All I have to say is that if you notice symmetry issues developing and you do not address them through whatever means, it's because you're stupid not because isolations are the best thing ever in weightlifting.
Honestly, I prefer to target muscles with whatever lift works best for me, not strictly with isolations. I build a program based around compounds, then add volume through additional exercises or additional reps for whatever muscle groups. For example, triceps, I will do bench or dips, then do close grip bench press to target the triceps. Not an isolation and in fact, in my opinion and experience, works better than a tricep isolation because you are able to use a much larger load without placing undue stress on the elbow. Another example - lats. I do some sort of a row or weighted chinup, then add pulldowns to increase volume. Pulldowns are a compound exercise. The point is that you can add more volume to lagging bodyparts to improve symmetry without resorting to isolations.
To answer FistofFury's challenge about the pics - I've posted plenty of those on this site. Arguably, my symmetry isn't perfect, as arms are a lagging bodypart for me, however they are greater than 16 inches when cold so I think the symmetry problem with arms is mostly in my head. Not that my appearance has a lot of bearing on my argument, but he is the one who brought it up and implied that everyone who advocates fewer isolations is tiny or looks like crap.
Honestly, I prefer to target muscles with whatever lift works best for me, not strictly with isolations. I build a program based around compounds, then add volume through additional exercises or additional reps for whatever muscle groups. For example, triceps, I will do bench or dips, then do close grip bench press to target the triceps. Not an isolation and in fact, in my opinion and experience, works better than a tricep isolation because you are able to use a much larger load without placing undue stress on the elbow. Another example - lats. I do some sort of a row or weighted chinup, then add pulldowns to increase volume. Pulldowns are a compound exercise. The point is that you can add more volume to lagging bodyparts to improve symmetry without resorting to isolations.
To answer FistofFury's challenge about the pics - I've posted plenty of those on this site. Arguably, my symmetry isn't perfect, as arms are a lagging bodypart for me, however they are greater than 16 inches when cold so I think the symmetry problem with arms is mostly in my head. Not that my appearance has a lot of bearing on my argument, but he is the one who brought it up and implied that everyone who advocates fewer isolations is tiny or looks like crap.
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