LAB TO GYM
IT’S ALL
RELATIVE
CORRECT EXERCISE ORDER
DEPENDS ON INDIVIDUAL GOALS.
Hypothesis
BY BRYAN HAYCOCK
Research
University of Rio de Janeiro
researchers examined the
influence of exercise order
on strength and muscle
thickness in untrained men
after 12 weeks of resistance
training. The exercises were
bench press, lat pulldown,
machine triceps extension,
and biceps curl with a
straight bar. One group
trained large muscle groups
first (bench press, lat
pulldown), and the other
groups trained biceps and
triceps first (biceps curl,
triceps extension).
Findings
For strength, exercises
performed at the end of a
workout were negatively
affected by exercise order.
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FLEX | MARCH ’18
For muscle size, the smaller
muscle groups grew more
when performed at the
beginning of a workout.
Conclusion
For size or strength, large
muscle groups or small
muscle groups, exercise
order should begin with
muscle groups and exercises
that are particularly
important for the training
goals of a program.
Application
Whatever muscle group
you’re trying to bring up,
train it first in your workout.
But to avoid injury, be sure
to adequately warm up any
muscle group placed at the
beginning of a workout.
LIFT