The Study
Effect of adding single-joint exercises to a multi-joint exercise resistance-training program on strength and hypertrophy in untrained subjects.
This study says that if you add arm curls and triceps exercises to your push-ups and pull-ups, you don’t get any stronger or bigger muscles than if you just did the push-ups and pull-ups. But we don’t know if the people doing the exercises knew which group they were in, so it might not be totally fair.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Two groups of guys trained their arms for 10 weeks. One group did only big exercises like bench press. The other did those plus smaller arm curls. Both got stronger and their arms got bigger, but the extra exercises didn’t help more.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 547 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — adding extra arm exercises didn’t make a noticeable difference, so you might not need them if you’re already doing big compound lifts.
- 2Muscle thickness went up by about 6.5% to 7% in both groups.
- 3Strength went up by about 10% to 13% in both groups.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme
Year
2013
Authors
P. Gentil, S. Soares, Maria C. Pereira, Rafael Rodrigues da Cunha, Saulo S. Martorelli, André S. Martorelli, M. Bottaro
Related Content
Claims (4)
For untrained young men, adding isolated arm exercises to a full-body strength routine does not result in bigger or stronger biceps after 10 weeks compared to doing only compound exercises.
For untrained young men, adding isolated arm exercises like bicep curls to a workout routine that already includes compound movements like bench presses and rows does not lead to bigger arm muscles or stronger elbow flexion after 10 weeks of training.
Including one isolated arm exercise in a workout routine that already includes compound movements leads to only a small increase in muscle size, even if the total amount of exercise is not kept the same.
Muscles that span two joints grow more when trained with exercises that move only one joint, compared to exercises that move multiple joints at once, because of reduced mechanical efficiency during compound movements.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.