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Is changing it up necessary?
 Moderated by: suenos  
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tourproven
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Joined: 8 October 2009
Location: Smalltown, North Carolina USA
Posts: 218
 Posted: 10 October 2009 12:38 pm
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It seems that a common perseption of workout routines is that it is necessary to constantly change them to 'keep your body guessing' and to have continued results.

Is this really necessary?

It seems when I go to the gym, I utilize most all of the equipment and most of the excersizes that I actually know how to do. So what else can I do to make a different workout? Just a different order?

Also, is it the same again for diet/nutrition? Does it need to be changed up for continued results? Can I eat the same thing everyday to complete my goals?

Trusylver
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Joined: 9 October 2009
Location: Australia
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 Posted: 10 October 2009 10:37 pm
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It is good to change your exercise routine every 6-12 weeks or so for your weights workout. a common problem in the gym is a lot of people do to many exercises per muscle.

it is not essential to change things around but it is beneficial

changes that can be made include different sets and reps and speed and weight of the exercise. change to free weights rather than machines. learn new exercises that target the same muscles but in a slightly different way using different synergists and Stabilizers.

tourproven
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Joined: 8 October 2009
Location: Smalltown, North Carolina USA
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 Posted: 10 October 2009 11:24 pm
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Thanks for the reply.

I have been trying to incorporate as many free weight exercises as I know about into my routine. Also, I have tried to increase my weight steadily over the last 4 months. I do know that I am quite a bit stronger than I was when I started.

I haven't really changed my sets or reps though. I typically do 3 or 4 sets of 10 reps for each exercise. Each set gets more weight added until the last set is near my max. (sometimes I only get 8 reps in my last set).

I guess I'll have to learn more about how to do different exercises with weights.

How about the mixing up nutrition? Any thoughts there?

Trusylver
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Joined: 9 October 2009
Location: Australia
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 Posted: 11 October 2009 09:28 am
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sorry, can't help much with nutrition, I like to have a bit of variety but unfortunately due to allergies i eat a lot of the same stuff most of the time.

Nir
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Joined: 17 January 2006
Location: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
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 Posted: 12 October 2009 04:22 am
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Eating the same foods should not hurt progress (if you're eating the right stuff!). Obviously quantities may have to change for example someone losing a lot of weight will need fewer calories, someone who has been dieting for a while might have a 'diet break' or zig-zag their calories or have a re-feed etc. but the actual foods involved can stay the same. From a health point of view you need a variety of different fruits and vegetables to get all your vitamins, minerals, pytochemicals.

In a different topic you've mentioned being stuck for 3 weeks. There are a number of different options:

1) you might be gaining muscle at a rate greater than your fat loss

2) it might be a meaningless water-weight fluctuation

3) you might not be creating a calorie deficit because of some mistake in the way you count calories, and it might come down to a single food item being mis-counted

 

johnfontana
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Joined: 12 November 2009
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 Posted: 13 November 2009 11:24 pm
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Tourproven,

You should do what's called micro cycles for your workouts. This means that you will stick with the same workout for 4-6 weeks, unload and then start a new one. During that workout you will keep the exercises and order the same but change some other variables such as weight, rest, sets or reps.

Depending on how long you have been training your body will adapt to the exercises, get really strong at them and then begin to plateau. Normally this is around the 4-6 week mark so make sure you mic it up.

John Fontana


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