Bodybuilding: diversify exercises or maintain a steady workout?

This text was written by a TecMundo columnist; Learn more at the end.

A common question among bodybuilders is what is the best strategy: Do you follow a fixed workout routine or change exercises every session?

Unfortunately, with the increasing prevalence of chain gyms with low professional supervision, practitioners pursue training on their own that they believe are most appropriate based on the information they have learned, or hire professionals who provide training prescriptions.

Since they do not have a detailed prescription, practitioners can randomly choose exercises with advantages and disadvantages. Science has tested such approaches, and below we will learn about the latest published research on the subject.

What day is the new study?

In a study of women in Brazil, a distinction was made: One group trained the same exercises (45-degree leg press and deadlift), while the other group varied their workouts each day. Since they trained three times a week, the second group did three different workouts: (1) 45° leg press and deadlift; (2) squatting and hacking flexible desk; and (3) Smith squat and chair flex.

Thigh measurements were taken after 10 weeks and significant but similar changes were detected between groups: an increase in muscle volume of 7 to 17% in the constant group and 7 to 19% in the changing group. Muscle strength tested with a single repetition with maximum possible weight in the leg press and chair extension also increased, but not equally across groups..

In another study, 21 men who were currently training were divided into two groups. One group did a fixed workout: upper limbs on Mondays and Thursdays, lower limbs on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the other group used a practice (Ace Exercise) 80 different exercises to choose from.

Each training session changed for the final group. After eight weeks, over a total of 32 workouts, both groups were noted to have increased strength in the bench press and squat, resulting in hypertrophy in some areas of the thigh (vastus lateralis and rectus femoris).

But there was no difference between them, meaning that, just like in the last study, one type of training was no better than the other in terms of strength and hypertrophy. The most important result of this research was that the motivation of those who diversified their exercises increased.

Intrinsic motivation, characterized by enjoyment and satisfaction with the training itself, increased moderately. The improvements in muscle adaptations were the same, and the difference between the groups was only in the most important thing: motivation – the force that moves us..

Motivation levels decreased slightly in the group with no change in training. This is true for many practitioners who are left in the gym for months with the same training record, without professional guidance and supervision. I can say that they are drifting and sinking their boats, flirting with giving up.

Change or maintain? Advantages and disadvantages

Practically, We can adopt both strategies: diversify or maintain. Repeating the same exercises is important for gaining body awareness and movement control as well as muscle strength in repeated exercises.

The specificity principle of training shows us that training responses are specific to the stimulus. Therefore, making too many changes may not be consistent as nothing improves. Want to increase strength in a particular exercise? Repeat this for weeks/months.

There is no need for extreme changes in the choice of exercises in the first months of training, because for a beginner practitioner everything is already new and this card can be kept at hand when there are advances in training.

As recommended by Belmiro De Salles and Paulo Muzy, it is consistent to focus on doing the exercises first (beginner), then progress by increasing the weight (intermediate), then improve in volume (trained), and finally focus on the variations (advanced). .

Repeating the same exercises over time can make training predictable and monotonous; This is a discouraging feature for some. In this case, knowing the types of exercises can give you courage.

From a muscle perspective, It makes sense to change exercises over time to work different muscle areas and thus break possible plateaus It is achieved through the application period during which the body adapts to the stimuli. There are countless exercise options and ways to do them. Since the biggest benefit is motivation, diversifying the exercises will gain points.

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Fábio Dominski He holds a PhD in Human Movement Sciences and a degree in Physical Education from Santa Catarina State University (UDESC). He is a university professor and researcher at the Laboratory of Sport and Exercise Psychology (LAPE/UDESC). Do itscientific dissemination on social media and in podcast available on Spotify. Author of Physical Exercise and Science – Facts and Myths.