Changing your workout routine/program

[Failla1986]

I've watched some videos by greg plitt and he's always saying that you should always change your routine, so that you dont get stuck in plateaus. But then I hear other people saying that you should stick to the same program for weeks and be consistent and dont change anything if you want to see progress. That's seems to me like a contradiction there and I don't understand what should I do. Can you change the routine on a regular basis and if so just how much?

[andrewq6100]

That's a good question and I mean for me I don't mind switching up the routine, in fact I prefer it some times because your muscles get used to the same routine and you won't be putting as much strain on them as if you were to kind of shock the muscle.

theres an article here about this called "Shocking Your Muscles To Stimulate Growth!" it's pretty informative especially if you feel like you have plateaued. I can't post link since low post count but here is a little snippit

"Remember, shocking principles should be applied when you have hit a plateau. If you are just beginning to lift weights, then straight sets is all that your body will require.
If you are one of the many avid lifters who train on a regular basis, then you should be well aware that muscles require a "shock" in order for them to grow. You may have heard of the saying, "shocking your muscles" and if you have then you probably know what it means.

In order for your muscles to adapt, you have to shock it with different types of stimuli. Now there are probably a million and one ways to shock your muscles but I will discuss a few methods which I have used in the past and still use to some degree today.

Remember, shocking principles should be applied when you have hit a plateau. If you are just beginning to lift weights, then straight sets is all that your body will require."

hope this helps!

[WutangFlex732]

If you change your routine on the regular basis you wont achieve any results faster through the "shock method". A routine needs to be consistent in order to reach a certain goal. When that goal has been reached or you feel it's been reach then you can switch it up but this should be every 3-4 weeks and that's if you hit the gym 3-4 times a week.

[TAWS6]

I run the same routine for at least 3-6 months. If you start off light you should not stall on any program before that time.

[Jackal005]

Gregg Plitt was a salesman. He would happily have told you to do whatever his sponsors wanted him to tell you.

How can you possibly measure your progress if you're constantly changing your routine?

A good routine with built in progression can and should be followed for several months, and you should only change it if you've stopped progressing.

[ElrondHubbard]

Gregg Plitt was a salesman. He would happily have told you to do whatever his sponsors wanted him to tell you.

How can you possibly measure your progress if you're constantly changing your routine?

A good routine with built in progression can and should be followed for several months, and you should only change it if you've stopped progressing.

True. And a good routine will also have provisions built-in to make productive changes when you stall. So you can still build your customizations using that core routine as your foundation. It makes it much easier to keep track of your strengths and weaknesses, and make needed changes intelligently rather than just randomly switching thing around.

[BJP2k14]

Depends on what your goals are.
Right now I'm doing a strength block for the next six weeks then i might do another strength or a hypertrophy based routine.

Smart programming is key.

[kennycroxdale]

I've watched some videos by greg plitt and he's always saying that you should always change your routine, so that you dont get stuck in plateaus. But then I hear other people saying that you should stick to the same program for weeks and be consistent and dont change anything if you want to see progress. That's seems to me like a contradiction there and I don't understand what should I do. Can you change the routine on a regular basis and if so just how much?

The General Adaptation Syndrome

The body will adapt to any new stimulus over time.

Another way of putting is, "Everything works but nothing works forever.

That is why the foundation of training is built on...

Periodization Training

This simply means have planned changes in your program. Doing so, insure that you maximize the results of your training program.

One of the key to how often you change your program is your...

Training Age

This is a reference to how long you have been training, not your chronological age.

Novice Lifter can employ the same program for longer periods of time because it take their body longer to become acclimated to their program.

Novice Lifers do well with training program of 6 - 8 weeks before they need to change it.

Advanced Lifters need to change their program more often because the quickly adapt to a new program.

Thus, Advanced Lifter need to change their program about every 3 - 4 weeks.

Varying Exercises

Research shows that another key component for maximizing your gains is Varying Exercises. This means Changing Exercises.

Changing Exercise can be as simple as going from a Low Bar Squat to a High Bar Squat or going from a Wide Grip Bench Press to a Narrow Grip Bench Press.

Progressive Training Cycle

The objective is to work up to an all out max effort in your final training week of your Periodization Cycle.

Once you do that you start over with a New Periodization Training Cycle.

Kenny Croxdale

[kennycroxdale]

I run the same routine for at least 3-6 months. If you start off light you should not stall on any program before that time.

Same Program 3 - 6 Months

Running a program 3 months may work for you.

However, using the same program for 6 months is definitely too long.

It indicates that you started too light and did not make enough progressive loads, increase the weight enough.

You will obtain more optimal results if you run a shorter Periodization Cycle of 6 - 8 weeks, maybe 12 weeks as you have. That works for Novice Lifters.

However, as you become more of an Advanced Lifter, shorter Periodiztion Cycles are going to be more effective.

Kenny Croxdale