What order to do exercises in a workout program for maximum hypertrophy.

Hi good people

I've been following the beginner calisthenics workout for the last couple of months as a way to give my joints and tendons which were screaming at me a break and as a way to improve my mobility.

However my question is should I be doing:

1 x set of squat, followed by 1 x set push, then one set of pull etc or do all the squat sets first, then all the push sets, then all the pull sets etc

Which would be best for hypertrophy out of the two methods.

I could see positives for both

Circuit style equals more reps As I'm not so fatigued as I'm training another body part and have much longer recovery time before hitting that part again.

Or, in order, I reached my max reps sooner but I felt this would lead to adaptation and more hypertrophy by sending a signal to grow sooner, and is less taxing on my 50 year old body.

Here are my stats for both styles of workout

Bulgarian split squat
bodyweight

Circuit style. V as written

4 sets x 12 reps 4 x 12 = same

Push up

Circuit style. V as written

20, 21, 22,22 = 85 V
23, 16, 15 14 = 68

= 17 less

Chin up

Circuit style. V. as written

11,11,10 32 V 11,9,8 = 28. = 4 Less

Glute bridge

Circuit style. V as written

3 x 15. V 3 x 15. = Same

Circuit style. V as written

Core twist 3 x 15. V 3 x 15 = same

Also when I go back to using weights would I

A) perform all my push sets, then all my pull sets, then all my squats etc or is it best to go one set of push, one set of pull, one set of squats etc?

I have been doing circuit style for the last two years and wonder if I have left some advantage gains on the floor by misunderstanding the fundamentals. Also maybe my tendons and joints were screaming as I could perform so many more reps before failure following that method.

Thank you kindly

Posted Mar 19, 2026, 3:42 PM UTC

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