The Hierarchy of Exercise Selection: Building Your Workout Around What Works
You can have the perfect plan for your training intensity, volume, and frequency, but if your workout program is built on a foundation of ineffective exercises, your results will always be subpar. Exercise selection is the final, critical piece of the programming puzzle.
Not all exercises performed are created equal. Some provide a massive return on your investment of time and effort, while others offer minimal benefits. An effective workout program is built on a clear hierarchy, prioritizing the right exercises that deliver the most bang for your buck for overall muscle growth.
This guide will break down the Fortius hierarchy of exercise selection, helping you understand how to choose the right movements to build a strong, balanced, and functional physique.
The Foundation: Compound Exercises
Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work several muscle groups simultaneously. These are the most effective and efficient exercises you can do, and they should form the foundation of every single workout session.
Examples: Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Presses, Overhead Presses, Rowing exercises, Pull-ups, Leg Presses, and Machine Chest Presses.
Why they are king:
Maximum Muscle Activation: A single set of squats works your quads, glutes, back and core. This allows you to train multiple muscle groups at once, making your workout routines incredibly efficient.
Greater Strength Gains: Because they involve multiple muscles, you can lift significantly more weight with compound exercises, which is a primary driver of strength and gaining muscle.
Hormonal Response: Heavy compound lifts have been shown to elicit a greater release of anabolic hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, which is crucial for stimulating muscle growth and maximizing muscle protein synthesis.
A Note on Free Weights vs. Machines
While free weights exercises like barbell squats and the bench press are fantastic, they are not mandatory. Machine-based compound movements like the leg press or a machine chest press are also incredibly effective foundational exercises. For those who find free weight movements complicated or are concerned about injury due to poor proper technique, a resistance training program built around machines can deliver fantastic results in a safe and controlled manner. The key is the movement pattern, not just the tool you use.
As a guiding principle, the majority of your training sessions and energy should be dedicated to getting progressively stronger on a core group of 6-8 compound exercises.
The Supporting Role: Isolation Exercises
Isolation exercises are single-joint exercises that target a specific muscle group.
Examples: Bicep Curls, Tricep Pushdowns, Leg Extensions, Hamstring Curls, and Lateral Raises.
Their Role: While not the foundation, isolation exercises (also known as accessory exercises) play a crucial supporting role in a well-rounded program. They are best used to:
Address Weak Points: If a specific muscle is lagging behind in development, you can use isolation workfor targeted muscle development.
Add Targeted Volume: They are a great way to add more training volume to a muscle group without the systemic fatigue of more compound exercises.
Improve Aesthetics: For those interested in bodybuilding, more isolation exercises are crucial for sculpting and refining the shape of a muscle.
The remainder of your workout can then be dedicated to 2-3 isolation exercises that target the specific muscles you want to emphasize based on your individual fitness goals.
Putting It All Together: A Sample Workout Structure
Using this hierarchy provides a proper workout structure for your training routine. A well-designed "Upper Body" workout session would look something like this:
Primary Compound Press: Barbell Bench Press (works chest muscles, shoulders, triceps)
Primary Compound Pull: Barbell Rows (works back, biceps, rear delts)
Secondary Compound Press: Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press (works shoulders, triceps)
Secondary Compound Pull: Lat Pulldowns (works back, biceps)
Isolation Work 1: Tricep Pushdowns (targets triceps)
Isolation Work 2: Bicep Curls (targets biceps)
Notice how the workout starts with the most demanding, multi-joint exercises that work the major muscle groups and finishes with the less taxing, single-joint movements for small muscle groups.
Check out some of our workouts:
Conclusion: Build Your House on a Foundation of Rock
An effective workout program is like a well-built house. You must first lay a strong foundation with heavy, compound exercises before you start worrying about the small, finishing details of isolation exercises.
By prioritizing the movements that deliver the most significant results, and combining them with proper nutrition, you ensure that your time in the gym is as productive and efficient as possible.
To see how exercise selection fits into a complete training program, you can read our foundational article on this topic.
The Ultimate Guide to Designing an Effective Workout Program
