Tired of your workout routine? Chances are so are your muscles. Perhaps you’ve noticed you are not making any gains, you are hitting a plateau, or your gains aren’t what they used to be. That’s because your muscles grow bigger and stronger by responding to stimulation you provide in the form of exercise.
When you lift weights, you put your muscles under stress. They respond to this stress by forming new muscle proteins which result in muscle hypertrophy (increased size). But, your muscles are pretty amazing. They can adapt to that stress – meaning if you have been following the exact same workout routine for a while, your muscles no longer need to form new muscle proteins in response to the stress and therefore don’t need to grow bigger (I know I’m simplifying things a bit here and there is a lot more science behind muscle growth but you get the idea).
You need to continually challenge your muscles and keep them stimulated in order to grow. And you need to challenge them in a way that is different than what they have adapted to.
So how do you do that?
I have 3 words – Change Your Routine!
There are many ways you can do this. You don’t have to get fancy. Here are just a few ideas.
1) Increase weight or repetitions
If you lift weights, lift progressively heavier or keep the same weight but increase your repetitions.
2) Change your tempo
For example, if you lift 3 counts on the concentric contraction (pushing the weight away) and 3 counts on the eccentric contraction (returning the weight to the starting position), try doing an explosive 1 count concentric contraction and 3 counts eccentric contraction. You could also slow it down with 5 counts on the concentric contraction and 5 counts on the eccentric contraction.
3) Change the order or the way you do the exercise
Change up the order of how you do things. If you do legs on a Monday, try doing them on another day. In fact Andrew wrote how he did this with much success. The logic behind his simple switch had to do with fatigue he felt by the time he got to leg day. By switching up when he did his legs he found he had more energy to work harder. Alternatively, change the order of your workout. If you start out with bicep curls and end with chest for example, switch it up and do biceps at the end or in the middle of the workout.
4) Change how you do the exercise
I do pistol squats holding dumbbells in either hand. The other day I decided to do it holding a barbell across my back. This was far more challenging for me and I had to lower my weight. I changed nothing else other than the placement of the weight. Switching it from holding in my hand to putting a barbell across my back made all the difference.
5) Introduce a new exercise
Introduce just one new exercise to your regime. This is a great way to keep things interesting and challenging. If you never do cardio, add it. You can substitute a weight day with cardio or work it in between weight sets to keep your heart rate up. Try a new form of exercise like CrossFit or yoga or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) if you normally do steady state workout.
6) Change your entire routine
This requires the most thought because you are creating a new workout routine. So if you normally do static lunges, squats, calf raises and deadlifts on leg day you could do walking lunges, pistol squats, single leg calf raises, single leg dead lifts, jump squats etc. instead.
If you start to change things up you should notice a difference provided you continue to maintain proper nutrition and get rest. Remember that rest is an important part of your fitness routine because muscle growth and development actually occurs during the rest phase. The bottom line though – if you aren’t seeing any gains and you continue to do the same thing, you’ll get the same results – nothing. You need to make changes in order to see changes.
To fitness with love,
Tanya
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