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Adapting to excercises


Skeletor

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How often do you guys change your workouts around and in what way do you do it to avoid adaption?. Is it as important in powerlifting as it is in bodybuilding to have this variation to your training plan? Was reading an interesting article about why people stall on their training when just sticking to the same excercise, set , rep scheme week in week out and most people adapt to a particular excercise before 3 weeks are out. Im looking into an undulating periodisation training plan where im simply changing the rep sceme each workout on the theory the body adapts to reps before it does excercises but unsure if I should maybee add in at least one alternative excercise, ie safety bar squat over standard squat or wide grip bench over standard bench every 3 weeks. Thoughts?

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Don't know about powerlifting but there are more ways of avoiding adaption than just reps or variations of the same lift.

Apart from yes changing reps and weight, we change the order of excercises to create differing impacts. And there are ultimately many different excercises for each muscle group to be chosen from.

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Don't know about powerlifting but there are more ways of avoiding adaption than just reps or variations of the same lift.

Apart from yes changing reps and weight, we change the order of excercises to create differing impacts. And there are ultimately many different excercises for each muscle group to be chosen from.

Based on my experience I think it's better to perform the exercises that targets lagging body parts first with priorty e.g. weak legs? do lower body/legs on monday instead of chest, lagging quads? front squats at the beginning of workout. I don't think it's ideal to just change the order of exercise just for the sake of it, structure your workout methodologically within reason.

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Muscle doesn't know if you are doing barbell row or db row. All it knows is its rowing and gets broken down and will repair bigger and stronger to cope if is feed properly. Increasing volume, intensity, resistance is more important than exercises.

Just a simple reply and my opinion. I always did the same exercises.

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Based on my experience I think it's better to perform the exercises that targets lagging body parts first with priorty e.g. weak legs? do lower body/legs on monday instead of chest, lagging quads? front squats at the beginning of workout. I don't think it's ideal to just change the order of exercise just for the sake of it, structure your workout methodologically within reason.

Changing the order of excercises brings unexpected results believe me.

Putting squats at the end of a workout changes the paradym. Your head does not realise that you are pre exhausted and you approach the work as if you were just starting the workout. What happens then is complete shock to the quads.

Aylmer does this to me every now and then, and every time it is a real shock to the quads and hits them real hard.

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Muscle doesn't know if you are doing barbell row or db row. All it knows is its rowing and gets broken down and will repair bigger and stronger to cope if is feed properly. Increasing volume, intensity, resistance is more important than exercises.

Just a simple reply and my opinion. I always did the same exercises.

Good basic structure is always important to your program but changing things up and around creates muscle confusion, when anyone has been doing the same excercises week in week out for years then change is essential in one form or another.

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Changing the order of excercises brings unexpected results believe me.

Putting squats at the end of a workout changes the paradym. Your head does not realise that you are pre exhausted and you approach the work as if you were just starting the workout. What happens then is complete shock to the quads.

Aylmer does this to me every now and then, and every time it is a real shock to the quads and hits them real hard.

No, changing the exercises round makes the one that used to be first and is now last more difficult because the muscles are already fatigued. It doesn't make the movement anymore special or magical. I thought that would have been quite obvious.

It's probably the weight and reps that are different. You would approach squats at the end of a workout a different way than you would at the start... Well I would anyway. Another reason why it feels different.

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No, changing the exercises round makes the one that used to be first and is now last more difficult because the muscles are already fatigued. It doesn't make the movement anymore special or magical. I thought that would have been quite obvious.

And my point was no its not more special but as it is already pre exhausted and then you hit it again, the mind is not allowing for the pre exhaustion and it is taken beyond what you normally achieve.

 

It works and thats all that matters.

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Ok so you have preexhausted your muscles then by doing squats last your mind tells you are arent pre exhausted... So are you pre exhausted or not?

You can tell yourself all you want that you aren't fatigued... Fatigue and exhaustion is a physical state not a mental state for what we are talking about.

Yes I know there is mental fatigue and exhaustion but if you are suffering from that from an hours workout then I dunno what to suggest to you.

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I believe it's all about progressive overload. As long as every workout your doing one more rep or adding on another few lbs of weight your body will continue to grow. Changing routines up is more to prevent losing motivation when things get stale. I agree with Realtalk your body doesn't care what exercise your doing a press is a press and a row is a row.

 

It's all about progressively training harder and heavier...my 2c.

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Imo people stall doing the same exercises and in the same order basically through boredom and because they become impatient with small progressions. For bodybuilding it doesn't really matter what you do imo as long as you're hitting everything with intensity. Bit different for powerlifting I'd imagine.. you have to be good at 3 movements so it would be redundant to do things that don't assist in that.

I always mix the order of my exercises up but the primary reason for that is that I don't want to overwork one exercise AND some days I just don't want to go heavy and I struggle going into the gym thinking I'm going to open with squats and just squat 100 for reps. I'd rather exhaust my legs then squat 100 at the end. Some sort of ego justification thing here. And the added benefit of working all your ancillary muscles and stabilizers a bit harder cos primary movers dead already.

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One thing iv found which i guess is kind of relevant is i can do more volume by breaking it up. More than i could have done without breaking it up eg in sheiko often it goes like

Squat x sets (by end of these prob cant squat anymore)

Bench x sets (by end of this can squeeze out few more squats)

Squat few more sets

Good way to sneak in extra volume (which = progress imo) without having to grind through non stop squatting for an hour or something and keeps it more interesting.

I think confusing muscles is bullshit though they respond to any stimulus they dont say oh f*ck heres a curve ball i better grow 2x as fast cos im real confused

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Personally I think variety in a bodybuilding regimin is important just to fill in areas that might be lacking and to create balance. Changing exercises and order forces your body to continually adapt to different stresses. Your muscles as well as your nervous system etc etc etc

When all I did was bench press I had great delts and triceps and the chest development of a child. Using a variety of exercises and angles has allowed me to now have the pec development of a skinny teen :)

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Changng the order of exceises brings unexpected results believe me.

Putting squats at the end of a workout changes the paradym. Your head does not realise that you are pre exhausted and you approach the work as if you were just starting the workout. What happens then is complete shock to the quads.

Aylmer does this to me every now and then, and every time it is a real shock to the quads and hits them real hard.

Understood, but imo changing the order of your workout mindlessly is not only uneccessary, it is counter productive.

At the beginning of the workout, you have the most energy and strength to perform your exercise which would have potential to cause great micro tears to your muscles yelding better potential results. Why not put that energry to where it needed the most which is your lagging body part? as you grind through your workout, your form may deteriorate a little and loss of strength and energy due to stress caused to your CNS during the previous exercises.

Remember lifting is a skill, the more you do it the better you become at it. This is why you want to put more emphases on your weakness. Same applies as other sports, if you are a tennis player and you have a great forehand but lacking a solid backhand, which exercise/drill do you think should perform at the beginning of your tennis training workout? backhand of course! ;)

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You can affect different muscles with different exercise selection and if you're someone like Harry mentions, that gets bored then sure I'd advocate for changing things around but don't trick yourself into thinking you're "shocking your body into new growth" or "confusing the muscle", that's a load of rubbish. Like Tom says your muscle only knows the contraction it can't tell the difference between exercises, either it gets stimulated to grow or it doesn't.

Bodybuilders have this weird adversarial relationship with their bodies as If it's some sort of fight between their muscles and them. They always talk about "killing" or "smashing" body parts or "tricking" their bodies to lose fat, grow or shed water in some illogical/convoluted thinking. Maybe it's just the mentality of never being happy with their current appearance or whatever but it develops into an unhealthy paradox. It would seem more productive to work with your body within the constraints of your biology as opposed to going to an imaginary war where the laws of human physiology miraculously don't apply.

As for pre exhausting, EMG studies show that all pre exhaustion does is result in greater activation of muscles involved in the lift that aren't already fatigued. Essentially achieving the opposite of what most people think it does. Not that it doesn't have its place, I sometimes pre exhaust to take the emphasis off that particular muscle group in a workout.

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You can affect different muscles with different exercise selection and if you're someone like Harry mentions, that gets bored then sure I'd advocate for changing things around but don't trick yourself into thinking you're "shocking your body into new growth" or "confusing the muscle", that's a load of rubbish. Like Tom says your muscle only knows the contraction it can't tell the difference between exercises, either it gets stimulated to grow or it doesn't. As for pre exhausting, EMG studies show that all pre exhaustion does is result in greater activation of muscles involved in the lift that aren't already fatigued. Essentially achieving the opposite of what most people think it does. Not that it doesn't have its place, I sometimes pre exhaust to take the emphasis off that particular muscle group in a workout.

Yes the ancillary muscles are going to activate more to compensate for the primary mover being fatigued. But the tension doesn't come off the primary mover. You only have to follow flyes with bench press to "feel" this. I can only go by what I feel though, so perhaps it's only me. However on my own physique and those of people I have worked with I have noticed this to be the case in terms of bringing up lagging body parts.

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You still have load on the primary mover but not as much as you otherwise would because that load is now shared in a greater proportion with ancillary movers.

Yes and primary mover works hard while ancillary movers fresh. Helps you push your primary mover further than you might otherwise because your weak links are no longer the failing point.

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Yeah but it's the actual tension that's the most important factor. The second you rob tension from the muscle you're not stimulating it to the same extent. I can see how it may work in practice though, I guess it's how you implement it. If you treat that pre exhaust like you would the main exercise at a moderate to high intensity so you're benefitting from the added focus/isolation of that prime mover at the start of the workout while you're fresh. In that sense you could potentially benefit from some added growth if you were previously not getting the required volume or metabolic fatigue to stimulate growth. Which typically happens after long periods of training with the same routine where your natural biomechanics begin to favour the development of particular muscle groups.

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I have recently changed my leg day routine which has resulted in what feels like a shock to the system. I expected it to feel easier than it has been!! I don't really care why the change seems to be having a huge effect, but it is

 

 

Previously leg day was 6 exercises (squats, straight leg deads, either leg press or lunges, leg extension machine, the hammie machine, calf raises), for 4 or 5 sets each depending on how much energy I had.

 

I have a need for some cardio endurance before May, so I started running on the treadmill - so now my leg day is 45 mins running at speed 9 on the treadmill. Then 8 sets of 8 squats.

 

I was expecting it to be easy, but I'm getting worse DOMS now then I ever did with the full session of weights.

 

240 reps VS 45 mins running then 64 reps

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Bodybuilding aside, I think it's primarily BS for powerlifting. 

 

Consistency and lifting heavy  over time is what gets you strong - I'm pretty sure you'll be hard pushed to find a decent powerlifter who doesn't spend the majority of their time doing squat, bench, and deadlift?

Part of powerlifting is becoming an "expert" at your own S/B/D patterns... for example, If you've ever changed from squatting 1x per week to two or 3x you can tell that after a few months you feel way more "practiced" or used to your own squat - that is a good thing imo and is part of what can help you lift more weight. (not saying that squatting 3x pw is essential for good lifting either).

 

I agree with periodisation and most powerlifting programs that built into them. If you have a linear program that doesn't have much periodisation (e.g. 5x5) and you like it there are usually slight variations to the program like "advanced" versions that include going to 3x3 for several weeks. Or if you think linear isn't your jam why not try non-linear. I'm sure there are great PL's who swear to the death by either one.  

But, If "changing" your program was the main factor in getting results for PL there would be 100s of strength programs that are recommended by top strength athletes - whereas actually you see only a handful (maybe <10 if that) that are highly recommended - surely that goes to show that it is the program itself (percentage of max/reps/volume/rest and periodisation within it) and not the exercises - as all of those programs are built around the big lifts and usually have limited/variable accessory suggestion.  (but of course, what is popular is not "proof") And if I'm going to say that then I guess the fact that they do all suggest ancillary work shows it IS important (of course) - but I just think to a lesser degree than the consistent practice and improvement of your main lifts themselves. 

 

That's not to say that you won't get results for, if example, you decide to re-instate an awesome exercise/focus on a body part that you might have forgotten about (e.g, started doing abs more, or hamstrings more, or more lockouts), which might help your lifts. Sometimes its impossible to fit EVERY accessory that might be helpful into your week with maximum enthusiasm - I definitely find myself cycling my "focus" every once in a while if I haven't been doing much hamstring work, or ab work, or unilateral work, because I haven't had enough time to fit it in - so yeah you might change your PRIORITY. Especially if you are having niggles or injuries and/or you identify weaknesses that could be addressed (physical weaknesses - not aesthetic ones lol) .

 

But I don't see how the very act of changing the variation of the exact same exercise would make any difference to strength gain (e.g. doing cable fly instead of dumbell fly). 

I think it's good to change things to maybe explore variations, but if you find a variation that you really like, really works well for your levers and you enjoy it then I think you should stick to it rather than changing it just to feel like you are "shocking" or "destroying" your body. 

 

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