To optimize results & progress in the gym, many factors need to be taken into account. But for the sake of today’s discussion, we will focus on exercise selection and order.

Let’s consider the most common scenario for the everyday gym-goer. When beginning the workout for the day, (after warming up), most people will start off with a movement that they perform well and are comfortable with. This may be okay sometimes, but doing this all the time will lead to stagnated results and stalled progress. The way to make improvements is actually by doing movements that you are NOT good at that challenge you. Stimulate the muscles from different angles, and get out of your comfort zone! It’s all about improving your weakest link…you become much better overall. Even minor changes such as hand placement/orientation, foot placement, body positioning, etc can drastically alter the stimulus and facilitate new motor recruitment patterns. When people ask, “What is the best foot position for squats/leg presses?” the answer is always – the foot position you never do.

This doesn’t only apply to the first movement of the routine; we must continuously be manipulating variables and performing different exercises during our entire workouts. Don’t get stuck in a rut with the same movements all the time; switch it up! Also, try adding resistance tools to exercises such as bands or chains to change the strength curve and boost overall stimulus by increasing tension toward the end of the range.

Now, when taking a closer look at how to specifically structure a routine, there definitely seems to be an optimal sequence to follow if you’re looking to make the most of your training sessions. The following will explain how to plan or program your workout to get the best overall response.

After appropriate warm up/contraction based moves, the first big lift should be a central nervous system activating, compound, high-threshold, explosive, heavy movement (with control as always/& lower rep range used). By doing this, you activate high-threshold motor neurons which will thereby allow more muscle fibers to be recruited for all movements that follow. This is due to stimulation of the CNS, which forces more motor units to be brought into the equation from the motor pool thus allowing normally “dormant” muscle fibers to be recruited & activated leading to greater muscle stimulation and subsequent development. Firing up your central nervous system with explosive compound movements also helps to up-regulate certain neurotransmitters that will boost drive and intensity.

Next within the routine, it is ideal to perform movement that allows for full muscular contraction/muscle shortening. This also facilitates enhanced motor patterns/CNS engagement, but also teaches your body to become powerful & strong into the extremely shortened/fully contracted position, which ultimately leads to profound developments. Isometric holds can be applied when appropriate, and as always complete control throughout the entire range is mandatory.

Toward the end of the routine, it is very beneficial to implement extended sets with increased time-under-tension. Utilizing the stretched end of the range perhaps (or multiple points within the range), perform either drop sets, extended sets, supersets, giant sets, or other techniques that lengthen the duration of exertion. This is a wonderful way to thoroughly exhaust the muscle fibers while eliciting cell-swelling/volumization/increased lactate build-up/etc all leading to enhanced hypertrophy and muscular development. It is very important to push past the pain threshold with these techniques and go all out! As I have said and will continue to say- Get Out of Your Comfort Zone! Of course it is also imperative to make sure recovery is optimal following these intense techniques; get plenty of quality nutrients as well as sufficient rest on a daily basis. Speaking about proper nutrient intake and rest…perhaps we will cover aspects of how to optimize Recovery within the next blog post. Stay tuned my friends, and as always – keep progressing!  #strive2optimize