When stepping into the gym with the goal of building muscle, many lifters focus on key variables like volume, intensity, and frequency. But there’s another crucial – and often overlooked – factor that plays a significant role in hypertrophy: exercise order. The sequence in which you perform your exercises within a workout can dramatically influence training outcomes, particularly in terms of strength development, fatigue management, and long-term muscular growth.
In this article, we’ll explore why exercise order matters, how fatigue affects performance across a session, the importance of prioritising key movements early on, and why switching up your order from time to time can help break plateaus and stimulate new growth.
Why Exercise Order Deserves Attention
Many gym-goers instinctively start their workouts with the exercises they “feel like” doing, or the ones that are available at the time. But when the goal is hypertrophy – increasing the size of skeletal muscle – a more strategic approach is necessary.
Numerous studies have shown that exercise order can influence both acute performance and chronic adaptations. For instance, Simao et al. (2010) found that when exercises were performed later in a workout, participants exhibited decreased repetitions and total volume, regardless of the muscle group being targeted. In simple terms, the later an exercise appears in your session, the less effective it may be at driving hypertrophy due to accumulated fatigue.
This makes exercise order a significant programming consideration – not just a matter of convenience.
Understanding Fatigue and Its Impact
Fatigue isn’t just about feeling tired – it’s a complex interaction of neural, muscular, and metabolic factors that reduce your ability to perform. As you progress through a workout, fatigue accumulates with each successive set and exercise. This impacts everything from bar speed and muscular recruitment to your ability to push close to failure – a key stimulus for hypertrophy (Schoenfeld et al., 2021).
While multi-joint compound exercises (e.g., bench press, squats, rows) engage more muscle mass and typically allow for heavier loads, they’re also more fatiguing. That’s why they’re often placed at the start of a session. If you delay these until the end of your workout, when your muscles and nervous system are already taxed, your performance – and stimulus – will likely suffer.
Interestingly, Simao et al. (2007) also found that starting a session with isolation exercises reduced performance in compound lifts performed later. So, even if you’re not starting with squats or deadlifts, your choice of initial movements still has a downstream impact.
Front-Load the Workout: Prioritise What Matters Most
The beginning of your session is prime real estate – your energy is high, concentration is sharper, and fatigue is minimal. This is the time to prioritise the exercises that are either most taxing or most important to your goals.
For hypertrophy, that usually means starting with large compound lifts that target your key muscle groups. If your main goal is to grow your chest, for example, leading with barbell or dumbbell presses makes more sense than starting with pec flyes or cable crossovers.
But it’s not just about compounds vs. isolations – it’s also about prioritising weak points or lagging muscle groups. As suggested by Spineti et al. (2010), placing weaker or smaller muscles at the beginning of a session can lead to better activation and hypertrophic outcomes, especially if those muscles are commonly overshadowed during larger compound lifts.
This method, known as priority training, is common among advanced lifters and bodybuilders who design sessions around individual aesthetic goals – not just movement patterns.
Strategic Variation: Changing the Order Over Time
While there’s merit in starting with your priority lifts, it’s also valuable to switch things up from time to time. Changing the order of exercises introduces a novel stimulus, which can prevent plateaus and reignite muscle growth. According to Fonseca et al. (2014), varying exercise order over a 12-week period resulted in greater quadriceps hypertrophy compared to maintaining the same order throughout.
This is likely due to the concept of “muscle confusion” – not in the bro-science sense of randomness, but in a more scientific framework where altering stimuli forces muscles to adapt in new ways.
For example, placing isolation movements like leg extensions or lateral raises earlier in a session can lead to pre-fatigue, enhancing the activation of target muscles during subsequent compound lifts. This technique, while more advanced and not ideal for beginners, can help bodybuilders develop greater mind-muscle connection and more balanced development.
Individualisation and Programme Design
Not everyone trains the same, and exercise order isn’t a one-size-fits-all prescription. Factors like training age, specific goals, session frequency, and even injury history all play a role.
For beginners, the classic “compound-to-isolation” order is generally the most effective. It builds foundational strength and teaches proper movement patterns. As lifters become more experienced, they can manipulate exercise order to bring up weak points or add variety.
In practice, a solid hypertrophy-focused session might look like this:
- Barbell Bench Press – 3–4 sets (primary compound)
- Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 sets (secondary compound)
- Cable Flyes – 3 sets (isolation)
- Triceps Dips or Pushdowns – 3 sets (accessory)
But in a variation week or muscle-priority phase, the order might change to:
- Cable Flyes – 2–3 sets (pre-fatigue)
- Incline Dumbbell Press – 3–4 sets
- Barbell Bench Press – 3 sets
- Overhead Triceps Extensions – 3 sets
Both approaches are valid, depending on the context and intent behind the session.
Practical Guidelines
To summarise the research and real-world practice, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when considering exercise order for hypertrophy:
- Start with your priority muscles or movements – Focus on exercises that target lagging areas or are most effective for hypertrophy.
- Place compound exercises early – Especially if they involve multiple joints or require high levels of coordination and effort.
- Be mindful of fatigue – Exercises later in the session will be affected, so avoid placing key lifts at the end if performance is critical.
- Vary order over time – Changing sequence every 4–8 weeks can offer new stimuli and prevent stagnation.
- Use pre-exhaust or reverse order strategically – These advanced techniques can intensify sessions and improve muscle targeting when applied correctly.
Final Thoughts: Optimising Exercise Order for Enhanced Hypertrophy
Exercise order might not seem like the most glamorous topic in hypertrophy training, but it can have a tangible effect on your results. By being intentional about how you structure your workouts – not just what exercises you choose – you can train more effectively, avoid stagnation, and ensure you’re getting the most out of every rep.
Whether you’re a seasoned lifter or just starting to get serious about muscle growth, it pays to think about your plan from start to finish. After all, in the world of hypertrophy, the details matter.
References
- Fonseca, R. M., Roschel, H., Tricoli, V., de Souza, E. O., Wilson, J. M., Laurentino, G. C., … & Aoki, M. S. (2014). Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(11), 3085–3092.
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2021). Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(12), 3369–3381.
- Simao, R., Farinatti, P., Polito, M. D., Maior, A. S., & Fleck, S. J. (2007). Influence of exercise order on the number of repetitions performed and perceived exertion during resistance exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(1), 23–28.
- Simao, R., Spineti, J., de Salles, B. F., Matta, T., Fernandes, L., Fleck, S. J., & Rhea, M. R. (2010). Influence of exercise order on maximum strength and muscle volume in nonlinear periodized resistance training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(11), 2962–2969.
- Spineti, J., de Salles, B. F., Rhea, M. R., Lemos, A., de Simão, R., Leite, R. D., & Salles, G. B. (2010). Influence of exercise order on maximum strength and muscle volume in nonlinear periodized resistance training. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 9(1), 1–7.