Program or Freestyle?

How do you prefer to train and with which do you get the best results?

We were having this conversation at the gym yesterday while training. A few of us were sharing the equipment and one guy says he freestyles his training mostly. He has in mind to perform three to four exercises per muscle group, but the exercises he chooses are a spur of the moment and depend on the equipment he can get his hands on.

The other guy said that he is currently following a program because he is trying to achieve a specific goal, but would usually add a lot of freestyling.

Personally, I find that planning my exercises before I start my training is a more effective way of getting the most out of my training as well as being useful in measuring my progression. However, I will at times change, substitute, or add exercises to my training depending on how my training is going or how busy the gym is.

It’s almost like having a to do list ready for your tasks at the beginning of the day, so you can keep track of what you do and make sure you don’t forget anything.

It looks like even when freestyling, the first guy still has a sort of plan albeit much more vague which allows him to do different things. But he’s already planned and knows how many exercises he will be doing, the method, and what kind of exercises such as compounds or accessories.

Again, it looks like people do things differently depending on what works for them. Personally, I find that having some sort of plan is more effective for me. Do you plan your training sessions? What works best for you and which do you find more effective?

(I’ve seen some scientific research on this, but for now I’m looking at preference. I’ll leave the science up to the professionals.)