Exercise order: what to do first in your workout

The exercises you do first get your best effort. You're fresh, focused and haven't tired the smaller muscles that help with bigger lifts. So the simple rule is: put what matters most to you first.

The usual order

1. Warm-up: a few minutes of easy movement and lighter sets of your first lift. See how to warm up for lifting.
2. Main compound lift: squat, deadlift, bench press or overhead press.
3. Other compound lifts: rows, pull-ups, lunges, Romanian deadlifts.
4. Isolation exercises: curls, raises, leg curls, calf raises.
5. Core: planks, leg raises.

• Back squatQuads, Glutes
• Barbell rowUpper back, Lats
• Romanian deadliftHamstrings, Glutes
• Barbell curlBiceps
• PlankAbs

Why big lifts usually go first

Heavy compound lifts need the most skill and the most muscles, so they suffer the most from fatigue. Doing curls before rows tires the biceps you need for the row. And core work last means your trunk is fresh for squats and deadlifts, when you need it to brace.

When to break the rule

• A weak point you want to grow: do it first sometimes, when you're fresh. Lateral raises before pressing is a common example.
• A muscle that's hard to feel: a light isolation set first can help you find it.
• An injury: start with the exercise that feels best and warms the area up.

Ordering a full-body workout

Alternate upper and lower body so one rests while the other works: squat, bench, Romanian deadlift, row. Or alternate which main lift goes first each session, as in the 3-day full-body workout, so each one gets a turn when you're fresh.

Liftsmith orders each workout this way for you, bigger lifts first, and adds warm-up sets to the first loaded lift for each muscle.