Does the order of the exercises you do matter?

I get that question a lot … and yes, it does.

And the best answer is … it depends.

Don’t you hate that?!? :-)

It depends on what your goal is. 

If your current goal is to increase your strength, then hitting your compound, multi-joint exercises like squats, deadlifts and bench press should be done first … while your central nervous system (CNS) is fresh.

And when I say first, I mean after a proper, full-body dynamic warmup, of course. That goes without saying :-)

If your current goal is to increase your power output, then you should prioritize explosive exercises like ball slams and box jumps first.

And if your goal is to increase your cardiovascular endurance, then you should be doing your running, rowing and biking first.

Most importantly, we want to make sure we plan these priorities out in 8-12 week cycles so there’s a purpose and a plan for our training sessions.

And we don’t want to create “CNS confusion” by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at your body in every workout.

Your body taps into different energy systems and places different demands on your central nervous system based on the activity you’re asking it to do. So, asking your body to perform 3 sets of 5 barbell squats (a slow-twitch exercise), followed by 5 20-yard sprints with a 30-second rest after each (a fast-twitch exercise) is going to leave your CNS dazed and confused.

Split up those types of exercises … either by doing them on different days of the week, or different weeks of the month. That depends on how you set your program up.

If you need help organizing and optimizing your training program, shoot me a reply. I’d love to help … and, as you can tell, I really geek out on this stuff :-)