What is the best order of exercises?

Does the order of exercises matter?

Does order of exercises matter for workouts?

When working out, it is best to start workouts with compound multi-joint exercises. As the workout progresses, isolation exercises should proceed in order of muscle group size—for example, chest or back before shoulders, before arms. The type of equipment has an order of preference as well. Barbell exercises should be done before dumbbells, before machines, and before cables.

Common examples of how to set order by muscle group

• Chest
  1. Flat, incline, and decline barbell pressing exercises and their variations
  2. Flat, incline, and decline dumbbell pushing and pressing exercises and their variations
  3. Flat, incline, and decline machine pressing exercises and their variations
  4. Flat, incline, and decline dumbbell or machine fly exercises and their variations
  5. Flat, incline, and decline cable fly exercises and their variations
• Back
  1. Barbell deadlifts, rack pulls, bent-over barbell rows, T-bar rows, and landmine rows
  2. Weighted or bodyweight pull-ups and chin-ups
  3. Single-arm dumbbell rows and dumbbell pullover variations
  4. Plate-loaded and pin-loaded machine rows and machine pull-downs
  5. Wide-grip and close-grip cable lat pulldowns and seated cable rows
  6. Dumbbell reverse flys and cable rear-delt/mid-back isolation exercises
• Legs
  1. Barbell back squats, front squats, and barbell deadlifts
  2. Barbell lunges, barbell hip thrusts, and Smith machine squats
  3. Dumbbell squats and dumbbell lunges
  4. Plate-loaded and pin-loaded compound leg machines (leg press, hack squats)
  5. Isolation leg machines (leg extensions, hamstring curls, adductor and abductor machines, calf raises)
  6. Cable leg isolation exercises (cable adductor and abductor raises, cable kickbacks)
• Shoulders
  1. Barbell overhead press, military press, hang clean and press, and landmine press
  2. Dumbbell military press and Arnold press
  3. Plate-loaded, Smith machine, and pin-loaded machine shoulder press
  4. Barbell and dumbbell shrugs and upright rows
  5. Dumbbell isolation raises (front, lateral, and rear deltoid raises)
  6. Machine rear flys and cable raises (front, lateral, and rear cable raises)
• Triceps
  1. Close-grip barbell bench press and weighted dips
  2. Barbell skull crushers (eyeballs) and barbell tricep kickbacks
  3. Overhead dumbbell tricep extensions and dumbbell tricep kickbacks
  4. Assisted/machine dips and machine tricep extensions
  5. Cable tricep pushdowns and rope tricep kickbacks
• Biceps
  1. Chin-ups and standing straight-bar or EZ-bar barbell bicep curls
  2. Barbell preacher curls and wide-grip or close-grip barbell curls
  3. Standing dumbbell bicep curls, hammer curls, and incline dumbbell curls
  4. Dumbbell preacher curls and concentration curls
  5. Plate-loaded and pin-loaded machine bicep curls
  6. Cable bicep curls and high-pulley cable finishers
• Core
  1. Barbell good mornings, standing back raises, and barbell weighted sit-ups
  2. Dumbbell weighted sit-ups, weighted leg raises, weighted Russian twists, and standing dumbbell side crunches
  3. Medicine ball ab twists and bodyweight core exercises (sit-ups, hanging leg raises)
  4. Plate-loaded and pin-loaded machine crunches and machine back extensions
  5. Cable crunches, cable woodchoppers, and cable knee raises

When to change the order of exercises?

There are times when you hit a plateau—it doesn't matter what you do, you find it impossible to progress. At this time, you can break all rules regarding the order of exercises in order to shock the muscles. For example, starting with an isolation exercise (known as pre-exhaustion) before moving on to your main compound lift forces your target muscle to work harder without being limited by secondary support muscles.

When you are recovering from illness or injury. When returning to the gym, you want to take it slow. At this point, it might be better to do everything in reverse to work up to the taxing multi-joint exercises, especially if your lungs or joints haven't fully recovered yet. If you don't change the order, then cut the weight and reps until your strength and conditioning return.

When you want to prioritize a lagging muscle group. Although large muscle groups usually come before smaller ones, if your arms, calves, or rear deltoids are lagging behind, moving them to the very beginning of your workout when your energy and focus are highest can help spark new growth.

Conclusion

Structuring your workout from compound to isolation movements, from large to small muscle groups, and from free weights (barbells and dumbbells) to machines and cables ensures you have maximum energy and stability for your heaviest, most demanding lifts. Follow this proven order for consistent strength and hypertrophy gains, and switch it up strategically whenever you need to break through a plateau, fall sick or take a break and need to ease back into training.