The order we do things

[delta k]

I'm trying to learn more and more about this lifting stuff. For example, just today I realized after talking to a friend that I'm not eating enough and eating too clean- basically protein shakes and bars and lean meat, that I can't gain a damn pount (but I'm getting leaner, which ISNT what I want). So that opened my eyes.

So now another thing that has been bothering me- does it matter what order we do things, or do we do them a certain way for routine only?

Example, does doing abs before/in the middle/after/on off days make a difference, or is it all the same? Another question would be, if I'm doing 7 different lifts one day, should I do them in the same order or mix it up? Does it matter, or is the only thing that matters getting them in? If it does matter, how much does it matter? I never see anyone say they ended with squats, is that because it's easier mentally to get them done first, or because saving them to the end would somehow impede the workout/muscle growth?

Thanks for educating me.

[mattnxtc]

You always want to be mixing up your workouts to "shock" your body. If you stick with a consistant routine your body will start to adapt to that and though you will see gains, they wont be of the same size as before.

Generally i think you want to get the exercises that strain the most muscles done first for obvious reasons. Exercises like Squats and Bench use multiple muscles and you dont want them fatigued early on

[delta k]

Matt,

If bench and squat are going to fatigue many muscles then won't those muscles be tired for the next left?

[thirddan]

standard is compound motions first isolation last...weak before strong...do the lift you want the most out of first...

[johnnyrocket]

delta, as far as routines go, i do abs as a warm up usually, it all depends what you are focusing on

if you want to add muscle and size then do abs postworkout, doing preworkout will exhaust some energy that you need for your tough workout.

As for changing the exercises, your body adapts to everything, so doing the same exercises in the same order each week will eventually plateau, u need to shock your body by throwing stuff that it is not used to at it.

As for eating, with your diet of these healthy proteins you wont gain an ounce and will just get lean. To add weight you can add in some weightgainer if you want. You are going to need to increase your carb intake significantly. If you are worried about fat then try not to have any carbs within 3 hours of bedtime. I started a thread for any questions since I am an all natural bodybuilder, feel free to ask in these.

[johnnyrocket]

oo, also, even tho u are going to alter workouts to shock your muscles and keep them guessing, you should still do the heavy exercises first, ex. bench, squat, deadlift. You cannot do them later because you wont have the energy to get the max out of them and you dont need much to do the exercises that are lighter.

[mattnxtc]

Delta not necessarily and you could be putting yourself in to an higher injury potential. Think about it...When you squat you are using all kinds of muscles.

So if you workout before hand in isolation moves some of your muscles will be more tired than the others which is going to cause muscles to try and compensate for others. You dont want this.

Also, because compound movements use large groups of muscles, the individual muscle wont get as fatigued as it will/should when doing isolation exercises.

[johnnyrocket]

isolation exercises should be used after you do your core workouts as they are easier to do and require less effort.

[cbloom]

delta, your first exercise (after warmups) should be a heavy full-body compound exercise, probably one of the "basic three".

For example, if you're doing Rippetoe and you have a day that's

squat
bench
deadlift

you could rotate whether you do squat or bench first. Whichever one you do first you will be able to max out on and the later ones will suffer a bit. Rotating lets you vary it up a bit.

[delta k]

Oh guys, thanks a bunch. What about ab stuff? Should it be done at the end since you use your abs to stabilize you in just about every lift and you don't want them fatigued?

[cbloom]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh guys, thanks a bunch. What about ab stuff? Should it be done at the end since you use your abs to stabilize you in just about every lift and you don't want them fatigued?

[/ QUOTE ]

I do abs on off days but tacking them on the end of a workout would be fine.