In most beginner exercise textbooks, it’s common to prescribe multi-joint movements (e.g. squats, bench press, deadlifts, etc.) at the start of your workout, and follow with isolation-type exercises (e.g. biceps curls, leg curls, triceps extensions, etc.). However, in the 1960s, Arthur Jones suggested the opposite (an isolation exercise performed immediately before a compound exercise) and referred to it as pre-exhaustion training. The idea behind this form of training is to avoid the situation where a smaller muscle group fails before a large muscle group during a compound exercise. A simple example would involve the triceps fatiguing before the pecs in a bench press.
However, let’s take this training method to the next level.
Introducing pre- and post-exhaust training
…read the rest of my article over at Muscle & Fitness:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/tips/strategic-exercise-pairing-more-size