The Best Exercise Order For Muscle Growth Workouts

Summary

In this RP Strength video, Dr. Mike discusses the importance of exercise order in a workout routine, emphasizing the difference between natural and enhanced athletes. He outlines factors affecting exercise order, such as energy levels, performance goals, muscle stimulation, and mind-muscle connection. For naturals, he suggests prioritizing high-priority exercises and those requiring coordination early in a workout. Enhanced athletes should consider injury risk and might benefit from lighter, isolated exercises first, followed by heavier compound movements. The video provides practical advice for optimizing workout structure based on individual needs and goals.

Takeaways

• 🏋️ Exercise order is crucial as it affects energy levels, performance, and the stimulus muscles receive during a workout.
• 💪 Performing high-energy exercises first ensures optimal performance due to less fatigue.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Exercises that require significant coordination and focus should be done early in the workout to prevent decreased performance due to fatigue.
• 🧠 Mind-muscle connection is better later in a workout when the muscles are pumped and warmed up.
• 📉 First exercises reduce overall performance on subsequent exercises, necessitating strategic planning of the workout order.
• 👶 Beginners should prioritize compound movements with high technique and load early in their workouts.
• 🚫 For natural lifters (natty), heavy compound exercises are often best suited for early in the workout, while isolations can come later.
• ⚠️ Enhanced lifters should consider starting with lighter, isolated exercises to reduce injury risk and then move to heavier compound movements later.
• 💊 Enhanced athletes have an easier time stimulating muscle growth, so they might prioritize injury risk reduction over stimulus intensity.
• 🔁 The order of exercises should be periodically reassessed and adjusted based on individual progress and goals.

Q & A

Why does the order of exercises matter in a workout routine?

The order of exercises matters because it affects energy levels, performance, muscle stimulation, mind-muscle connection, and the likelihood of injury. Performing high-energy exercises early in a workout can lead to better performance and muscle stimulation, while exercises that require focus and coordination are best done when you're not yet fatigued.

What is the recommended exercise order for someone who wants to prioritize squat performance?

If squat performance is a priority, squats should be done early in the workout when energy levels are highest and before other exercises that might fatigue the muscles needed for squatting, such as leg press.

How can exercise order affect the mind-muscle connection?

Exercises that require a good mind-muscle connection are best performed later in a workout when the muscles are warmed up and pumped, which can enhance the mind-muscle connection and the quality of the exercise.

What is the significance of exercise order for beginners in terms of technique learning?

For beginners, it's crucial to perform exercises that require high technique early in the workout to ensure they are learning the correct form without the interference of fatigue, which can lead to poor form and potential injury.

Why might someone choose to perform isolation exercises before compound exercises?

Performing isolation exercises before compound exercises can be beneficial for those looking to focus on specific muscle groups without the limiting factors of fatigue from larger muscle groups that are engaged in compound movements.

How does exercise order differ between natural (natty) and enhanced lifters?

Enhanced lifters may prioritize lighter, more isolated exercises earlier in their workout to reduce injury risk, while saving heavier compound movements for later. Natural lifters might focus more on heavy compound exercises earlier to maximize strength gains.

What is the rationale behind performing high-rep exercises later in a workout for enhanced lifters?

For enhanced lifters, performing high-rep exercises later in a workout can reduce injury risk associated with heavy loads and still provide significant muscle stimulation due to their ability to recover and grow muscle more easily with the aid of substances.

Why is it advised to perform exercises with a high systemic fatigue component later in a workout?

Exercises that cause high systemic fatigue, like squats and deadlifts, can deplete energy and affect the performance of subsequent exercises. Performing them later ensures that they don't negatively impact the execution of other exercises earlier in the workout.

How can the order of exercises be adjusted to reduce the risk of injury?

To reduce injury risk, one can prioritize exercises that pre-exhaust the target muscles with lower loads, perform isolation exercises before compound movements, and save high systemic fatigue exercises for later when the body is warmed up and less prone to injury.

What is the advice for intermediate lifters regarding exercise order?

Intermediate lifters should focus on the net session stimulus to fatigue ratio, balancing the order of exercises to maximize muscle stimulation while minimizing fatigue. They should also consider their personal goals and the specific demands of their training program.

Outlines

00:00

🏋️‍♂️ Exercise Order for Optimal Performance

Dr. Mike from RP Strength discusses the importance of exercise order in a workout routine, emphasizing that it varies for 'naturals' and 'enhanced' individuals. He explains that the order affects energy levels, performance, muscle stimulation, and mind-muscle connection. For naturals, he suggests prioritizing exercises that require high energy and focus early in a workout, while for enhanced individuals, he advises considering injury risk and the ability to stimulate muscle growth despite potential limitations.

05:01

💪 Exercise Order for Beginners and Advanced Lifters

The paragraph delves into exercise order recommendations for different levels of lifters. Beginners are advised to focus on compound exercises with high technique and load early in their workouts, while intermediates should consider their net session stimulus to fatigue ratio. Advanced lifters, especially those enhanced, are encouraged to prioritize lighter, isolated exercises early to reduce injury risk, saving heavier compound movements for later when they are more fatigued and the injury risk is lower.

10:03

📚 Practical Tips for Exercise Order

Dr. Mike provides practical advice for structuring a workout routine based on exercise order. He suggests that exercises requiring high coordination and focus should be done early when the body is less fatigued. For enhanced individuals, he recommends starting with exercises that target the muscle group with less external load to reduce injury risk. Additionally, he advises putting exercises that have a high systemic fatigue component later in the workout to prevent them from affecting the performance of subsequent exercises.

15:04

🚫 Avoiding the Pitfalls of Ego and Steroids

In this final paragraph, Dr. Mike warns against the influence of ego and the potential misuse of steroids, which can lead to poor exercise order decisions. He emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to exercise order that considers both performance goals and injury prevention. He also encourages viewers to explore more about the impact of steroids on training through his video series and to prioritize safety and effectiveness in their workout routines.

Keywords

💡Exercise Order

Exercise order refers to the sequence in which different exercises are performed during a workout. In the video, it is emphasized that the order of exercises can significantly impact performance, muscle stimulation, and the risk of injury. The speaker discusses how to strategically arrange exercises to optimize training outcomes, such as prioritizing high-energy exercises early in the session when fatigue is low.

💡Naturals (Natty)

Naturals, or 'natty', refers to individuals who do not use performance-enhancing drugs or substances, relying solely on their natural abilities and training to build muscle and strength. The video differentiates training advice for naturals versus those who are 'enhanced', suggesting that naturals may benefit from a different exercise order due to the differences in recovery and muscle growth potential.

💡Enhanced

Enhanced individuals are those who use substances like steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs to augment their muscle growth and strength. The video discusses how enhanced lifters might approach exercise order differently due to their increased muscle mass, strength gains, and the higher injury risk associated with the use of such substances.

💡Stimulus

Stimulus, in the context of the video, refers to the physiological response and muscle activation elicited by an exercise. The speaker talks about how the order of exercises can affect the stimulus received by the muscles, with earlier exercises generally providing a higher stimulus due to less fatigue and greater energy levels.

💡Fatigue

Fatigue is the state of tiredness or exhaustion that can result from physical or mental exertion. In the video, fatigue is discussed as a factor that can limit performance in later exercises of a workout. The speaker advises on how to arrange exercises to minimize the impact of fatigue on performance and muscle stimulation.

💡Mind-Muscle Connection

Mind-muscle connection refers to the mental focus and awareness of muscle contractions during an exercise. The video suggests that this connection is often better in later exercises when the muscles are pumped and warmed up, allowing for better muscle control and isolation.

💡Limiting Factors

Limiting factors are the aspects of an exercise that restrict performance, such as muscle fatigue or weakness. The script mentions that doing certain exercises first can make the muscles more likely to be limiting factors in subsequent exercises, thereby affecting the overall effectiveness of the workout.

💡Technique

Technique refers to the proper execution of an exercise, which is crucial for both safety and effectiveness. The video emphasizes the importance of learning and practicing good technique, especially for beginners, and suggests that exercises requiring complex techniques should be performed when the individual is fresh and not yet fatigued.

💡Isolation Exercises

Isolation exercises are those that target a specific muscle group with minimal involvement of other muscles. The video discusses the placement of isolation exercises in the workout order, suggesting that they can be performed earlier or later depending on the individual's goals and the potential for muscle fatigue.

💡Compound Exercises

Compound exercises involve multiple muscle groups and joints, and are typically considered more effective for overall strength and muscle development. The speaker in the video talks about the strategic placement of compound exercises in the workout order, often recommending them earlier in the session for naturals and later for enhanced individuals to manage injury risk.

💡Injury Risk

Injury risk is the likelihood of getting hurt during a workout, which can be influenced by factors such as exercise selection, order, and the individual's physical condition. The video highlights the increased injury risk for enhanced individuals due to the rapid muscle growth and the strain it can place on tendons and ligaments, advising a cautious approach to exercise order.

Highlights

Exercise order is crucial for optimizing performance and training outcomes.

Performing squats before leg press can lead to suboptimal leg press performance due to fatigue.

The energy levels are highest at the start of a workout, making it ideal for energy-demanding exercises.

Exercises that are prioritized for performance should be placed earlier in the workout routine.

First exercises in a session provide the highest stimulus for muscle growth.

Exercises done early can limit the effectiveness of subsequent exercises due to muscle fatigue.

The mind-muscle connection is often better in later exercises when the muscles are warmed up and pumped.

Beginners should focus on compound exercises with high technique requirements early in their training.

For natural lifters, heavy compound exercises are often best suited for early in the workout.

Enhanced lifters may benefit from a different exercise order due to increased injury risks and muscle stimulation.

Enhanced athletes can use isolation exercises early to pre-exhaust muscles, reducing the load needed for compound movements.

Exercises with a high cardiovascular demand should be placed later in the workout to avoid excessive fatigue.

For enhanced lifters, exercises that are new or technically challenging should be done later in the session.

Advanced lifters should consider the net session stimulus to fatigue ratio when determining exercise order.

Heavy compound exercises like squats and deadlifts carry a higher injury risk and can be done later in an enhanced lifter's routine.

The ego can influence exercise order decisions; it's important to prioritize based on stimulus and fatigue rather than personal preference.

Transcripts

if you do squats first your leg press

will suffer if you do leg press first

your squats will suffer you'll have to

figure out what do I do first in order

to properly arrange your training so

that you're not like disappointed that

you did poorly on a movement even though

it was third and only would have done

really well on it if it was first so you

got to kind of know what you

want hey folks Dr Mike here for RP

strength today we're going to talk about

exercise

order but we are going to talk about how

it's different for Naturals and for

enhanced folks so we're we're going to

talk about exercise order in general and

then have two use cases if you're Natty

or if you're enhanced a little different

here it really accounts for a lot of the

differences of how Pros train versus how

you might be able to be training by

yourself copying the pros is not wise

you want to learn from the pros and take

what you need out of their programs not

just copy them verbate them because a

lot of the stuff they do is because

they're enhanced so let's look into it

why does order matter which exercises

you do first second third Etc let's talk

about some facts I would say highly High

likelihoods here and then we're going to

Overlay them into Natty versus enhanced

recommendations order matters in some of

the following ways first you'll have the

most energy on first

exercises you got something that

requires a crapload of energy to put in

it had better be early because you're

not tired yet next if performance is

your goal in a certain exercise it also

better be early because you'll perform

best on first exercises when you're not

tired if you got squats first versus leg

extensions first you want to perform

High L on squats you're going to do

squats first first exercises will

generally get the highest stimulus

compared to later exercises for that

exercise so if you want a huge squatting

stimulus do it first if you want a huge

leg press stimulus do that first instead

of

squats first exercises will make the

muscles trained more likely to be

limiting factors on later exercises so

for example if you do cable push Downs

first for your triceps and then you

dumbbell presses later for triceps and

chest because your triceps are

completely fried or very fried from that

first push down exercise your triceps

are more likely the limiting factor on

the presses which means they get even

more work from the presses leaving your

chest getting a little bit less work

than it wanted to so we can do this

limiting factor situation we'll have a

way that enhanc lifters can use this to

their advantage much later I'll talk

about

that first exercises because you're not

grooving in the session yet you don't

have a pump yet you haven't been moving

around much are unlikely to give you the

best mind muscle connection so if

there's an exercise that you just raw

fucking do good positioning good

movement and you get really strong in it

put that first instead of an exercise

that you really want an awesome mind

muscle connection with but you struggle

to get one maybe on that exercise I

would save that for later when you're

already pumped when you already moved

around a little bit nice and way way way

warmed up the Mind muscle connection is

better saved for later

exercises first exercises will reduce

overall performance on later exercises

thus you have to make a choice you can't

say I want squats and leg press to both

be really good you can in the grand

scheme but not in a given workout if you

do squats first your leg press will

suffer if you do leg press first your

squats will suffer so you'll have to

figure out what do I do first in order

to properly arrange your training so

that you're not like disappointed that

you did poorly on a movement even though

it was third and only would have done

really well on it if it was first so you

got to kind of know what you

want next and lastly for this

section for beginners especially

whatever actual exes you do first and

early will improve in technique much

more than exercises you do later because

technique has a fatigue component if

you're learning while you're highly

fatigued you're not learning technique

nearly as well so if you have uh if

you're a personal trainer or if you're a

beginner train yourself you really want

to master an exercise like squats and

leg extensions are pretty

straightforward you need a lot of

technical you don't need a lot of

technical background to learn them do

squats first because then you'll be

really good at learning them when

they're fresh don't do leg extensions

first and then squats after because

you're AIG ility to learn squats will be

a little bit

degraded all right so for the natties

what does that mean for exercise order

recommendations kind of taking all that

in together I would recommend that you

put exercises earlier in your program I

don't mean first first second third

whatever is early for you anywhere

earlier that meet four conditions not

all all conditions but at least one of

the four first you want to put in

exercises that you want to improve the

most on in performance if it really

matters to you how much you squat squats

better be first number two put exercises

earlier that you feel stimulate your

most high priority muscles the best if

I'm serious about getting big biceps I'm

doing bicep exercises first not back not

shoulders not shit biceps that makes a

lot of sense number three you want to

put in exercises earlier that require

the most coordination and focus if

you're doing some kind of program which

requires some overhead pressing takes a

lot of focus and coordination to get it

right if it's a standing barbell press I

just that first you do that shit later

you're going to be more fatigued various

muscles are going to be pre- exhausted

coordination and focus is going to be a

thing that's not as available so if you

really need a lot of coordination and

focus to get a real technical exercise

done real well real uh real well so you

can do well within your program I'd put

a little early in the program rather

than later and very importantly

exercises that you want to go stronger

on especially in the lower rep ranges

sets of 3 to six sets of 5 to 10 put

them earlier into your program if you

put in sets of 5 to 10 later in your

program yeah it sets a 5 to 10 but

you're so exhausted it's really with a

load that fresh you could have lifted

for 10 to 15 or even more repetitions if

real strength matters to you you're

going to train heavier earlier in your

exercises than later almost every single

time so this list means that for nates

they can train isolations first but can

also do heavy compounds first and it's

really going to be a matter of which one

fits the bill best and for natties a lot

of times heavy compounds are going to

win that battle not all the time but

much of the

time what about later which exercises

for nates are ones they want to

prioritize later rather than earlier I

can think of at least two situations

here you want to put exercises later

that have a large systemic or

cardiovascular component let's say ultra

high rep walking lunges like if you do

them first you're just going to be so

goddamn exhausted everything else is

going to kind of suck you do a ton of

high rep lunges multiple sets sets of 40

and then all of a sudden you're like I

got to do stiff leg a deadlifts but I

can't breathe and my fucking glutes

don't work anymore fuck that whereas if

you did High rep blocking lunges last

super tired and it doesn't matter

because you don't need them anymore you

just go home next put exercises later

that have limiting factor muscles that

will interfere with early exercises if

it's really important for you to get a

big back do not train your biceps and

rear adults first because they will keep

you from being able to use your back

musculature nearly as well because they

will be limiting factors not letting

your back do as much work

another one here is if you want to squat

and deadlift you should probably squat

first because if you deadlift first it

turns all the other squat sets into a

lower back exercise because your spinal

erees will be limiting no buer for your

legs so give that some

thought now enhanced exercise order when

you're no longer Natty what do you do

and here's the reminder on this one

enhanced means a few things two really

that we want to use to design our

program one is enhanced means a higher

injury risk at any given time steroids

do a good job of making your muscles

bigger but not nearly as good of a job

of making your tendons bigger and even

if they make your tendons bigger and

stronger they can make the muscle so big

that at an absolute scale they're more

likely to pop off the

tendon and you can try harder on

steroids sometimes you can't stop

yourself from trying harder it makes you

nice and psychotic further increasing

the risk of injury and a lot of times

when you're enhanced you experience

rapid regains and strength when you

become enhanced again off of just doing

trt and that can be one hell of a riot

so your injury risk is definitely a

bigger concern when you're enhanced

rather than when you're

natural however the enhanced have an

advantage they have an easier time

stimulating growth so they might be okay

with trading down a little injury risk

for a trade also down of stimulus but

that's not a big deal because the

stimulus they can always get no problem

the injury risk they have to really be

reverent about so

exercises earlier for enhanced folks I

can think of three situations you want

to put an exercise earlier or at least

consider doing so if you're enhanced

that train and pre-exhaust the target

muscle of the session with the least

external

load when you use high external loads

like a huge barbell back squat your

probability of getting hurt is decently

high but you might not even be searing

in that Target muscle a ton because it's

it's kind of whole body effect so maybe

you can do something like leg presses

first really zaps the quads do squats

after as a second exercise and now the

quads are the limiting factor again and

instead of using four plates on the

squat you can use three so that net

session kept you at least the same

stimulus probably even greater and

decreased the injury risk so Target

musculature first then Super hardcore

muscles that uh or super hardcore

exercises that require really high

external loads after

that in addition to that point number

two try to put an exercises earlier that

are often more isolation movement or at

least not postural movements

anti-gravity movements like bent rows

like deadlift SI squats save those for

later so leg extensions to start with

versus front squats leg presses versus

back squats things like that um you can

use let's say if you're doing a standing

dumbbell press for shoulders and triceps

do some push Downs first really

pre-exhaust the triceps and then the

postural exercise you don't have to use

as much load and you'll get a good

workout from that a good stimulus much

quicker and put in exercises earlier and

this sounds weird but it's true here's

that injury reduction thing they're in

the 10 to 20 rep range not the 5 to 10

you can still do the 5 to 10 rep range

in later exercises with a load on the

bar fresh is really more like 10 to

15 why are we doing this it's not doing

us any favors in strength but the

absolute load you use is smaller so thus

the injury risk is substantially less

remember gaining muscle on steroids is

not that hard or in other words not as

hard as it is Natty even sets of 20 to

start out with are amazing for

hypertrophy and sets a five to 10 or

cool later if you wanted to optimize for

being Natty you might flip those two to

get the real heavy work in first and

light work after but it might not be

worth the injury risk some enhanced

folks are squatting five six 700 lb for

reps benching three four 500 lb for reps

man I'm trying to do shit in the 10 to

20 rep range if I'm that strong first so

I get nice and tired before I go heavier

because if I go heavy first there might

not be a later because I'll be broken

into fucking

pieces and for enhanced folks try to put

in exercises later on average to your

program remember these are all soft

rules not hard rules that meet let's say

four criteria one is have shown a higher

injury higher injury risk to you in the

past so for example if you've had some

trouble with bench press before or

you've hurt your pecs with it before but

you want to do bench press again do some

chest flies first do some incline

dumbbell press to Second and then third

do some bench press you'll have to use

less load you'll be much more more

warmed up you'll be much more in the

groove technically and then all of a

sudden it's much less injurious and you

can still benefit a lot from it second

put exercises later that you struggle

with a mind muscle connection on it's

easier to get a mind muscle connection

when your muscles are a little bit pref

fatigued when they have a big pump it's

much easier to feel out that tension and

that burn so save those exercises for

later if there's a back machine you

don't super connect on do some lat

prayers first you get on the back

machine your lats are pre fatigued a

little bit you can really feel them mind

muscle connection might be better mind

muscle connection on a fresh exercise

kind of fucking weird

third exercises that have a really high

systemic fatigue component you should

try to do later because if you do them

first they'll zap you so much it'll fuck

up the rest of your workout but if do

the less fatiguing systemically

exercises first you can do the real

systemic ones last and then it doesn't

matter if you're tired because you just

leaving the gym squats fall under this

category deadlifts fall under this

category once you go out for many sets

the systemic fatigue is too high for

these to keep going if you do 5 by 12 in

the squat really do it and you're real

strong and real enhanced man whatever

you do after is kind of like man you're

not really doing shit anymore you're

just going through the motions but if

you do three really hard sets of lag

extensions three really hard sets of leg

and then three really hard sets of

squats by the end squats still fuck you

up they still systemically fuck you but

you have six good work sets before that

of quads not only are you done

systemically but your quads are done the

other way is if you do them first yeah

your quads are pretty cooked but they

could use more work but after five sets

of 12 you're systemically done you can't

do any more work that's of any high

quality bad way to do

that lastly number four as an enhanced

lifter you have to be real careful about

safety new exercises you just introduced

in your training you're just playing

around with you're not sure if they fit

you start them later in the plan do your

core exercises you know work well for

you first try and exercise third or

fourth that's uh something new you're

experimenting with that way you can

really work on the technique and you

don't have to push your performance to

the limits because like hey you're fresh

it's performance time early in the

workout performance time later in the

workout a little bit more attention to

quality time is kind of how you can

think about it so if you like that

exercise within the next metal cycle you

can bring it up to rank one or the first

priority first order exercise but new

exercise you're just starting out with

I'd say start out with them later in

your plan you know second third fourth

exercise something like that you could

it gives you chance to work out that

technique there's no high pressure for

you to perform a ton because you're

tired anyway if you like them maybe you

can move them up all right let's wrap

this up for everyone involved in the

iron game so to speak we got beginner

advice intermediate advice and advanced

advice for beginners stay Natty there's

nothing about fucking enhancements and

anabolics that you need in your life do

your compound High technique High load

movements first you can do some

isolations and higher reps last although

for beginners that's generally not

needed so a 5 to 10 compound Basics it's

probably all you need as a beginner for

years to get an unbelievable change in

your body for intermediates also stay

Natty it will be time for enhancements

the time is not now it's when you're

Advanced you want to determine the net

sorry I said that wrong you want to

determine your exercise order order how

you structure which exercises are first

last and in between by your net session

stimulus to fatigue ratio which order is

going to give you the most stimulus and

the least fatigue and that's a balancing

act all of the tips that I shared with

you you can use and combine it with your

own internal knowledge and

experimentation to see what kind of

exercise order definitely gives you an

amazing stimulus but doesn't make you so

fatigued that it makes the whole

stimulus maybe not worth the squeeze a

good way to ask a question about this to

try to get your head around this is to

ask what can stimulate my muscles the

most without limiting factors like other

muscles or systemic fatigue interfering

if you can answer that question with a

good exercise order you're in the

fucking money Advanced folks need to do

the same thing determine their exercise

order by net session sfr through the

same process and they'll probably be

quite good at it because they really

know what they're doing by it if

Advanced folks are also enhanced they

should highly consider pushing lighter

more isolated exercises first into their

plan saving the heavier more compound

movements for later in their plan for

injury risk reduction and it's not a big

deal because with extra sets and Reps

you can make up the volume and still get

an unbelievable

stimulus and especially heavier and

tougher compounds go later later your

ego will want you to reverse this your

ego will say come on dude you're

enhanced bro you can fucking squat the

world let's do it now while we're fresh

if it's strength you're looking for

that's absolutely what you should do

after a good warm-up if it's hypertrophy

you're looking for you don't need to do

that and you can way reduce your injury

Risk by saving those heavy super

technical compounds squats deadlifts etc

for later in your plan later in the day

third fourth some shit like that

exercise not first and second if you

want to learn more about how this whole

steroid game works we have steroid

videos just say Dr mik is Rec call

steroids RP strength steroids and you'll

find a bunch of stuff on

YouTube give that a look stay away from

the needle think about exercise order

let me know some questions in the

comments and I'll catch you guys next

time

[Music]