shock your muscles

[titans13ae]

hi,
i always read quotes saying shock your muscles always keep them guessing/ doing differnt things
can anyone explain to me a good way to do this
is this like one day work out biceps and doing heavy wieght low reps then the next time you work biceps out doing lower wieght many reps/ or mixing those together on the same workout.
thanks

 

[w8lifter]

Well...it could mean just about anything...there's lots of ways to shock your muscles and/or keep them guessing:

Drop sets
Super sets
Tri sets
Changing your grips on exercises
Changing your exercises
Changing the order of your exercises
Changing your rep range
Changing your rest intervals
etc.

 

[Charger]

Not much to add to w8lifters list, other than I usually try to go from one extreme to another. If you have been lifting heavy with low intensity(longer rest periods) Drop the weight and go high intensity and maybe change the volume.

 

[tjwes]

Do something different every day you train.Try heavy,light,med.,supersets,reverse the exercises,etc.

 

[Arnold]

You can do the same routine for up to 6 weeks before your body stops adapting. You do not need to change it every work-out.

 

[Charger]

Originally posted by Prince
You can do the same routine for up to 6 weeks before your body stops adapting. You do not need to change it every work-out.

I agree, I feel I benefit from staying with the same workout and building on it week after week. After 4 to 6 weeks it's time to change.

 

[Monolith]

Do you guys feel its necessary to take a week off in between tweaks? Or do you just dive right in to the next routine?

 

[Arnold]

Originally posted by Monolith
Do you guys feel its necessary to take a week off in between tweaks? Or do you just dive right in to the next routine?

It depends on how I feel. Sometimes I take a week off after 6-8 weeks, other times 10-12 weeks. I do not think it would hurt to take a week off every 6 weeks.

 

[titans13ae]

thanks guys this really helps

 

[tjwes]

Prince ,How did you arrive at 6 weeks ?Why not 5 or 7 ?I would be bored and definately go stale if I ever kept the same routine for that longpersonally.Your body adapts pretty quickly to the same old thing over and over .The result,a halt in progress.

 

[Robboe]

Originally posted by tjwes
Your body adapts pretty quickly to the same old thing over and over .The result,a halt in progress.

The body adapts by growing.

You can stick with the same routine for a helluva long time before plateauing or the like.

Just ensure each workout you're either adding reps or weight to your big lifts.

 

[Arnold]

Originally posted by tjwes
Prince ,How did you arrive at 6 weeks ?Why not 5 or 7 ?I would be bored and definately go stale if I ever kept the same routine for that longpersonally.Your body adapts pretty quickly to the same old thing over and over .The result,a halt in progress.

I did not make that up.

It's called a "mesocycle", which lasts 4-6 weeks.

 

[tjwes]

Prince,I didn`t think you made it up I was just curious as to where you got that info.Chicken Daddy,I don`t care who you are, there is no way you will always be able to add weight or reps to certain exercises every time you train.Adding weight is not the only way to increase the workout`s productivity.You can make it more intense by doing a number of things.After you`ve been training a long time, you realize, to make continued progress you should always keep the body guessing, and besides, who want`s to do the same thing for two months?Variety is the key to keep from getting stale.

 

[Arnold]

I agree, increasing weights and reps is not necessary every work-out (nor always possible), and you should not stay with the same routine a "helluva long time" as TCD said, 6 weeks max.

 

[Charger]

Originally posted by tjwes
Chicken Daddy,I don`t care who you are, there is no way you will always be able to add weight or reps to certain exercises every time you train.


Variety is the key to keep from getting stale.

tjwes, I disagee and point out it is because of what you pointed out. I can always add weight as long as I keep changing my routines. IF I keep mixing up my routines. Another words as you said, keep from getting stale.
Now this does mean I never have a bad day so I guess you are right, but other than that, I can make gains.

 

[tjwes]

Charger you`re right,if I do different movements I could probably add weight more often than if I get in a rut on the same old exercises week after week.I am making gains all the time,although slowly,by mixing things up.I`m not one to recommend training advice unless I find it useful.I`ve noticed a lot of people here sound like textbooks(not you guy`s on this thread)but haven`t really been training all that long.I mean if you are a beginner that`s fine we all were at one time but if your MAX bench is 175 I don`t think I`m going to take any of your advice abnd apply it to my own training.I know certain things won`t work for everybody but since I`ve started mixing up my routines I`m gaining well and I`m always enthusiastic about training an I have been training for a long time.In the past I`ve stayed with the same routines like a lot of people recommend and got far less results.