Order of exercises; Pros & Cons?

[Nomad]

I've seen some advocate that you should squat before you bench, and others bench before you squat...is there some evidence showing one is better than the other, or perhaps pros and cons for each? What do you do and why?

[DocOctagon]

Going off memory and vague recollection; the argument for squats first is that you get the most challenging lift out of the way and they release testosterone/GH which supposedly benefits the rest of your workout. One of the arguments for benching first is that it won't tire you out for your other lifts, whereas doing heavy squats first might tire you out.

Personally I don't care which I do first, usually depends on equipment availability. Although interestingly enough I will always start with either BP or SQ first, never pull-ups, deadlifts or other exercises.

[Mindboozer]

I generally try to get my bench press and pullups in first to warm up my shoulders for back squats. Flexibility issues here. Although I often switch the order up based on equipment availability. Not really a big deal.

[mtguy1976]

It also depends on your priorities. I do my squats and over head presses for my first cluster and then pull-ups by themselves. I do squats first since I want to get those out of the way since I suck at those and want to increase them. I also want to increase my OHP. Putting those two together gives them more rest between each other and I'm not worried about my pull-ups.

[Jefferson]

I bench first, then squat for a few reasons. My squat is much better than my bench, both technically and ability to push weight. Bench helps me warm up and activate all the upper back muscles and create a stable scapula platform. For me this helps with keeping tighter in the squat.

If you suck at squat then maybe squat first, get in more warm up sets to increase movement proficiency.

[Barkadion]

I "superset" all the moves (keeping legit RI) always starting with the SQ. SQ/BP/WPU is my ride. I did have a great experience with doing DL(1set)/FS/WDips/Seal Rows for 1 block. Dl pairs nicely with the FS. But that was an exception.
SQ is always 1st on on the row for me. It primes the whole body and It leads the whole training session.

I might go with mean and lean OP for my next block and I will keep DL as 1st exercise for one day. I have never felt like doing BP as my 1st exercise for some reasons..

[Stefan Olsson]

I "superset" all the moves (keeping legit RI) always starting with the SQ. SQ/BP/WPU is my ride. I did have a great experience with doing DL(1set)/FS/WDips/Seal Rows for 1 block. Dl pairs nicely with the FS. But that was an exception.
SQ is always 1st on on the row for me. It primes the whole body and It leads the whole training session.

I might go with mean and lean OP for my next block and I will keep DL as 1st exercise for one day. I have never felt like doing BP as my 1st exercise for some reasons..

Seal rows What a marvelous exercise!

[J-Madd]

When following OP, I like to start with SQ-WPU "supersets" (observing the AT LEAST 2 min rule!), and the go to by pressing. I tend to do 5+ sets of WPU, so I typically end up super setting WPU at least into the pressing warm-up sets. I don't have any really sophisticated reason for this beyond the fact that the SQ (when I don't over do it!) leave me feeling primed for other lifts. The SQ is also typically my priority lift, so I like getting that box checked for the day. As long as the squats go well, I feel like I'm having a decent workout.

[Barkadion]

I "superset" all the moves (keeping legit RI) always starting with the SQ. SQ/BP/WPU is my ride. I did have a great experience with doing DL(1set)/FS/WDips/Seal Rows for 1 block. Dl pairs nicely with the FS. But that was an exception.
SQ is always 1st on on the row for me. It primes the whole body and It leads the whole training session.

I might go with mean and lean OP for my next block and I will keep DL as 1st exercise for one day. I have never felt like doing BP as my 1st exercise for some reasons..

Seal rows What a marvelous exercise!

Yes. Takes just a bench and steps/mats to set it up. Frankly, this is only type of rowing I am doing..

[fitnessguru]

I work out at 7:30 am and tend to need more warmup for squats.
Thus I bench first and during my 2-3 min rest periods, I do dynamic stretching for squats - high knee raises, lunges, band work.

This helps tremendously for my mobility when I start squatting.

I also superset squats with WPU - 2 minutes rest between exercises.
During those rest periods I do hip circles after squats and band dislocates after pullups.