The Pre-exhaust Training Method
The Pre-exhaust training method is widely used by body builders and fitness professionals alike. The method is not necessarily a physiologically proven method, that is, it’s not necessarily in the texts books, neither has it been used in experimental studies. The method was originally developed by,Arthur Jones. He is the father of all the Nautilus training equipment, as well as, the man who first designed training programs around the eccentric portions of the movements of exercises. I have discussed Arthur Jones and Ellington Dardin and their training methods and beliefs in p
revious articles, so look there for further information regarding training. For the purpose of this article I want to discuss a specific aspect of training in which Arthur Jones was a huge advocate.
The idea of the pre-exhaust method is to train a particular body part harder than normally possible with the traditional exercise that is used. For example, a pull-up or lat pull-down may tire out the biceps for some people prior to the latissimus dorsi, which, is the larger and target muscle of the exercise. To combat this problem the lats can be subject to a pre-exhaust exercise such as a straight bar pull-down movement that isolates the lats much more than a pull-up. Thus, when the pull-ups are performed AFTER the straight-arm pull-downs the lats can be concentrated on more as opposed to the biceps becoming tired out first. You may even find that when you get to pull-ups after performing the straight arm pull-downs, that you will have to decrease the amount of weight you are using or you may even need to use an assisted pull up machine.
Personally, I have found that this is best used with the shoulders if you are looking for a way to change up your shoulder routine or develop certain parts of the deltoid muscle. Because the shoulder has three heads, the medial, anterior and posterior deltoid this poses a unique problem for physique development. By only performing, say, presses, the anterior and medial portions will develop more than the posterior head. By neglecting the rear deltoid, the shoulder will not acquire 
the “round” and/or full look. It will look strange and not symmetrical compared to other competitors. Therefore, a pre-exhaust can be used for the posterior deltoid prior to performing lateral and compound shoulder exercises. For example, bent over cable rear delt raises can be performed at the beginning of a workout, followed by lateral raises and/or presses. This allows the posterior deltoid to have access to the greatest amount of energy, as well as, not let the posterior deltoid be a limiting factor in alternative exercises. By strengthening the posterior or even lateral/medial deltoid you are setting yourself up for an overall stronger shoulder and not limited by one of the two. The anterior deltoid head usually does require training but not as much. This is because the anterior deltoid is trained when preforming all pressing movements most importantly when the chest is worked. So, therefore, there is usually a very unlikely chance that the anterior deltoid is ever less developed than the lateral or posterior head of the deltoid.
It is important to note that the compound exercise be performed directly after the pre-exhaust exercise with no rest in between. That is due to the nature of the pre-exhaust exercise. It is not as physically taxing overall, but when performed properly and then followed by the desired com.jpg)
pound movement it will result in the breakdown of the targeted muscle. The pre-exhuast method is a great one to use when struggling with plateaus in training or the development of particular body parts. This method allows you to more directly target a specific body part that needs working on. It also allows you to simply push through a frustrating plateau for all body parts. This is possible because out of all compound movements, the muscles can all be individually isolated and trained using the pre-exhaust method.
An additional and final example of the pre-exhaust method can be observed in the quadriceps. By performing leg extensions prior to squats one can isolate the quads more directly. Lots of individuals have trouble squatting enough weight to target the quads and legs in general because his/her core strength is not great enough to simply hold up the weight. To combat this, one can perform leg extensions prior to squatting. The squats performed after the leg extensions also need not be as heavy as if one was performing the two exercises individually. The methodology behind this method is simple and concrete yet, it is widely underused and over looked by most people and competitors alike. Any questions regarding which exercises to use for the pre-exhaust method for a particular body part can be asked in the forum!
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