How Often Can i Change Workouts?

[akier97]

Hello Everybody,
I'm hoping somebody can have some answers for me. I weight train my glutes/lower body about 2-3 times a week. Lower body is definitely my favorite body part to workout and i have a pretty good workout routine going right now. Usually i do the same lower body exercises for about a month, while increasing weight each week (squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, etc.) However, i guess its just me but i tend to get bored doing the same lower body workouts for a month and then i lose my motivation to workout. My question is, would it be okay to change the exercises i do every week? Or would that hinder me from getting results? (I would still be upping my weight each week of course, but my actual exercises would change each week) Thanks!

[chamelious]

Hello Everybody,
I'm hoping somebody can have some answers for me. I weight train my glutes/lower body about 2-3 times a week. Lower body is definitely my favorite body part to workout and i have a pretty good workout routine going right now. Usually i do the same lower body exercises for about a month, while increasing weight each week (squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts, etc.) However, i guess its just me but i tend to get bored doing the same lower body workouts for a month and then i lose my motivation to workout. My question is, would it be okay to change the exercises i do every week? Or would that hinder me from getting results? (I would still be upping my weight each week of course, but my actual exercises would change each week) Thanks!

Depends what you mean by "ok"? Definitely not optimal, even for seasoned pros. For a beginner such as yourself, even less so.

Can you still make some progress though? Yep.

Is this better than losing all motivation and not actually training at all? Obviously.

[Partyrocking]

I wouldn't recommend changing every week, but if you tend to get bored easily, I would look for a program that has you changing exercises periodically.

E.g. WS4SB (you change every 2-4 weeks) or Maximum Strength by Eric Cressey. Strong Curves might also have you changing lifts each month, but I haven't run it.

[sardelsa]

If you look at a program like Strong Curves, it has you doing 3 different workouts per week that change every 4 weeks or so... I also get bored easily so this type of programming works well for me.

[adriannec]

You do miss out on some benefits by changing things. Your body becomes proficient at an exercise by doing it over and over to create those neural pathways. So by changing exercises too often, you give a different stimulus just when your body passes the learning curve and starts to focus on building strength. You also lose insight into a clear path of progression.

If you change variations or the order, you can't always see definite strength improvements. For some that doesn't matter. For others wondering if they're getting stronger or not makes a difference. But like said above, if not changing things bores you and you give up that's not great either. It's a matter of which method provides more consistency to you. Consistency with a less effective program > giving up with an effective program.

[VO2Maxima]

I'd avoid changing stuff all the time, at least until you're well past the beginner phase. Early on, you not only would be best served comparing progress week to week, but also it takes time for your body to learn the movement patterns and progress skill-wise. Later on, you'll find that some advanced programs (conjugate-style programming, for example), change up lifts often, but you really need to know what you're doing to program something like that properly.

[Pamelag75]

I always change up mine. Literally every time I go to the gym but I keep my rep ranges and I've been making steady progress!

[kimm4]

I'd avoid changing stuff all the time, at least until you're well past the beginner phase. Early on, you not only would be best served comparing progress week to week, but also it takes time for your body to learn the movement patterns and progress skill-wise. Later on, you'll find that some advanced programs (conjugate-style programming, for example), change up lifts often, but you really need to know what you're doing to program something like that properly.

Agreed.^^