Which lifts make you stronger and fitter faster?

When people lift weights until they are very close to being unable to complete another repetition, using a variety of exercises, their muscles tend to grow significantly in size.

In young, active men, doing compound exercises like squats and deadlifts for 8 weeks leads to bigger gains in strength and aerobic fitness than doing isolated exercises like bicep curls, when the total amount of work is the same.

When the total amount of weight training is the same, exercises that work one joint at a time and exercises that work multiple joints at once lead to similar changes in body fat and muscle mass in young, active men after 8 weeks.

When comparing strength gains from multi-joint and single-joint exercises, differences in the number of repetitions used may influence the results, because training with fewer repetitions is more similar to how 1RM strength is measured.

Performing resistance exercises with either isolated or compound movements can increase maximum strength not only in the exercises done but also in other unrelated movements, suggesting that the nervous system adapts in a widespread way.