Diversifying Your Training Program
We all know of or see people at the gym who constantly perform the same exact exercises, with the same amount of weight, and for the same amount of sets and repetitions. Most of the people who train in this manner plateau, meaning they stop seeing progress both physically or strength wise. Why is this? The human body is very smart and resilient, especially our muscles. Every time you perform a resistance exercise, your muscle fibers are being broken down. It is then when we rest where the muscle fibers repair themselves which then increases the size and strength of the fibers. What eventually happens is our bodies build a tolerance for the stimuli they are exposed to. This is exactly why as you get stronger over time weight you used to lift that felt heavy gradually becomes easier and lighter. If you continuously perform the same workouts everyday with the same weights, reps and sets, your muscles will build a tolerance and the stimuli being placed on the muscles will eventually become ineffective. This is where diversifying your training program comes into play.
A solid training program does not mean you should be constantly switching up your routine. There still needs to be structure and consistency, but knowing when and how to adjust your program can be a huge factor in making progress and reaching your goals. This concept applies to all types of fitness, whether it be general resistance training, body building, power lifting, or even cardio training. All for the same reasons, if you don't switch up your routine your body will adapt to the training and become less effective than when you started. Not only will training the same muscle groups over and over lead to plateau, it can also develop muscle imbalances which can lead to injury.
A good training program should consist of full body training. Not just upper body, or arms like many people do anyways. If you are very selective with what muscle groups you train, excluding other muscles will cause those ones to become weaker and the ones you train to become stronger. This will lead to certain muscles compensating for movements that other muscles should be doing. This eventually leads to an overload of stress and can start causing pain.
When addressing whether your program should be diversified or not, think of how long you have been performing similar workouts for. There is not one correct answer for when to adjust your program, but a general rule of thumb would be every month or two. This gives your body a chance to have structure and consistency with your training, but not to the point where your muscles start developing a tolerance. How to adjust your program is another very important aspect in this process. It can be a good idea to introduce new exercises or modifications to old ones that are more difficult, but that is not absolutely necessary. Adjusting the sets, reps, and weight to provide a new stimulus for your muscles is one thing that does need to occur if you decide to stick with the same exercises.
If you are not sure whether it is time for you to adjust your training program, or you don't know how to do so, Platinum Training offers custom individualized workout programs that can help you come up with the best routine to help you reach your fitness goals!