No matter the order of exercises, people who were already trained got much stronger after 12 weeks of lifting — all groups improved a lot.
Scientific Claim
All three resistance training protocols — pre-exhaustion, rest between exercises, and compound-first order — produced large strength gains (effect sizes r = 1.15–1.62) in trained individuals over 12 weeks, regardless of exercise sequence.
Original Statement
“ESs for strength changes were considered large for each group for every exercise (ranging 1.15 to 1.62).”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design cannot support claim
Appropriate Language Strength
association
Can only show association/correlation
Assessment Explanation
Effect sizes are reported descriptively without statistical comparison between groups. The claim uses 'produced' but is corrected to 'associated with' to reflect lack of causal inference from the abstract.
More Accurate Statement
“All three resistance training protocols — pre-exhaustion, rest between exercises, and compound-first order — are associated with large strength gains (effect sizes r = 1.15–1.62) in trained individuals over 12 weeks, regardless of exercise sequence.”
Gold Standard Evidence Needed
According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.
Systematic Review & Meta-AnalysisLevel 1aWhether large strength gains (r > 1.15) are consistently observed across training protocols in trained populations.
Whether large strength gains (r > 1.15) are consistently observed across training protocols in trained populations.
What This Would Prove
Whether large strength gains (r > 1.15) are consistently observed across training protocols in trained populations.
Ideal Study Design
A meta-analysis of RCTs measuring 1RM strength changes in trained adults (≥1 year experience) using any resistance training protocol over ≥10 weeks, with standardized effect size calculation (Cohen’s d or r) for compound lifts.
Limitation: Cannot determine if gains are due to training order or other variables like volume or intensity.
Randomized Controlled TrialLevel 1bCausal effect of resistance training (regardless of order) on large strength gains in trained individuals.
Causal effect of resistance training (regardless of order) on large strength gains in trained individuals.
What This Would Prove
Causal effect of resistance training (regardless of order) on large strength gains in trained individuals.
Ideal Study Design
A double-blind RCT of 60+ trained adults randomized to any of three exercise orders, performing 3 sessions/week for 12 weeks with matched volume and intensity, measuring 1RM chest press, leg press, and pull-down with reliable equipment and blinded assessors.
Limitation: Does not isolate whether gains are due to training order or simply consistent training stimulus.
Prospective Cohort StudyLevel 2bReal-world association between resistance training and large strength gains in trained individuals across diverse protocols.
Real-world association between resistance training and large strength gains in trained individuals across diverse protocols.
What This Would Prove
Real-world association between resistance training and large strength gains in trained individuals across diverse protocols.
Ideal Study Design
A 12-month prospective cohort of 200+ trained adults tracking their training order, volume, and intensity, with quarterly 1RM testing and control for nutrition and recovery variables.
Limitation: Cannot rule out self-selection bias or confounding by training experience.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
The effects of pre-exhaustion, exercise order, and rest intervals in a full-body resistance training intervention.
The study tested three different ways to do weight training and found that all three ways made people just as strong — so no matter which order you do your exercises, you still get big strength gains.