When most people decide to start body sculpting, they go about it the wrong way. Instead of developing a safe fitness program for building muscle that their bodies can use, beginners often grab a protein shake and make a big mistake: They mimic professional bodybuilders by using isolation techniques to target specific “show muscles” like biceps and pectorals.

There’s nothing wrong with protein shakes, but isolation techniques are meant for fine-tuning your body once you’ve already built up a solid base of support muscles. Targeting single muscles or small muscle groups specifically is actually a very inefficient way to build muscle, and it can also be dangerous. It’s quite easy to strain a muscle or injure a joint if you push yourself too hard, too fast, and not in the right way.

If you start off, as most do, by trying to lift as much weight as possible instead of slowly building up your core muscles, you’ll almost certainly do yourself some harm. This is why many experts recommend calisthenic exercises instead of free-weights for those just starting out.

For example, bicep curls are not the most effective or safest way to build up your arms in your first year of training. A better solution? Simple pull-ups. Pull-ups are a calisthenic exercise, meaning they use your body weight as the form of resistance, and they’re also a compound exercise.

Compound exercises target multiple muscles at once, growing the group together naturally, safely, and giving you a lot of practical strength. In the case of pull-ups versus bicep curls, you’ll be building muscle in your core (abdominals), shoulders (deltoids), and your forearms all at the same time.

Compare this to starting off with pro-bodybuilder strategies that build up individual muscles to further sculpt an already extremely developed set of muscles, and it’s clear which technique is better suited for the beginner. So take it slow, and build those muscle evenly and safely! You’ll be better off for it.