Hello guys, I’m a beginner (former decent lifter who quit lifting for a long time). I’m training in a whole body fashion, one exercise per muscle group, 2 hard sets, every other day and I’m progressing Just fine (It’s been less than a month since I’ve been back on training). At the Moment I’m doing the same exercises every time I train (es. For quads I’m doing the same leg press every time I train)
I wonder if there Is any need to have 2 exercise rotations, i.e. One workout i do leg press, the next One i do squat and so on
I would say that 2 exercises would be better. Not for actual hypertrophy but to reduce potential imbalances that could lead to injuries later on. There was a saying by someone who i dont remember : “the best exercise for a muscle is two exercises”. Visually there wont be a difference, but for your body to be more well rounded it would be a smart thing to do. Especially if you use machines like leg press and not squat free weights.
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Need? No. But worth pointing out that leg press should probably be kept secondary to squats.
Many ways you could skin this cat, but i like Dante Trudel’s thoughts (a la DC Training) on this… if for one movement, you haven’t progressed in weight or reps in 2 consecutive workouts - it’s time to change out that movement.
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Does It matter as long as exercises rotate in the long term? Maybe not in the same workout, maybe not within a 1-2 weeks spam, but over months (i.e. switching from bench press to incline dumbell bench once you can’t progress the exercise for 2-3 consecutive workouts) @Andrewgen_Receptors @hankthetank89
No.
Anything you do is going to work, presuming you don’t quit.
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I dont like the idea of doing something all the time and then switching to something different.
Even tho i agree with @throwawayfitness and i dont think there would be a major difference, its just that there is a skill and neurological efficiency components to all the exercises. Basically, the first week or two, doing a different exercise you will start from a lower weight than would be needed for a good stimuli, because your body cant do it effectively. And then you will start making rapid progress in weight and reps, and not because there is new muscle grown, but because your body adapts to the new movement. Basically you waste a few weeks for your body to be neurologically effective, and a few more weeks when you adapt to the exercise. Every time i try smth new, i can add reps every session. It has nothing to do with hypertrophy. And then you switch again and start all this process again. Id say, if only doing 1 exercise, and switching it after a few months, you probably waste HALF the time by just adapting.
This works only for complete beginners. Anyone who has put in some time, cant make much progress 2-3 consecutive MONTHS, not workouts.
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Exercises don’t need to be rotated unless you are not progressing on them anymore. At this time, rotate it out until it’s replacement stops progressing, then try back again.
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I’m of two minds on this (and by that I mean drunk):
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It makes sense to rotate exercises when I’m no longer making progress, so I can go make some progress
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The best way to get better at something is to actually do it, and progress comes really slowly, so I should stick with the movement and grind my way through
In practice, what I really end up doing, is switching movements when they start irritating my joints and/ or when I’m so sick of them I half-ass all my sets