Is It Important To Keep Order In Resistance Training?

Is It Important To Keep Order In Resistance Training?

When it comes to resistance training all matters, intensity, frequency, volume, recovery time, exercise itself, equipment used, speed.

How important do you thing is order of your resistance exercises? Is it even matter what you will do first?

Research, practice and common sense suggest starting exercises from bigger group muscles. Smaller muscle groups are trained as the last one.

Exercise order influence exercise performance

When you will start your training with larger muscle groups first (exercises like squats, deadlift, lunges) you will more likely to see results faster than other way around

Your body is capable of lifting more weights and go for fewer more repetitions when you hit big muscles or multipoint exercises. Training becomes more effective, more muscles and muscles fibres targeted.

If you will start the same training with smaller muscle groups or just single joint exercises, your workout losses effectiveness, power, you are getting tired faster.

Go from big to smaller. . .

There are exceptions of course.

If you are planning to focus on improving particular muscle group, then you should perform exercises for that group first.

Doesn’t matter single or multi-joint exercises, you will get better results for muscles trained first. Simply said towards the end of training your muscles are getting tired, so your effectiveness drops.

You should know that exercise order affects acute response and your adaptation to training.  In other words, exercise order will affect chosen exercises performance.

So what exercises do first.

Definitely compound exercises, such as;

1. Deadlift
2. Lunges
3. Squats
4. Leg press
5. Push ups
6. Overhead press
7. Clean and press

Then you can go for smaller ones;

1. Leg curl
2. Leg extension
3. Bicep curl
4. Tricep extensions
5. Plank

What else?

Planning good strength sessions you should also include;

1. Exercise frequency- every second day will be good
2. Rest time- at least 60 s between sets
3. Load- depending on training time
4. Equipment used- machines, free weights or other

Before you hit the gym next time take a moment and think, what is your goal and how fast would you like to get there. Don’t waist your time, but plan carefully.