I’m known as the Mad Scientist of Muscle for a reason…I come up with a TON of unique exercise and training techniques on a regular basis.
Oddly enough, even though I have a TON of unique exercises, I have training sessions where I do nothing but basic stuff and don’t even TRY to come up with new twists on anything. Sometimes, I just take an exercise I know and hammer away at it. Some the most effective programs I use (including my Muscle Explosion program), have phases where there is almost NO variety at all! Specifically, in the Muscle Explosion program, I have a 5 day phase where you’re doing just ONE exercise the whole 5 days!
And it works like crazy.
The basic exercises are basic for a reason….they work and work well!
So how much training variety do I recommend? And when would I suggest switching things up?
Well, that’s a tough question – it depends completely on the individual, their goals and their situation.
If it’s a beginning trainer, extreme variety is not necessary. In fact, they’ll do best by sticking to the basic movements for at least a few months. When they learn squats, their body is going to take a long time to develop the proper groove and the proper execution (hopefully!). That’s actually one of the main reasons I’ve haven’t targeted this site to the beginning trainer – there’s just too much info and variety here. The beginner will end up bouncing around too much and never develop any groove with anything!
The beginner improves strength by improving nervous system efficiency, not by increasing muscle size. It’s why a beginner’s arms will shake like leaves when they do bench presses the first few times! The nervous system isn’t co-ordinated and the signals are all over the place. As that co-ordination improves, the movement gets smoother.
So back to the main question. If you’re more intermediate to advanced, I would recommend switching up your main exercises at least every three to four weeks. Even more advanced trainers who have a solid base of experience can and should change things up even sooner.
By that, I don’t mean do 5 exercises for each bodypart every day to “hit all the angles”. That’s not necessary and can actually work against you. Training variety should have a purpose. Doing inclines then flat then declines on the bench press in one session is total overkill. Doing that over the course of 3 different sessions – better idea.
Another point with too much training variety is a lack of actual training EFFECT. How do you know if you’re improving if you never do the same exercise again any time soon! Your body won’t know what to adapt to and won’t adapt to anything.
That’s the reason that 5 day bit I mentioned above is so effective – you’re only giving the body ONE thing to adapt to! Another reason that’s so effective is that you’re practicing the movement so much, you’re developing the neurological specificity and efficiency similar to what a beginner sees in their first weeks of training. HUGE strength increases in that time are the norm.
Don’t get me wrong…training variety is also the spice of life! Personally, I get easily bored with the basics, even though I use them regularly. I’m always looking for better ways to attack the muscle – not just for the sake of doing something different but trying to find ways to make things work better. I encourage you to do the same!
If there’s anything that this site is about, it’s encouraging you to throw away the “rules” of lifting and try things out for yourself. Don’t believe a thing I write – try it for yourself and see if I’m right!
I have a feeling you’re on this site BECAUSE you have a curious mind and love this kind of physical and intellectual exploration of training practices.
So when you’re using these exercises, try everything but keep a note on what works BEST for you. Then work the crap out of THOSE exercises. Not everything works equally well for everybody but when you find something good, train it! Use it again and soon so you DO get a training effect and see direct improvements in it.
A good rule of thumb is repeat 75% of your exercises then 1/4 of the time, add in something new and see if it’s good enough to replace what you’re using.
But on a side note, if the program you’re using calls for specific exercises for a specific purpose, USE those exercises. I know for many of my programs, I use specific exercises as tools, for example, flyes to hit the stretched position of the chest. A cross-over won’t work there.
Experiment within the confines of the program you’re using. Heck, sometimes what I’ll do is take a time when I’m between programs and do a general bodypart split. In that split, I will purposefully try and invent things. I’ll have a week where I don’t do anything twice! These are the fun weeks for me, even when I find stuff that kills me. This is what keeps me going mentally and helps me find things that I’ll work into a program in the future.
Bottom line, don’t go for extreme variety all the time, even if you’re advanced. You need some consistency to achieve a good training effect otherwise the body won’t know what to adapt to!
Nick Nilsson is known in the fitness industry as the “Mad Scientist of Muscle,” and for good reason! For more than 28 years, Nick has been creating unique, new exercises and training techniques and putting together some of the most innovative muscle-building and fat-loss programs available anywhere.
I agree, if you keep switching around, how can your body build on anything. But the variety can bust plateaus. I like that 75/25 rule. Good post