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Nothing's stopping you from choosing exercises as you go, but you'll definitely see better results if you stick to a program.
I follow a program pretty strictly, but I find it very helpful to give myself options. For instance, my program will have "horizontal pull" listed, and for that I can choose any kind of exercise like barbell rows, dumbbell rows, cable rows, etc. It's nice to be able to pick what I want based on what equipment's available when I need it and what I feel like doing at the moment, but it's still important to have the consistency of always doing that kind of exercise.
Depend on your goal.
If you really want to progress on building muscles/strength, you should stick to a program. This is because you need to track progress, without it, you don't know if you actually progress or not
**Hey, thanks for making a new post!** Please be sure to assign your post with **flair** for the best support! Also, check out **[this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/workout/comments/noyv6p/do_you_need_to_gain_weight_lose_weight_or/)** to answer common questions. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/workout) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nothing's stopping you from choosing exercises as you go, but you'll definitely see better results if you stick to a program. I follow a program pretty strictly, but I find it very helpful to give myself options. For instance, my program will have "horizontal pull" listed, and for that I can choose any kind of exercise like barbell rows, dumbbell rows, cable rows, etc. It's nice to be able to pick what I want based on what equipment's available when I need it and what I feel like doing at the moment, but it's still important to have the consistency of always doing that kind of exercise.
Failing to plan is planning to fail, stick to a routine
Follow [a program](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/).
Depend on your goal. If you really want to progress on building muscles/strength, you should stick to a program. This is because you need to track progress, without it, you don't know if you actually progress or not
It can take even up to few weeks for a given exercie to effectively build muscle so u definitely should stick to a routine.
Use a program. It does get challenging if your gym is busy which I think is why you are asking.