hi
I am just wondering what studys have been undertaken to prove that 6 weeks is not long enough in order to change your exersies.???
Why You Should Not Change Exercises Too Often?
January 04 2009
If you think you need to change exercises to keep strength and muscle gains coming, you should keep reading.
Why people change exercises too often?
To confuse/shock the muscle: This is the most popular reason for changing exercises. You cannot confuse or shock a muscle, period. It is physiologically impossible.
Muscles are passive tissues that contract when told to do so. It doesn’t have a brain of its own to get confused. It is as stupid as saying if you pull an elastic band in a different angle you confuse and shock the band.
Muscle Magazines said so: Most of the changing exercises concept come from muscle magazines (for example the Weider muscle Confusion Principle).
- Most models are genetically gifted and use “real” supplements. Unlike naturals, they can do whatever they want and still grow.
- They need to put out a magazine every month. New exercise pictures are a great way to fill magazine pages every month.
Why you should NOT change exercises too often?
Learning Curve: Every exercise has a learning curve called Neural Changes or Adaptations (nervous system adaptations). It is just like learning to ride a bike. You get better at whatever you do with practice.
This learning period take a few weeks or a few months depending on the exercise & the skill level.
Muscle Increase: The muscle increase is minimal during the time when body learns to do a new exercise. Muscle increases largely come after the neural changes plateau as shown in the figure.
Figure: The neural changes plateau after 8-20 weeks. And then the muscle growth becomes more prominent.(Reference 1)
So if you keep on changing exercises every 4 or 6 weeks, the body never gets a chance to increase the muscle involved in that particular exercise. By the time your learning curve (or neural adaptations) plateaus, you unfortunately jumped onto a different exercise.
Strength Increase: The strength increase you experience in the learning period is mainly improvement in skill or neural adaptations than due to muscle growth. This disappear once you stop doing that particular exercise.
Recommendations
- Keep 2-3 basic exercises for each body part, like incline bench press, dumbbell press for chest and rotate them. This way you don’t have to stick with one exercise.
- You can change single joint exercises like dumbbell curls, chest flyes and so on. The neural adaptations are minimal for single joint exercises.
- If you hit a plateau in an exercise, it is time to re-analyze your program and diet and not to change the exercise to “shock” your muscles..
Related Articles
Anoop | Fri January 09, 2009
It is pretty much established that neural adaptations dominate strength increases in the early phase.
These are mainly done by studies with surface electrodes and deep needle electrodes to measure neural drive and motor unit recruitment. These changes have been shown up till 20 weeks. These studies show significant increase in strength but little changes in muscle size during this period.
If you ask a power lifter and they will tell it’s all about technique, technique, and technique.
Hope it helps
Shannon | Wed January 28, 2009
Hi Anoop
I am confused. So if I change exercises, will I not increase muscle?? I was told you need to mix it up because your muscles adapt. I get more confused every time I read your articles 😊
Anoop | Thu January 29, 2009
Hi Shannon
I am not saying you will not increase muscle at all. There will be increase in muscle but this will be less than if you stayed with an exercise for longer. The graph is a continuum and it depends on the skill level level and genetics of the person. I just posted one study because that’s the groundbreaking study by DG Sale which introduced this concept in 80’s. This is the study which is quoted in every literature which explans neural adaptations and strength training. DG Sale is one of the pioneers in the field of neural adaptations.
And this is not anything groundbreaking or “my” theory. This has been known for quite a few years. If it was something really groundbreaking, it would have been an Advanced article and not a Beginner level article. The thing is that most of the right stuff never really reaches 98% of the people. What people hear or read is often stuff from muscle magazines and buffed up people who read muscle magazines. So I understand when you say you get confused reading my articles.
I got banned from a forum because they thought this is something too controversial. And obviously since some of them couldn’t admit they are wrong, they felt t like my tone and attitude was inappropriate for the forum. The moderator and some of the senior members had a lot to say but nothing relevant to the discussion. It is really funny to see how people talk about how research is important blah bah and in the very next line talk about “how they got excellent results this way and that way”. Everyone get results. If you eat, sleep, and lift, you will get results. The question is what is optimal or what really works than what works.
There are only a couple of forums in which I feel there are people who really understand research, take time to read research , and can make some intelligent debate . Or maybe I should say these are the people who genuinely have a desire to learn and don’t mind being wrong at times. It is no surprise why this profession have never achieved the credibility and acceptance that it deserves.
Hope I will not get banned from here (:-.
Mumford | Thu February 12, 2009
This article has been enlightening. For my workouts, i usually keep the same routine except that i switch barbell exercises and dumbbell exercises every week (they are still the same exercises). I have been doing this for a while and received progress, as i am proficient in both db and bb type exercises now. However I am afraid this alternating is not optimal for increasing strength and muscle mass. Should i continue this training?
Anoop | Fri February 13, 2009
Hi
As long as you stick long enough with whatever you are doing, you will be fine. The problem only arises when people don’t stick with things long enough
So if your weight in dumbells or barbell exercise is stuck, you know something is wrong. But if you keep changing stuff every now and then, you will never have a clue whether you are doing something wrong, or even right.
Hope it helps
Kevin from Home Gym Reviews | Thu March 12, 2009
Always keep these two basic exercise principles in mind:
A workout must exceed some threshold of intensity in order to stimulate growth and begin building muscle mass. Overload the muscles in your routines to get them pumped up. To put it bluntly: if you do a sissy workout then you should expect to see only sissy results!
The second principle involves working with progressive resistance. As your body will often reach a plateau and stop improving, you should progressively increase the amount of resistance (i.e., lift heavier weights), as well as perform more reps. You will also want to change your exercise routine every few weeks. This will deny your body some of the muscle memory it is accustomed to, and will keep the muscles guessing with new lifts, presses, and rows.
Anoop | Thu March 19, 2009
Hi Kevin,
Could you be more specific please.
What you mean by muscle memory and what has it got to do with changing exercise routine? And how do you keep your muscles “guessing”?
I love this article!
I have been doing the same routine consistently for several months and am very pleased with my results.
Great site!
Thanks again…
Hi Anoop,
The one thing that makes no sense to me when someone argues the reasoning for “muscle confusion” is to prevent the muscles from adapting to the exercise. Why don’t they realize that getting your muscles to adapt (which to me means grow bigger and stronger to handle the work load) is a great thing? Is that not the entire point of training? Stimulate the muscles, which in turn adapt- grow, and then progress by increasing the variables(reps, resistance, TUL, etc.)
If someone is constantly changing their program how will they ever know which program is producing results? You’ve got to give it time, and when you plateau make the changes to the variables before scrapping the entire routine.
Anoop | Mon January 18, 2010
Hi Aaron,
Yes and that’s my point too.
When you change exercises what happens is that you are using weights much lighter than what you could have if you had stuck to the exercise longer.Simply put, your muscles are getting much less loading.
And as I said you can pick a few exercises and rotate so that you don’t have to do the same exercise again and again.
Hey, I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering if you could give me a workout plan of the idea you are describing. I know you started in the recommended section but i was wondering if you would put it into something I can put into practice? I’d really appreciate it. great theory!(since thats what you have to say nowadays ha) great thread!
Anoop | Wed February 17, 2010
Hi Stewy,
Pick one exercise each for back, chest and legs. Keep doing that exercise for ever. Change the rest of them.
or If you need change, pick 2 or 3 exercises each for back, chest and legs and rotate them. Do the first set the first week, the second set the second week and so on.
Hi
I’m curious as to if your rotating two seperate routines continuously is beneficial. I have a basic weight training routine containing squats, deadlift pull ups, arnold press and chest press/push ups.
Additionally I have a muay thai routine with more emphasis on power, stamina and martial arts. This is circuit based and includes complex body weight compound movements such as power squat thrusts, rollover chinups, power split squat twists and alternating scissor crunches.
I generally work out every other day and change between the routines each time so it’s still very consistant. I have seen results and I feel much stronger but was interested on you opinion on what I’m doing and whether this counts as constant change.
Anoop | Tue March 16, 2010
I think that’s fine. You comment about getting stronger means that you have been using those exact exercises so that’s good.
When people say, I don’t know if I am getting stronger because I change exercise a lot, then it becomes a problem.
I have no idea if your still monitoring this thread but I had a question…so would it be a good idea to like stick with bar bench but switch up how I lift it. Like reps, or doing drop sets, or negatives
Anoop | Fri January 28, 2011
Hi Steven,
All the comments pop up on the home page so I see them.
Yes. And you can always do other chest exercises. You just have to keep rotating it. Or you can dumbells and stuff after your flat. Or one cycle you just do the flat second for high reps, while you do the incline for low reps and first.
The point is if you want to get stronger/ or better at a skill you have to keep practicing it.
Jonathan | Wed February 02, 2011
Hi Anoop
I was just wondering how long I should wait to switch up a workout. I mean, in the graph the muscles don’t grow to their fullest until after 20 weeks according to the picture. Therefore, should I wait over 20 weeks to do a fill redesign of my workout? I am just starting to workout. And one other question. What are your views on protein supplements? Do you find them useful?
Anoop | Thu February 03, 2011
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the comment and welcome to Exercise Biology.
The whole point is make sure that you are progressing in your workouts. The rest is just details. So I would say keep it no less than 8 weeks or thereabouts.And atleast have one exercise that you don’t change like squats, bench, rows or chins and such.
And please register in the forum. I and other senior members will be more than happy to help you.
Protein powder is useful around your workouts. I wouldn’t recommend it during non-workout times. You can do it, but not a healthy way to look good.
Hey, great article. I am currently on rippetoe’s SS. It’s heavy compound lifts three times a week. Someone suggested I should do 2 weeks of rippetoe, increasing weight and such, and then one week of an isolation superset program. So it would be 2 rippetoe 1 iso 2 rippetoe etc… I was wondering if this would screw with my neural adaptation to rippetoe. I’ve been on it close to six weeks and my strength gains are slowing down. Hopefully this means neural adaptation is over and muscle will start taking over.
Thanks in advance!
Anoop | Fri February 18, 2011
Hi Bryce,
Thanks for the comment!
There will be always neural adaptations. The extent of adaptations will be much higher in the beginning.Can’t pin point when it ends and such.
If you are looking for a muscle building routine, you can do Rippetoe’s routine with a higher rep like 8 or 10 and more sets. And maybe add one or two isolations in the same day. Makes sense?
If you are adding a whole isolation week, you are basically butchering the program. It is good that you came to me and didn’t ask Rippetoe this question (:-
Anoop
Quick question: I work out 4-5 times a week and often do change a exercises or two or I do it in different orders and different repetitions every week. Is this bad? I am having some trouble putting on muscle. I haven’t been moving up in weight progressively every week.
What do you recommend?
Anoop | Sat August 13, 2011
Hi Mike,
I don’t think it is bad.
My point is have a few exercises where you can gauge your exercises. Most people have bench press, squats and deadlift as their core exercise. So pick a few core exercises. You can change the rest of them. Makes sense?
Please register in the forum if you need more help.
shams | Sat September 24, 2011
Will you please help me with this connundrum. If i am doing seated rows on a pulley for eight weeks. Can i then switch it for inlcine bench rows on a pully with exactly the same weight as i was doing on seated rows before switching? In both the exercises, same muscles will be trained but from different angles. And what about progressive overloading. Once a trainer reaches a stage in a given exercise where he simply cannot overload the weight any more, is it not appropriate for him to move to another exercise for the same muscle.
Scott | Thu September 29, 2011
My program which I do 3 times a week
Shoulder press 4x15
Lat raise 3x6-8
Chest press 1x15, 1x12 ,1x10 and 1x8
Flys 3x6-8
Lat pull down 1x15, 1x12 ,1x10 and 1x8
Seated row 3x6-8
Leg press 3-15
All to maximum .. Think this ideal if so should I keep doing it to see benefits or change the program ?? As I hit a stage where I haven’t increased on weight ?? Thanks
Anoop | Mon October 03, 2011
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the comment.
If you are doing it 3 times/ week, you better have a way to manage the fatigue. Or you will be hit pretty hard by the 3rd or 4th week.
Maybe divide into a push-pull scheme so you only hit a muscle group at the most twice a week. These kind of 3times a week full body workout are hard to manage fatigue if you are not careful.
Join the forum if you think you need more help
Hi Annop
I’ve been doing all school workouts for afew year aka full body training mainly based around compound workouts with afew isolation thrown in I have stalled on my progressive overload cant add any reps or weight to my workouts diet and rest is fine infact im just back from a week off my routine and still no further lol thanks in advance
Anoop | Sat October 08, 2011
Hi Jamie,
How your diet like? Do you get 8 hours of sleep?
And why not try an upper-lower - upper,Lower routine?
Register int he forum if you need more help , Jamie.
Hey,im confused to by all this stuff hahaha i found a good workout routine i want to use involving dumbbells since i have room for them only,here is the link,www.building-muscle101.com/dumbbell-workout-routine.html The question is,should i just follow this program and not do muscle confusion and just add weight as needed?i don’t like worrying about confusion,i lifted weights before and for quite some time now when i was younger and never even herd of confusion,now im hearing all this mumbo jumbo about confusion all over the net and im lost bad,i don’t want to do confusion i just want a good work out program involving dumbbells that i can use without all the mess,after i get a room built for working out i will get barbells and do some more heavier lifting any help you could give me?i would be very grateful,
Hi Anoop! there are a few questions that I have. I have an exercise routine that I do NOT want to change, ever. Is this possible to do the same exercise for the rest of my life if I wanted to? How do you deal with maintanence? Also you say to keep 2 or 3 exercises for a muscle and rotate them, isn’t that applying muscle confusion? I’ve heard that is how you do muscle confusion by not doing the same exercise and rotating them. I know what you mean about improving skill and strength in exercising, now that I have learned how to properly work a muscle I really don’t want to change to a new exercise just to relearn it. Once I’m happy with my results, how do I maintain it can I just keep the same exercise without adding more resistance and change ever? Thank you
Anoop | Sat April 28, 2012
Hi Sun,
You can do the same exercise forever. Look at olympic lifters and power lifters.
I am not sure if I understand your question. the three exercises are if people get bored or if you want to hit a different muscle in the same group for example, upper chest.
Makes sense?
Hello,
I’m considering working on my legs with the P90x leg workout on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays and its for about 45 minutes. Lots of squats, lots of lunges. Then on Tuesdays/Thursdays Im planning on working on my abs with a 30 minute video by Jillian Michaels that specifically targets the core, so we also do cardio, etc. I also want to add riding my bike on Tuesdays/Thursdays to add to the cardio-fat burning.
And then off course Im watching what I eat, eating 6 meals a day and drinking lots of water.
I want to know if you think this will tone, specifically my legs and butt and will I lose fat so I can get as flat of a stomach as possible?
And according to what Ive ready above, I dont need to change my workouts if I dont want to? I can keep doing these workouts for as long as I want without changing it up??
Anoop | Fri June 08, 2012
Hi Daisy,
Where is the upper body workout?
You cannot burn body fat from specific areas by exercising those specific areas. If that was the case, every guy would have a six pack right.
If you are burning more calories than you take in, you will burn fat. Basically, calories in vs out.
I would just make sure you are not losing more than 1-2 lbs a week.
Just don’t know anything about you, so cannot give any more suggestions. You can register in the forum if you need more help.
Twana Porter | Thu July 19, 2012
Hi Anoop,
I’m a 56 year old female and who is trying to lose some weight. I eat five healthy meals and snacks every three hours, and I’m drinking six - eight 16 ounce bottles of water daily. I’m not new to exercising, but I am just starting again after a relapse five months ago. I’ve always heard that your body will get used to doing the same exercises, so I decided to do some research to find out how often I should change up my workouts. I came across your website, and I’m so glad I did. I want to make sure I’m going the right thing and not wasting my time. Would you mind giving me some advice on my exercise routine?
I love using dumbells and I don’t want to change it, and I also love doing aerobic exercises like Zumba and Hip Hop Abs, Wii, etc. I understand that I shouldn’t change my workouts, but does that mean I should only do weight training and exclude any aerobic exercises? I work out with the dumbbells in the morning, and do aerobics later in the day.
I’m using Joyce Vedral’s DVD “Weight Training Series Workout 101” because it works the whole body. It’s a DVD that I’ve used in the past and have gotten great results from it. She uses what she calls the “Pyramid System” and “Super Sets”, using three different sets of weights, and she stagers the days so you don’t work the same area two days in a row.
Since I’m just starting again, I’m using 2, 3, and 5 pound dumbbells, and as I get stronger I will raise the weights.
Using her Pyramid System I do:
12 reps with the 2 pound weights
10 reps with the 3 pound weights
8 reps with the 5 pound weights.
I get a 15 second rest after each and every set.
This is my early morning workout schedule:
Day 1 - Upper Body
Day 2 - Lower Body
Day 3 - Upper Body
Day 4 - Lower Body
Day 5 - Upper Body
Day 6 - Lower Body
Day 7 – Rest day
What do you think? Should I change anything? Is it ok to do some type of aerobics exercises as well?
Twana :>)
Couldn’t you tell if you where getting stronger in an exercise by remembering your max and the next time the exercise comes around set a new pr in that exercise.
George | Sat November 02, 2013
Great article…I noticed kevin “didnt have the balls or the knowledge to reply to your question Anoop….pick some exercises and master them….when u stall change the intensity or volume to kickstart growth….your muscles dont know the difference between incline benches or flat benches….but the cns senses the difference in intensity…I think this confuses the so called experts….
daniell | Thu January 09, 2014
Hi!
I have a Schedule of a push/pull/leg split
i train 60-120 reps for each big muscle Group per week.
and 30-60 per small muscle Group per week.
i go for 8-10 reps and 3 sets. that mean i have room for about 5 different exercices for the big muscles groups. 3x8=24 x 5= 120! thats the limit for me about.
i train every muscles Group about every 4 or 5th day
so my question is should i go for 5 different exercices for the big muscle Groups?, or should i go for maybie only 3 different exercices and repeat that the second time i train per week :monday 60 reps: benchpress , incline , flyes, Saturday: 60 reps benchpress , incline?
or should i variate between 5? so saturday will then be an e.x Cable crossovers and dips .
sorry for to much info hope you understand what i mean .
thanks for answer!
Excellent and very helpful. I specifically chose the exercises in my routine because I enjoy doing them and my body feels all over great after a workout. So glad to know I don’t have to change it up for no good reason. Thanks for this great advice.
Anoop | Sun February 02, 2014
Just pick a few exercises that don’t change much. the rest of them you can change you know
Hmm, i am not quite sure if i understand.
I have my core exercises squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, dumbell row and some more
And then my assistance exercises like front raise, pushdowns, etc
Are you saying that its best to keep the core ones, but vary the assistance ones? I mean, can you be sure you are training everything if you arent varying the movements?
This is bad advice from someone who doesn’t know much about what he is criticizing.
First of all the terms “shocking” and “confusing” the muscles are meant metaphorically, and when Joe Weider promoted this technique it was a way of expressing what to do, not ment as literally “shocking” or “confusing” the muscles.
Second, no muscles can’t think but unlike your rubber band they are reactionary. After a point of working out your muscle growth can plateau and all this principle suggests is that you stimulate it differently. Your muscles can and do “adapt” to your routine after a while.
The real question is how often should you change your routine. I think some mag suggest you change more often than you need. In the end YOU need to decide how often YOU need to change. Constantly look at yourself in the mirror, if you get to a point you feel your muscles are not growing much despite intense workout, try another routine. You must constantly evaluate yourself.
Also if you just started body building, note that you will most likely experience faster gains when you first start, thats natural. But hey if your muscle building slows, maybe change routine a bit anyway. Either way its always good to experiment a little bit and find what works for you. Get RIPPED!!!! -Rick Z
There is something contradictional that I found in this article.
On lot of websites I found that the most muscle gain, for a untrained beginner, happens in first 2-3 months. How do you explain that? According to this curve, that is the period when you will get less then after that period…
Adam VanWert | Tue December 30, 2014
Johnny, if you look at the graph strength gain is indeed rapid in the beginning, but muscle mass gain is delayed.
Hello,
I know your article refers to resistance training, however I would like to know whether you need to vary the physical requirements, in terms of speed, distance, level of resistance and/or type of cardiovascular exercise, such as running, stair climbing and bike riding in order to continue to get optimal results in fat burning. Thank you. 😊
Anoop | Sun January 04, 2015
HI FILC,
That’s what they call cross training. So you can do biking or swimming to take the load of the joints and give your joints/ muscles a break from constant use. If you end up with knee pain and such, thats the end of cardio. so keep changing it. And its also good for psychological reasons.
I don’t think it would do anything for fat burning. Maybe the blood circulation might help.
I’m doing a full body low impact workout 3 times a week (Monday Wednesday Thursday) and a high intensity kickboxing and core on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Should I keep doing these same workouts for four weeks and then change them at the end of the four weeks in order to get use to them. I’ve tried this muscle confusion thing and I’ve never seen the sense in it since it would be hard to see that you’re improving in an area if you keep changing.
Anoop | Sat February 14, 2015
Hi Kirk,
I didn’t understand your question.
I would say keep one exercise, a major movement like bench press or squat or chin up the same. You can change the rest. So you can use these core exercises to gauge your strength increase in that muscle group.
Or have 2-3 exercises for chest that you keep changing, but you always get to them. for example, you do incline for 4 weeks, do flat for 4 weeks, then come back to incline for 4 weeks.
Makes sense?
What I meant was two specific workouts I plan to do for 6 days a week. A total body video that I have for Monday, Wednesday and Friday . Then there’s the high intensity kickboxing work I do 3 days a week (Tuesday Thursday and Saturday). How long should I keep doing these two workouts that I do 3 times in the week for? 4 weeks and then I do new ones?
Anoop | Mon February 16, 2015
Hi Kirk,
Post in the forums if you like to talk this stuff.
What is your goal? Changing is good, but then you have to consider the fact if you change too often you dont know if you are getting stronger or not. So you should keep a couple of exercises the same or come back to every now and then.
I will at some point.
My goal is to get fitter and a lil more athletic. I was trying the changing this once upon a time but I found that I wasn’t able to gauge my improvement. So what I’m start this week are the two workouts I mentioned above on alternate days for 4 weeks. I wanted to know if I should stick with them for that long and then I change. It would be the same exercises for the 4 weeks since the workout I’m using comes from a FitnessBlender (a fitness channel on youtube) routine.
uray O | Wed February 18, 2015
Hi anoop
i noticed you always mention rotating excercises . would that be to prevent a stall or just to prevent boredom ?
Also what would you suggest if only using a single compound movement , lets say bench press 3x6-10 on alternate days. what would be the best way to get out of the stall ??? a sample routine would help. by the way great articles especially by trying to keep them basic and short 😊
Anoop | Wed February 18, 2015
Hi Kirk,
4 weeks is too short for a beginner/intermediate/. I would keep it 8-12 weeks.
Anoop | Wed February 18, 2015
Hi Uray,
I don’t think I always mention it. Just another way to keep changing, but still maintain the movement patterns. You can keep one compound exercise the same for push , pull, and legs and change others.
You cannot go up anyways. So the only way to do is to back off 10-15 lbs and gradually go up and break through the plateau. Post in the forum if you need more help. Others can chime in too.
Thanks. Some of the recent ones aren’t that short 😊
Anoop | Thu February 19, 2015
Hi Kirk,
8-12 weeks. It depends on how you feel. Nobody can give an exact number. Some advanced people keep it 4-6 weeks.
I would suggest keeping track of how you motivated or how you feel every workout. You will see after a few weeks, you don’t feel motivated, a bit down and not so eager to workout. That is a good indication that you need a break. So keep track of it like you track your weights and sets.
Thank you for your response although I have done that and still seem to get stuck and when I keep trying to push through it, I start regressing in strength.I have also tryed taking a week off. Have any idea what I can try? Thank you once again anoop
Anoop | Thu February 19, 2015
Hi Uray,
Couple of things:
1. Find your weak point and train those with other exercises. Include narrow grip to work your triceps, paused bench/incline bench if you have trouble off the chest and so forth. Figure out where you fail in bench
2. Start eating more.
And register in the forum. posting your routine will help.
Triago | Thu February 19, 2015
Hi Anoop,
Good article. I think a lot of people think they are “shocking” their muscles by switching their workout movements when really they are just “de-loading” certain parts of the muscles by changing exercises to ones that target slightly different parts of the muscle (upper/lower chest). When they switch the type of movement, it gives their overworked parts of their muscles time to heal correctly, so when they go back to that exercise their muscles are fresh, healed and ready to be worked hard again. Make sense? So basically, I think it would be best to do what you suggest, and instead of changing up the workout so often, just take time to do a “light lifting” weak to make sure you are not over working the muscles.
Cheers.
Anoop | Sun February 22, 2015
Hi Triago,
That is reasonable. I have mentioned that before.
And keep in mind that even if you change exercises, you are still taxing the CNS. So the peripheral factors might get a break, the systemic fatigue is still present & not taken care of. The best way is to take a deload as you mention.
MasterOfMyOwnHand | Thu January 14, 2016
If I do the same workout routine for like six months, will I build anything or do I NEED to rotate. I’ve been working out for 2-3 years off and on but I gain a little bit then hit a plateau and have never been able to overcome it even though I kept working out consistently for months. And whenever I would gain any muscle, it would be little muscle gained during a long time. Also, I never really get enough sleep. Before it was just cause I would not go to sleep on time but now I do not really have the choice because I got to high school and work 40 hours a week and some nights I only get like 2-3 hours worth of sleep. I’m not sure if it’s that or if it’s due to low testosterone levels because the symptoms that come with low levels I seem to have but I’m 18 years old so my testosterone levels should be at its peak. I tried ZMA but it did not work and I’m not sure if it’s because that is not what I need or if it’s because I missed days in between and I took it for only two months with one month being the month of Ramadan and I was fasting through those four weeks which could’ve caused altered with the results. Anyway I’m not sure if it’s the way I work out that’s the problem or if everything I’m doing has been affecting my results. Any ideas? Thanks.
Anoop | Sun January 17, 2016
Hello,
It could be the sleep too coupled with too much volume. Try posting in the forum and post your workout, and I will take a look at it. Just let me know here or through email, if you registered.
It is hard to tell without looking at your program. With that schedule, just do a full body routines twice a week. You will recover better and probably gain.
Basic question asked. How long should I wait to rotate the exercise ? Also you mention to rotate exercises example what if I have 4 exercise for a single muscle would I rotate them all or just two or 3 of them ? , Thank you in advance !!
Brian adams | Mon February 06, 2017
Really? One of the best trainers out there ( Dan John ) says ” everything works for 4 weeks”.If you press ( be it push up, military press, bench press, machine presses etc) it is still a press.If you pull ( row, pull up, curls, lat pulldown, seated rows, bent over, 1 arm row) it’s still a pull.So if one is carefull and plans accordingly, wouldn’t it okay ( after all your going from a row to pull ups, big deal!) and the body hits a plateau sometimes ( just like when people in Florida thinks it’s cold when it’s 53 degrees, cause their use to something warmer)
Anoop | Sat February 11, 2017
Hey Brian,
Tell “everything works for you 4 weeks” to world class powerifterrs and olynpic lifters. They do the same lifts not for weeks, but for years and years! And guess what, they are the strongest people around.
My point is keep a few basic lifts the same such as bench, squat and deadlift or any other. change the rest of them. So you know if you are progressing or not.
Hope it helps
Hey nice article.I was also confused about how long i should wait to change reps and increase weight.Im doing 1 set-13 reps on each excersice for lower body for about 3 weeks so my body can adapt to the workouts and grow some muscule.Im trying out a specilization routine. Then i would focus on upper body and do the same. Would 3 weeks be long enough bc i lift heavy about 3 times a week so my body should be able to adapt?
Anoop | Sat December 30, 2017
Hey C,
Sorry for the late response.
13 reps? I don’t really understand your question well. Are you taking about changing exercises or changing reps?
Anonymous | Sat September 29, 2018
Hi Anoon….. I dont know this is true or not… Can you explain…is working out witb same excercise is good or not and whem i need to change them…hope you’ll analyze my question
Anoop | Mon February 18, 2019
As I said, rotate them. So you don’t have to stick the same exercise for ever.
