The Importance of Exercise Order

Some of you reading this might have wondered why certain exercises in your workouts might have been placed before/after others. Or, maybe you're trying to learn how to write better programs for yourself and want to know more. Well, buckle up - it's simple but nuanced AF.

Exercise order will impact how effectively you are able to perform & keep intensity throughout your session. And, as a result, it will impact your overall results.

The short of it is that exercise order (and selection) helps manage one's fatigue to drive maximal results.

As a general outline, a session can be broken down something like the following (goal- and individual-dependent, obviously):

• Warm Up / Movement Prep: the intention here is to get body temperature up and prepare your body for the movements to come - I personally also like to add some mobility work here

• Power Movements: these will come earlier in a session because they tend to require more speed, coordination, and neural drive to perform - think light-moderate, faster movements

• Strength Movements: typically compound movements that target multiple muscle groups and tend to warrant less of a speed requirement so they can come after power movements

• Accessories: these movements tend to support a goal or main lift but aren't the primary means of it - a lot of times you'll see hypertrophy movements here

• Conditioning: if you're trying to combine lifting and conditioning, it's usually a best practice to keep this at the end of a session

• Cool Down: this is movement to aid recovery - I'd go as far as saying this can be movement throughout the day, like walking, so as not to overwhelm the session itself

What happens if you go out of order?

It depends. A lot of the general outline above keeps safety in mind as well as your ability to perform well. So, going out of order could increase your chances of injury. And this same principle can extrapolate to the order of your sessions in a week, too.

Sometimes, though, you have to go out of order. Maybe the gym is packed and there are no squat racks available. Maybe someone is on a machine you need. Maybe you're just short on time. There are a lot of reasons you might have to adjust the order. And that's okay too. It's one of the reasons I like full-body sessions.

If that happens to you, here's what I'd suggest you do. Understand your intentions and the overall goals of your training. Then use that to guide you.

Here's are a few examples...

• If I have a client that's working on building squat quality & strength, I want that to be earlier in their session, regardless. I'd prefer them not hit another exercise that will fatigue them for the squats. If there's a reason that they can't do that, it's not the end of the world, it just might mean that the load will stay a bit lower so quality can remain the priority.

• If I have a client with a goal of running a marathon, they need to be running. Lifts can't always be prioritized over the actual running (cough cough you should still be lifting too, though). Similarly, if someone's goal is to improve their running, I'd put that before a lift if trying to complete both. This is an exception to the Conditioning to follow lifts outline from above. Keep your priorities early on.

• If I have a client who shows up to the gym short on time, I generally like for them to try to get their main lift done for the day. Anything extra is a bonus. If equipment is unavailable, we look for alternatives to elicit a similar stimulus or we just swap sessions.

Sometimes circumstances outside of the gym will impact exercise order as well...

• If a client is extremely under-recovered, hasn't slept, and didn't eat any food, it's probably not a great idea to hit an extremely demanding lift or session. Then the focus shifts to the accessories and maybe some aerobic work in the gym and stress management outside - the stuff that will help aid recovery. We pull back a little in the short-term to give more in the end.

A lot of my opinions on exercise order are case-dependent, regardless on what's "right" or "wrong".

It's very nuanced. But the biggest piece to consider is your overall goal. What will or won't help you get there given your circumstances? What actions do you need to take to get closer to your goal?