Want a stronger everything? Start with the big lifts.

You came to Salus wanting to feel stronger, improve posture, and feel better long term. And on one of your first sessions, we put a load on a lat pull down and asked you to pull.

Here's why we focus on compound movements and it goes back further than you'd think.

A principle from the 1970s

Arthur Jones was the engineer who invented the Nautilus machines and reshaped how serious strength training was done. He's one of the foundations of how we train here. And he described something he called the indirect effect: work the body's biggest muscles hard enough, and the whole system responds and not just the muscles you're targeting.

His go-to example was pure old-school bravado. A person doing nothing but heavy lunges, he claimed, could increase their lean muscle tissue and watch even their untrained arms get leaner and stronger.

Why? Well the arms are holding the weight which places a stimulus on their structure. So even though lunges are a leg exercises, they actually are an upper body AND a torso exercises as well. 

What it means for your training

The biggest movements such as the leg press, chest press, lat pull down recruit the most muscle, demand the most from your body, and drive the most whole-body adaptation per minute of effort.

When you have 30 minutes, twice a week, you cannot afford to spend it on tiny isolation moves that ask very little of you. You spend it where the return is greatest. More muscle recruited = more muscle fibres recruited = more lean tissue added and greater fatloss.

And the order matters

Work the largest muscles first, while you're fresh. You simply can't push a big muscle to the productive point of effort if you've already emptied the tank on smaller ones. So when your session starts with a big lift rather than finishing on one it's deliberate. It's the most efficient, evidence-based way to get you strong, protect your bones and muscle, and make every one of those 30 minutes count.

Strong all over is the longevity goal.

Curious how your own sessions are built? Ask us! We love this stuff. Or click below or share the link with a busy friend and feel the principle in action.