Are you exercising in the correct order?
The order you perform your exercises in may not seem very important. But it could be depending on what your fitness goals are. In general, the exercises that you perform first will be the most effective. These are the exercises that you are able to give your all performing. The exercises you do next will be a little less precise in form due to fatigue and therefore less effective.
Your fitness goals should determine which order you perform the exercises. If your main goal is to build muscle, then you should lift weights first. If your primary goal is to lose weight or burn fat, then you should perform cardio first and do weights afterwards. You will perform strongest at the beginning of your work-out. You can also choose based on your own performance. If you are more sluggish at the beginning of your work-out and find that a run gets your blood flowing and your muscles pumping, then run first even if your main concern is weight lifting.
The order you determine to exercise may be a matter of preference, but the order you perform specific weight lifting exercises in is important. The general rule of experts is that you begin with the larger muscle groups and then work the smaller muscle groups. Larger muscle groups are thighs, back, and chest. Smaller muscle groups would include the abdomen, shoulders, and arms. The reason is the same as was cited for choosing the order you do cardio versus weight lifting.
You are stronger at the beginning of the work out. The larger muscle groups will require more effort. Working the larger muscle groups first could help you avoid injuries. You want to vary the order you work the different muscle groups in, but you still want to always work the larger muscle groups first. You should vary the exercises you perform for each group also.
