Many things in life work much better when a list if followed.  Instructions for building a computer, for example.  Or, steps for baking a cake.  You have a pre-determined sequence of tasks, and you conduct them in order to achieve a desired outcome.  We know that this technique works so well in so many aspects of our lives.  Yet we don’t always follow it.

Bodybuilders often choose to employ “instinctive” training in the gym.  This essentially means that they train a body part using whatever exercise “feels” right at the time.  This may be highly effective for a bodybuilder with years of experience under his belt, who is highly aware of the different parts of the muscle group, as well as his own weaknesses which need addressed.  He might be able to walk into the gym and immediately know what exercises to use, and he may feel the growth in his trouble areas.  Beginner and intermediate trainers, however, usually don’t possess this ability.  Their “instinctive” training will lead to a flawed physique with many imbalances, making for an environment rich with the chance for injury.

For most people in the gym, a blueprint of the exercises to be employed, and the order to do them in, is something of which use should be considered.  Here is a sample planned biceps routine for the trainer wishing to hit the gym twice per week.

Monday:

Barbell curls                                4 x 10

Seated alternate dumbbell curls          4 x 10-14

Cambered bar cable curls               3 x 10

Thursday:

Preacher EZ bar curls                  4 x 10

Standing alternate dumbbell curls           4 x 10-14

Dumbbell concentration curls   3 x 10

As you can see, they are completely different exercises, which follow the same basic protocol.  Start with a mass builder, move to a compound/isolation combination, and complete the day with an isolation movement.