Podcast 20

Is There an Extra Benefit to Doing Pre-Exhaustion Sequences?

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SHOW NOTES

Amy and Brian explore the question “Should you pre-exhaust your muscles with isolation exercises before taking on compound movements?” Find out why the idea of the pre-exhaustion sequence is actually hurting your fitness progress and why putting compound exercises at the very beginning of your exercise program is the key to getting the most results in the shortest amount of time.

• Pre-exhaustion is the idea that performing an isolation exercise prior to a compound exercise is more effective in training that particular muscle. This is mainly due to the experience and burn involved.
• Research out of the UK looked at pre-exhaustion to see if it had a positive effect on the fitness results of a group of athletes and they found that there was no significant difference.
• Pre-exhaustion training provides no greater benefit when compared with other exercise programs that involve more rest between sets or by a program that prioritises compound movements over isolation movements.
• This supports the approach of the Exercise Coach where you perform big movements first. Doing movements that involve a lot of muscle mass generates a greater hormonal result for the body which leads to better systemic results.
• By starting off with the larger, more difficult movements first you get the additional hormonal benefit which will make the following isolation movements a bit easier. Compound movements being performed early in the workout without isolation movements in front of them also allows the Exercise Coach to get better fitness data on their clients.
• You tend to get better results on exercises that you prioritize earlier in a workout.

Today, we want to talk about the factors we consider when designing an exercise sequence and whether there is a benefit to performing isolation or single joint exercises prior to those compound movements. Welcome to the Strength Changes Everything podcast. I am Amy Hudson, exercise coach franchisee, here with my co -host, CEO, and co -founder of The Exercise Coach, Ryan Sagan. In our previous episode, we introduced the concept of single joint versus multi joint movements and how our strength outcomes can vary based on the movements we focus on. Often in our studio settings, we work with clients who want to focus on various muscle groups to improve strength in those areas. So today we want to talk about the factors we consider when designing an exercise sequence and whether there is a benefit to performing isolation or single joint exercises prior to those compound movements for really maximizing the strength results in that muscle group for the client.

We sometimes call this pre -exhaustion. So we’re introducing you to a concept called pre -exhaustion. So Brian, is there an extra benefit to doing pre -exhaustion sequences with our clients?

Hey, Amy, good question. You’re right. People do want to specialize in different areas of the body. And sometimes it does lead to this question. And technically pre -exhaustion is when you work a small muscle group in an isolated fashion. and then you quickly move to working that muscle group along with other muscles at the same time.

The idea is that this pre -exhaustion of the small isolated muscle leads to a better effect. However, I think it might just be based on anecdotally what it feels like. It really burns. It’s really uncomfortable to perform. pre -exhaustion. So this would be like performing a bicep curl and then going very, very quickly to a rowing movement and continuing to work your biceps while you’re working your back muscles.

And those biceps are going to burn like crazy. So that I think has led people to believe, well, that must make it more effective. But the answer is no. and research out of the UK by James Fisher and James Steele looked at this. In 2014, Fisher and Steele looked at 39 trained participants in this study. Nine were male, 30 were female.

They completed 12 weeks of resistance training and they completed resistance training in different manners. So one group performed pre -exhaust training and then there was another group that instead of pre -exhaust training did isolation movements and then had some rest in between the isolation movements and the compound movements which made it not really a pre -exhaustion technique because pre -exhaustion means you’re going to move quickly from the isolation movement to the compound movement. And then they had a third group. And in that group, they actually performed the compound movements first, had some rest, then perform the isolation movements. And all that to say what the researchers found was no significant difference in effects between the groups in terms of their strength in the chest press, the leg press, the pull down exercises, or for body composition. And so their conclusion was pre -exhaustion training, offers no greater benefit to performing the same exercises with rest between them compared with exercises performed in an order that prioritizes compound movements.

And so why does this matter? Well, this informs and supports the way that we do things at the exercise coach. because it means we can perform big movements first. We know they’re important because like we talked about in the last episode, working, doing movements that involve a lot of muscle mass generates a greater hormonal result for the body which leads to better systemic results. But being able to perform these larger movements first without the smaller movements in front of them means we can do what we’ve called sometimes kind of a downhill workout, meaning that we can do the larger, more overall challenging exercises first, and then we can add in some smaller movements later in the workout. And at that point, you’ve become really fatigued in the workout.

And so it’s nice to be working smaller muscle groups than you were in the beginning of the workout. And the other benefit that we see at the exercise coach is Our approach is totally data driven. The most important exercises we do are these exerbotics exercises that are compound movements like the leg press, chest press, pull down, etc. And being able to perform them early in the workout without isolation movements in front of them enables us to get really clean and informative data from every workout that our clients perform. So it’s good news that we don’t have to perform pre -exhaust sequences to get the best results. And one of the reasons why is it’s just much more uncomfortable and painful to perform pre -exhaustion sequences.

And it’s just another thing we don’t have to do to get the results that matter most to our clients.

Awesome.

Yeah, that is really good news. And if you’re a client, I think you know. that you want to feel relatively strong and capable all the way through that workout because we do maximize your every second of that session when you’re with us at the studios, how challenging the workout is and so we know that you’ that energy and that abil workout strong. And so th news, brian, thanks for e us.

And one thing that st have also found is that yo on exercises that you do prioritize earlier in a workout. And so we’re able to put the movements that are the most important upfront in the workout. And just think about an exercise coach workout, Amy, you know, if you had to get 15, 18 minutes into your workout, be pretty fatigued, and then go over to the leg press and take on that exercise that involves half the muscle mass in your body, that can be really daunting. And so that’s not a typical sequence. That’s kind of an uphill mental battle.

Mm hmm.

Absolutely.

So this is kind of a reinforcement of the fact that, you know, our approach and your workout and your sequence at the exercise coach that your coach is designing is based on this solid science that really allows for the maximum effectiveness and experience and comfort in your workout. And so we really appreciate you sharing this with us, Brian. And if you have found this information helpful, we would love for you to share it with a friend. Give us a rating and a review if you’re enjoying the podcast, and we look forward to seeing you back next time. Remember, strength changes everything.