Bodybuilder-
In an attempt to “bring up their weaknesses” bodybuilders often opt for isolation exercises. Chest flyes, concentration curls and leg extensions are all part of the bodybuilder’s repertoire.
Additionally, since these isolation exercises work only one small area at a time, you must do many different exercises to get a full workout, which again leads to a greater time commitment.
Athletes-
Athletes, on the other hand, are more concerned with function. And since the body was not designed to have each muscle and/or movement pattern isolated, they rarely perform isolation exercises like bodybuilders do.
Instead, they focus on movements that engage the entire body, just like what would naturally happen during a sporting event.
These exercises have a huge metabolic cost and rev up your metabolism much more that a chest fly could even dream of doing. Also, because they work so many muscle groups simultaneously, they are very time efficient.
As you can tell, I favor the use of exercises that work the entire body over isolation movements. That being said, there are times, where an isolation exercise can be effectively used to supplement the use of the more result-producing exercises.
