I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains?
[quote]steven alex wrote:
I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains? [/quote]
I don’t change much at all and haven’t in years. During those same years, I have made changes in my body that are pretty significant.
The smallest people are usually the ones claiming everything needs to be changed that often.
Find what works and stick with it until it doesn’t. That is what most of the guys who actually look build have been doing for decades.
There was actually a big debate on this a while back in this forum.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains?
I don’t change much at all and haven’t in years. During those same years, I have made changes in my body that are pretty significant.
The smallest people are usually the ones claiming everything needs to be changed that often.
Find what works and stick with it until it doesn’t. That is what most of the guys who actually look build have been doing for decades.
There was actually a big debate on this a while back in this forum.[/quote]
I think it is important to add though, that I’m sure you have periodized your workouts and that I think is important. You can’t just continue to up the weight each week and look for results. There are, and should be back off workouts/weeks.
But I completely agree that anarchy in your workouts is fruitless. Everyone who makes wholesale changes in their workouts weekly or even monthly would benefit from a structured long term consistant plan. This plan of the month mentality has held many back.
X what do you do when you dont go up the next workout?
I typically stall out quicky and end up repeating the same routine.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains?
I don’t change much at all and haven’t in years. During those same years, I have made changes in my body that are pretty significant.
The smallest people are usually the ones claiming everything needs to be changed that often.
Find what works and stick with it until it doesn’t. That is what most of the guys who actually look build have been doing for decades.
There was actually a big debate on this a while back in this forum.[/quote]
[quote]topgun322 wrote:
X what do you do when you dont go up the next workout?
I typically stall out quicky and end up repeating the same routine.
[/quote]
Why would my current goals have anything to do with you? Bodybuilding isn’t something you jump into for a few months and then quit. Considering the length of time I have been training, it would be ridiculous to think my goal is to go up in weight every single workout or even go up in the number of reps every single time I train a specific body part. OBVIOUSLY gains will slow down the further you take this. You aren’t my size and are doubtfully anywhere near any limit to your own growth.
From your other posts, it is pretty clear you more than likely have your diet screwed up as well. That is the first place most people should look when they claim they “stalled out”.
Was just asking you what would you do if you had that issue as you were adding your mass, not at your current stage.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
topgun322 wrote:
X what do you do when you dont go up the next workout?
I typically stall out quicky and end up repeating the same routine.
Why would my current goals have anything to do with you? Bodybuilding isn’t something you jump into for a few months and then quit. Considering the length of time I have been training, it would be ridiculous to think my goal is to go up in weight every single workout or even go up in the number of reps every single time I train a specific body part. OBVIOUSLY gains will slow down the further you take this. You aren’t my size and are doubtfully anywhere near any limit to your own growth.
From your other posts, it is pretty clear you more than likely have your diet screwed up as well. That is the first place most people should look when they claim they “stalled out”.[/quote]
[quote]topgun322 wrote:
Was just asking you what would you do if you had that issue as you were adding your mass, not at your current stage.
[/quote]
Everyone has periods where their gains slow down or seem to stop. That is why I am constantly writing that gains come in spurts. No one is going to start growing at the same rate over the same period from start to finish. There will be weeks or months where gains are coming slowly.
Then, there will be several times where it seems that gains come so quickly over a week that you won’t know what you did right or wrong. You keep pushing to do better every time you lift. That is what you do…assuming your food intake is where it needs to be and that you are trying to push a (controlled) weight increase.
[quote]topgun322 wrote:
X what do you do when you dont go up the next workout?
I typically stall out quicky and end up repeating the same routine.
Professor X wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains?
I don’t change much at all and haven’t in years. During those same years, I have made changes in my body that are pretty significant.
The smallest people are usually the ones claiming everything needs to be changed that often.
Find what works and stick with it until it doesn’t. That is what most of the guys who actually look build have been doing for decades.
There was actually a big debate on this a while back in this forum.
[/quote]
there are few things, biologically speaking, that happen linearly.
Thanks guys for your helpful replies. I must confess that I dislike this trend toward a wholesale change in routine as frequently as that outlined by certain strength coaches as the difficulty to pinpoint any reference point to progression seems obliterated by the changes.
Professor X I have read somewhere in one of your posts that you haven’t changed your routine in ages can I ask what routine you have used with your most amount of success as far as hypertrophy is concerned?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I hear so often about changing around the various parameters of a particular workout ( changing exercises, weight selection, rep and set variables every six weeks or so ) that I have become a little confused.
I find it very hard to monitor progression if I am forever altering things, even the order I do my exercises in a given routine can have an impact on the data I use to evaluate and guage the efficacy of a workout.
I was wondering has anyone went through a whole year or so just doing the basic same exercises and only adjusting the ammount lifted and seen success and continued gains?
I don’t change much at all and haven’t in years. During those same years, I have made changes in my body that are pretty significant.
The smallest people are usually the ones claiming everything needs to be changed that often.
Find what works and stick with it until it doesn’t. That is what most of the guys who actually look build have been doing for decades.
There was actually a big debate on this a while back in this forum.[/quote]
Is this coming from the same person that stated He might skip a workout? and plans his workouts by how he feels that day?
Skipping a workout is changing your program, for people who follow a specific workout routine year round. You might have just changed from 5 days a week to 4. Or did chest today.
Might be best to figure out what this guys is talking about when he talks about change.
Is this coming from the same person that stated He might skip a workout? and plans his workouts by how he feels that day?
Skipping a workout is changing your program, for people who follow a specific workout routine year round. You might have just changed from 5 days a week to 4. Or did chest today.
Might be best to figure out what this guys is talking about when he talks about change.[/quote]
It might be best for you to understand what is meant when someone discusses rest days. Unless rest days are now “changing a routine”, you completely missed the point. If I am training on average 6 days a week and that rest day is applied on whatever day it is most needed, how does this equal “changing a routine”? I don’t have a set “routine” in the first place as far as what is worked what day and what we were discussing amounts to how exercises are performed or even the order of those exercises in a workout. My “chest day” looks like most “chest days”. There may be small changes in the number of sets performed, but in general, there aren’t that many changes to my “chest day” in terms of the exercises performed. We are not discussing the same thing as taking a rest day on Tuesday as opposed to Wednesday.
If you are even performing a “routine” so rigid that you perform the exact same things every same day of every week with complete disregard for how your body is actually feeling or whether it is rested enough on those days, you may just be setting yourself up for injury.
I honestly never had this problem with understanding this. Why do you seem to be having it now?
We were just talking about this in another thread. I may approach this in a slightly different manner than Professor X does, but it amounts to pretty close to the the same thing I think.
I have figured out what intensity, volume, frequency and exercises I respond to best. That is not set in stone to the point where I’m beyond incorporating new ideas as they may present themselves though.
All my workouts are within that framework. The order, exercises and reps may change depending on how I see things for that day. Sets are pretty constant though they’re fair game sometimes as well.
In other words I may work shoulders before chest and triceps or maybe not. I may do all barbell or dumbbell work that day or a combination of the two. I may decide it’s an 8-12 rep day primarily or maybe 6-8.
Maybe even some of each of those as well. I may lighten up a bit (very rare though) if I’m over tired that day or use beyond failure HIT techniques if I fell especially good. You get the idea.
However the basic framework is always the same. On occasion I’ve tried upping the volume or frequency for instance and I always wind up back with my own because I haven’t found anything that works better. So which tools I pull out changes all the time, but the toolbox itself doesn’t.
I wonder if that made any sense to anybody? Kinda rambling.