifts and solely rely on compound movements as both together is what creates an optimal outcome. It essentially boils down to the balance between the two lifts and how each can build on to one another.

This idea can be most easily explained through the Production Possibilities Curve. This business principles is most commonly seen as a bowed-out graph.

With compound lifts on the x-axis and isolation lifts on the y-axis the general purpose of the bowed out curve serves to demonstrate that as you increase the amount of compound lifts the lost of muscle development from isolation lifts simultaneously increases at an increasing rate (known as the increasing opportunity cost). In other words, due to the limited time/energy you have in the gym, the more time you spend on compound lifts the more time and hence benefits you lose from isolation lifts. This analogy can serve to show that simply doing 1 compound exercise doesn't take away much from the isolation exercise, and vice versa. Finding a ratio that is on the curve is efficient; however, only doing compound lifts or completely skipping isolation lifts is where their are some inefficiencies as each exercise need to build onto one another to build an overall effectiveness.

What's next?

Don't worry, you don't need to draw graphs before you create a workout split. This article simply allows readers to understand how business and economic principles can even be seen in the gym! Understanding how to balance your workouts to maximize effectiveness is what this article does for you. I recommend looking back at your workouts and seeing whether or not you are on the production possibilities curve and have a balance that is working for your own time arrangements, daily energy, and gym accessibility.

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