diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/ChainedLSMDiskComponentBulkLoader.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/ChainedLSMDiskComponentBulkLoader.java
index f38614c..abb0c76 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/ChainedLSMDiskComponentBulkLoader.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/ChainedLSMDiskComponentBulkLoader.java
@@ -18,20 +18,21 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls;
 
-import java.util.LinkedList;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.ITupleReference;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMDiskComponent;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMDiskComponentBulkLoader;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.annotations.CriticalPath;
 
 /**
  * Class encapsulates a chain of operations, happening during an LSM disk component bulkload
  */
 public class ChainedLSMDiskComponentBulkLoader implements ILSMDiskComponentBulkLoader {
 
-    private List<IChainedComponentBulkLoader> bulkloaderChain = new LinkedList<>();
+    private List<IChainedComponentBulkLoader> bulkloaderChain = new ArrayList<>();
     private boolean isEmptyComponent = true;
     private boolean cleanedUpArtifacts = false;
     private final ILSMDiskComponent diskComponent;
@@ -47,11 +48,13 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    @CriticalPath
     public void add(ITupleReference tuple) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
             ITupleReference t = tuple;
-            for (IChainedComponentBulkLoader lsmBulkloader : bulkloaderChain) {
-                t = lsmBulkloader.add(t);
+            final int bulkloadersCount = bulkloaderChain.size();
+            for (int i = 0; i < bulkloadersCount; i++) {
+                t = bulkloaderChain.get(i).add(t);
             }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             cleanupArtifacts();
@@ -63,11 +66,13 @@
     }
 
     @Override
+    @CriticalPath
     public void delete(ITupleReference tuple) throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
             ITupleReference t = tuple;
-            for (IChainedComponentBulkLoader lsmOperation : bulkloaderChain) {
-                t = lsmOperation.delete(t);
+            final int bulkloadersCount = bulkloaderChain.size();
+            for (int i = 0; i < bulkloadersCount; i++) {
+                t = bulkloaderChain.get(i).delete(t);
             }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             cleanupArtifacts();
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
index 59f48d4..1dbaa3c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.util.IOOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexCursor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchPredicate;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.annotations.CriticalPath;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer.Scope;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
@@ -180,6 +181,7 @@
         }
     }
 
+    @CriticalPath
     protected boolean enterComponents(ILSMIndexOperationContext ctx, LSMOperationType opType)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         validateOperationEnterComponentsState(ctx);
@@ -187,9 +189,11 @@
         int numEntered = 0;
         boolean entranceSuccessful = false;
         try {
-            for (ILSMComponent c : components) {
-                boolean isMutableComponent = numEntered == 0 && c.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY ? true : false;
-                if (!c.threadEnter(opType, isMutableComponent)) {
+            final int componentsCount = components.size();
+            for (int i = 0; i < componentsCount; i++) {
+                final ILSMComponent component = components.get(i);
+                boolean isMutableComponent = numEntered == 0 && component.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY;
+                if (!component.threadEnter(opType, isMutableComponent)) {
                     break;
                 }
                 numEntered++;
@@ -202,14 +206,14 @@
             throw e;
         } finally {
             if (!entranceSuccessful) {
-                int i = 0;
-                for (ILSMComponent c : components) {
+                final int componentsCount = components.size();
+                for (int i = 0; i < componentsCount; i++) {
+                    final ILSMComponent component = components.get(i);
                     if (numEntered == 0) {
                         break;
                     }
-                    boolean isMutableComponent = i == 0 && c.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY ? true : false;
-                    c.threadExit(opType, true, isMutableComponent);
-                    i++;
+                    boolean isMutableComponent = i == 0 && component.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY;
+                    component.threadExit(opType, true, isMutableComponent);
                     numEntered--;
                 }
             }
@@ -241,21 +245,22 @@
         return true;
     }
 
+    @CriticalPath
     private void doExitComponents(ILSMIndexOperationContext ctx, LSMOperationType opType,
             ILSMDiskComponent newComponent, boolean failedOperation) throws HyracksDataException {
-        /**
+        /*
          * FLUSH and MERGE operations should always exit the components
          * to notify waiting threads.
          */
         if (!ctx.isAccessingComponents() && opType != LSMOperationType.FLUSH && opType != LSMOperationType.MERGE) {
             return;
         }
-        List<ILSMDiskComponent> inactiveDiskComponents = null;
+        List<ILSMDiskComponent> inactiveDiskComponents;
         List<ILSMDiskComponent> inactiveDiskComponentsToBeDeleted = null;
         try {
             synchronized (opTracker) {
                 try {
-                    /**
+                    /*
                      * [flow control]
                      * If merge operations are lagged according to the merge policy,
                      * flushing in-memory components are hold until the merge operation catches up.
@@ -368,13 +373,16 @@
         }
     }
 
+    @CriticalPath
     private void exitOperationalComponents(ILSMIndexOperationContext ctx, LSMOperationType opType,
             boolean failedOperation) throws HyracksDataException {
         // First check if there is any action that is needed to be taken
         // based on the state of each component.
-        for (int i = 0; i < ctx.getComponentHolder().size(); i++) {
-            ILSMComponent c = ctx.getComponentHolder().get(i);
-            boolean isMutableComponent = i == 0 && c.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY ? true : false;
+        final List<ILSMComponent> componentHolder = ctx.getComponentHolder();
+        final int componentsCount = componentHolder.size();
+        for (int i = 0; i < componentsCount; i++) {
+            final ILSMComponent c = componentHolder.get(i);
+            boolean isMutableComponent = i == 0 && c.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY;
             c.threadExit(opType, failedOperation, isMutableComponent);
             if (c.getType() == LSMComponentType.MEMORY) {
                 switch (c.getState()) {
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/annotations/CriticalPath.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/annotations/CriticalPath.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e092666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/annotations/CriticalPath.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.hyracks.util.annotations;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * The method on which this annotation is applied has a very high call frequency during normal execution.
+ * Careful consideration should be taken with regard to the number of objects created and any expensive operations in
+ * there.
+ */
+@Documented
+@Target({ ElementType.METHOD })
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.SOURCE)
+public @interface CriticalPath {
+}
\ No newline at end of file