What is better for strength, single joint or multi-joint exercises?

What exercises should you do if you want to get stronger?

Performing lunges using dumbbells

Should you work on isolating individual muscles/muscle groups, and joints, or should you perform larger movements that incorporate multiple muscles groups and joints?

Single joint exercises are exercises where only one joint is moving, or one muscle/muscle group is being isolated.

Examples of single joint exercises include:

• Seated knee extensions

• Bicep curls

• Tricep kickbacks

• Hamstring curls

Executing a bicep curl

Multi-joint exercises are exercises that incorporate multiple joints and muscles/muscle groups.

Examples of multi-joint exercises include:

• Squats

• Deadlifts

• Bench presses

• Pull ups

Performing a pull up using rings

Research has shown that both multi-joint and single joint exercises produce increases in strength and muscle hypertrophy and incorporating both single joint and multi-joint exercises in a training program may provide comprehensive strength development, depending on individual goals and the specificity of desired adaptations.

From a rehab perspective, we might favor single joint exercises to isolate muscles, improve proprioceptive feedback, and enhance neural connections while building load capacity and tolerance. Additionally, single joint exercises are less complex and easier to learn and perform.

After a period of single joint loading, you might progress to multi-joint exercises and more dynamic movements that have functional carryover like squatting (going form sitting to standing), and deadlifting (picking heavy objects off the floor).

Squat using a resistance band

Multi-joint exercises are more complex and take more energy to perform because there are multiple joints and muscle groups working. For this reason multi-joint movements tend to be programmed and performed at the beginning of a strength training session (like your squat, deadlift, bench press) followed by single joint exercises.

Beginning of a deadlift

At the end of the day, consistency in your training of whatever exercise(s) you are doing with progressive overload is KEY for increasing your strength or muscle hypertrophy or whatever else your goals may be!