Your goal is to get to the gym, do your exercises and get out, right? Hold on a second. The order you do your exercises in can actually impact the results you get. It turns out, getting a quick and crazy workout in isn’t quite enough. If you want big results, planning has to come into the picture.
Studies show you’ll get the most out of your session if you deliberately arrange your workout in a powerful way. Here’s a hint: think big to small. Don’t worry, we’ll decode it for you so you can maximize your gains while you train.
If you’re going in for an all-out, full body session focus on exercises that target your large muscle groups earlier in your workout, and move to the smaller muscles as you wind down—again, moving from big to small.
For example, you could work your glutes, thighs and back muscles to start, and save your bicep reps for later. Add in a pre and post-sweat stretch and you’re really winning, enhancing your muscle recovery and preventing potential injury.
With that said, if you’re looking to target a specific part of your body or muscle group make it your main focus. A study published in the American College of Sports Medicine says your exercise order should be modelled after your fitness priorities.
So, if you want to maximize your results for one muscle group, you should do it first. Participants in this study could always do more reps of a specific exercise when they did it right off the bat. Save the smaller stuff for last.
The point is, you need to plan your workouts ahead of time if you want to improve your results. Consider what you want to target and then devote your energy to that spot. It’s all part of the goal setting process that’s so crucial for achieving optimal athletic performance.
