In strength training it is very important to strategize the sequence of exercises in such a way that a person makes the best use of the effort in a session. Inefficient order of exercises can hamper the overall performance and ultimately affect the results. The ordering of exercises can be done on the basis of the below-mentioned points
- High to low fatigue cost exercises
- Clubbing different body parts in sequence
High to low fatigue cost exercises
Consider the below sequence
- Hip thrust
- Crunches
- Leg extension
- Squats
Here, if the squat is performed at the last then one may not be able to give the best in the sets of squat because of exhaustion from the previous exercises. The squat is a compound movement that has a very high fatigue cost. This means the body needs a lot of effort and concentration to perform this exercise where multiple muscles are being used simultaneously in coordination. So if this high-demanding squat movement is performed after exercises that already used the same muscles then it will be even more challenging for the person. Chances are the person will be performing lesser reps due to fatigue. Hence, it is wise to perform the most difficult or higher fatigue-cost exercises first rather than performing later during the session. The exercises should be sequenced from most difficult to easy exercises. For example, consider the below sequence
- Squats
- Hip thrust
- Leg extension
- Crunches
Clubbing different body parts in sequence
This one is something to be considered for powerlifters to take it up a notch to make the best use of the available energy in the body. If two exercises using the same muscle groups are placed back to back then the fatigue from the first exercise will affect the performance in the next exercise using the same muscle group. For example, consider the below sequence
| Exercises | Muscles used |
|---|---|
| Bench Press | Pectoral or chest, Deltoid and Triceps |
| Overhead Shoulder Press | Deltoid and Triceps |
| Skull Crusher | Triceps |
Here, after performing high demanding compound movement which is the bench press, two of the same muscle groups are being used in Overhead Shoulder Press and then again triceps are being used in skull crusher which is a common muscle group being used in all the mentioned exercises. This back-to-back use of the same muscle group can cause the muscle to fatigue because of which the performance in the later exercises of the sequence can be affected. To take care of this issue, a completely different exercise can be placed in sequence. For example, consider the below sequence
| Exercises | Muscle used |
|---|---|
| Bench Press | Pectoral or chest, Deltoid, and Triceps |
| Lat Pulldown | Lats and Biceps |
| Calf Raises | Calves |
In this sequence complete different muscles are being trained in sequence and a person will be able to give 100% in each of these exercises. The other exercises using the same muscle groups can be trained on another day or some of them can be introduced later in the sequence so that the muscles get enough time to recover from the first exercise. For example,
| Exercises | Muscle used |
|---|---|
| Bench Press | Pectoral or chest, Deltoid, and Triceps |
| Lat Pulldown | Lats and Biceps |
| Calf Raise | Calves |
| Skull Crusher | Triceps |
In this triceps are used in the bench press and skull crusher but they are not done immediately one after the other. Instead of that, some other exercises are introduced in between to give the triceps enough rest so that a person can use that muscle again to its full potential later.
