Posted by Ryan A on December 21, 2005, 11:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Plateaus" First of all, I agree, the need to change exercises is well, for advanced people. For the first 5-10 years of training I would recommend never getting rid of some exercises as it takes that long to perfect them and to truly teach your body how to maximize its potential. For example, getting rid of the squat, for the first 5 years of training, is very likely completely without merit. Taking 1-2 weeks off after a hard cycle is one thing but not squatting is just likely to get you focused on other movements that are good but not as good as the squat. Perhaps if there is some major issue that needs to be addressed it could be the case that one should stop one of these core exercises, but more likely you just need to regain your focus and hit the gym with renewed effort. As Rich said, switch the order around but dont lose the great exercises. Also, as Rich points out this variation cant be on-the-fly. You should have some goals, a plan to achieve that goals set out ahead of time, and some alternative plans in case something else comes up. RIch brings up key points about the differences between strength and mass training. Strength benefits from NEW stimulus more than mass training. Mass will likely be continually added (up to genetic potential) if you eat and move heavy weight in your optimum range. Strength is at a higher intensity of training in terms of % of max and taxes different pathways in the body. This taxing requires more rest and in learning the new exercise from a switch, different neural paths can be opened that transfer into strength in old exercises. Since the goal is to gain this strength, changing is beneficial. With hypertrophy, since it is almost completely based on moving the idealized heavy weight, you lose while you learn. Perhaps after years of experience, exercises can be rotated as there is much less learning curve, but I am still not sure this is as good as using your "best" exercises. --Previous Message--
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I agree and disagree with Rich.
The one point I disagree is about the reps and that less weight will usually cause strength loss. Perhaps I am just being picky about language but strength gains (and therefore growth)can happen by doing very few reps with light weight to work on form and be active recovery in which technique or some other quality is learned (such as speed).
: It depends on why you plateaued.
:
: I do read a lot here and post occasionally. Very often I read
: the change exercises motif, change reps, etc. I think these
: pieces of advice are handed out too readily without even
: questioning goals and previous experience. The body is a
: complex system and there are countless reasons you could hit a
: plateau. For one, you could have reached your genetic
: potential. Not likely, but it's possible. Two, you could
: simply not be eating enough to support your current level of
: activity, or not eating enough to grow more. Three, if you're
: training for size your muscles will simply hit a point of
: conditioning where no matter what exercises you use you won't
: get much return on them in terms of growth because they aren't
: getting damaged much. Just examples.
:
: Depending on your goals different exercises aren't necessarily
: the answer to overcoming a plateau. For strength training
: varied exercises in the form of a conjugated routine help you to
: not fry your central nervous system and can also help the neural
: adaptations necessary to gain strength. In that case
: switching/adding/rearranging exercises can be a good thing as
: they can help you accomodate your training needs. But only
: within that framework. Simply varying them willy nilly won't do
: much. For example varying flat benches with inclines or
: declines will let you bench more often without hitting full out
: intensity and having your CNS bottom out on you. For strength
: training you'd want to vary exercises that require a lot of
: neural work (most compounds) at a lower frequency with exercises
: that hit the same muscle groups but at a lower intensity or in
: isolation. That's why you'd see flies and triceps work matched
: in with benches in a strength program.
:
: Training for size is quite different as the two biggest
: components of gaining size are the tension on the muscle and
: metabolic work. In that instance switching exercises can
: actually be detrimental in the short term. Your brain, central
: and peripherial nervous systems basically need to learn the new
: exercise. That can make it seem 'harder' to do from a lifting
: standpoint but can actually lower the tension on the muscle for
: a while as you adapt to the new exercise. You could also be
: moving from an exercise that generates a lot of tension in your
: target muscles to one that doesn't generate as much tension even
: after you adapt. And of course you could move from a less
: effective to a more effective exercise as well. Generally the
: switch is more likely to be detrimental when moving from
: compound to compound exercise and less so in isolation exercises
: because of amount of 'learning' that needs to be done before you
: can perform the new exercise as effectively as the old.
:
: More simply, depending on what your goals are you *might* break
: out of a plateau by switching exercises. It all depends.
: However switching exercises is *not* necessary when your primary
: goal is gaining muscle mass or even strength. There's no way to
: 'confuse' your muscles as the common wisdom says you can. Your
: muscle fibers contract one way and one way only no matter what
: angle you hit them from or which exercise you use.
:
: Similarly with reps. Rep ranges are meaningless. They are
: basically mathematical artifacts that come out of balancing
: weight (intensity) and frequency (how often a given muscle is
: worked). 6-8 reps is a good range for muscle growth but *only*
: because the weight most people need to generate muscle growth
: falls into the range of weight they can safely lift for that
: amount of reps fairly frequently, say 2 to 3 times a week.
: Workout with a suboptimal weight within that rep range and
: you'll lose muscle more likely than not.
:
: Post your goals, diet plan, training etc. That's the only real
: way to see what may be holding you back and what might help you
: break a plateau.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Is there any benefit of continuing the same workout routine even
: if it is at the point where one has reached a plateau?
:
:
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