How Often Do You Change routine?

[the_general64]

is it okay to change your routine every workout? for example........

push day 1
flat bench press
inclines
flyes

next push day
flat bench press
declines
pullovers

next push day....same as day 1

or do you do push day 1 routine for about a month and then switch to the other routine?

 

[huesoloco]

The problem with that is it's hard to gauge progress.

 

[Gazhole]

I usually change things significantly every 6 months or so. By significantly i mean going from doing a push/pull/legs to upper/lower or something. Or maybe ill just change the exercises im doing, but those change every now and again anyway, just so things wont get boring.

If something is working consistantly for you though, why bother changing it? Changing things up is primarily to stop your body adapting and not making further gains. If you ARE making gains, theres not much reason other than personal preference to change it.

If it aint broke, dont fix it!

 

[jasone]

There should be no routine in a workout. I may test every 3 months on compound lifts to gauge progress. There are so many variations of exercise (angles, reps, cadence, supersets, freeweights, machines, etc) to keep you from having to repeat a workout. Be creative and learn how to fuck up a muscle from all angles and do something completly different to fuck it up the following week.

 

[VanessaNicole]

Okay...two things...


1. It's best to stick with a particular program for long enough to gauge your progress. (Are you getting stronger? Are you moving more weight? How do you know if you don't perform the same exercise regularly?)

2. It's important to change up your routine often enough so that you don't become so efficient that you fail to reach overload.

I alter my set rep schemes from workout to workout (3/10, 2/15, 5/6).
But I continue to perform the same exercises for 6-8 weeks. This is important because the more neurological efficiency you develope, the more weight you can move.

Gains in strength (muscle fiber recruitment, etc.) occur long before hypertrophy, so you want to maximize this so that you can lift heavy enough to build new muscle tissue.

You can change your workout by:

Incorporating new exercises/modifying existing exercises
Altering split
Altering set/rep scheme
Altering the order in which exercises are performed

These are all good ways to stimulate new gains.

I also find that a major overhaul is a good thing every season or so.

VanessaNicole

 

[TheCurse]

i do different shit all the time but its all the same shit.

 

[CowPimp]

I think changing your exercises too frequently is unecessary. You want adaptations to occur. What I often do for clients is pool up a few workouts to cycle through to keep things fresh. Vanessa has the right idea; change the other paramteres besides your exercise selection more frequently.

 

[LexusGS]

Every 2 or 3 sets. Sometimes even after a few reps.

 

[romaxe]

it's not a predefined amount of time after which you should change your routine...change it whenever you dont see any more gains using your current routine..as a general guidline i'd say change it after 4 weeks.