Pre-exhaust - Isolation & Compound

It may seem strange that Mentzer would have one perform an isolation movement first. The reason for this is that performing an isolation movement first, like pec deck or Nautilus pullover, hits only the muscle being trained. The next movement follows immediately and this exercise will employ other muscles to further fatigue the muscle being worked.

Working out in this manner is called a superset employing a pre-exhaust technique. The isolation movement is immediately followed by the exercise that employs more muscles. Let's take chest as an example. The pec deck works only the chest. Moving on to the incline press will allow one to truly waste the chest because the shoulders and triceps will help lift the weight, with the chest failing before those other secondary muscles do. This second exercise is called a compound movement.

So, if you want to structure a similar routine while not employing the exact same exercises that Mentzer recommends, perform an isolation movement first, followed immediately by a compound movement. This will ensure that the targeted muscle is fully worked out.