Comments on: When Do You Change Your Workout Routine? Part 1 http://www.newstasis.com/2009/02/16/when-do-you-change-your-workout-routine-part-1/ helping you find a better life one state at a time Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:53:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Pat http://www.newstasis.com/2009/02/16/when-do-you-change-your-workout-routine-part-1/#comment-5760 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:22:06 +0000 http://www.newstasis.com/2009/02/16/when-do-you-change-your-workout-routine-part-1/#comment-5760 Hey Paul, It would be impossible for a power lifter to advance if they didn't do the big three frequently or for an Olympic lifter to excel if they didn't do the clean and jerk and the snatch regularly. Same applies to sprinters, jumpers, etc - basically anyone who needs to be very good at a specific movement - they need to perform the movement consistently if they want to continue to improve. But unless your sport or livelihood depend on it, there are some very good reasons to change things up every now and then. It forces adaptation to new stimuli, it offers the chance for deconditioning to occur and it keeps things interesting. I think the deconditioning is critical for long term participating given that it will decrease the load on the body - say you can dead lift 350 for 5 reps. If you take 3 months off of dead lifting to focus on squatting, when you return to dead lifting your numbers are going to be much lower (say 295 for 3 reps). This deconditioning will reduce the wear and tear on the body over the long haul. I agree with you that most people are NOT so elite as to need to change their program constantly. There's a sweet spot for people and it's going to be different for everyone. Pat Hey Paul,
It would be impossible for a power lifter to advance if they didn’t do the big three frequently or for an Olympic lifter to excel if they didn’t do the clean and jerk and the snatch regularly. Same applies to sprinters, jumpers, etc - basically anyone who needs to be very good at a specific movement - they need to perform the movement consistently if they want to continue to improve.
But unless your sport or livelihood depend on it, there are some very good reasons to change things up every now and then. It forces adaptation to new stimuli, it offers the chance for deconditioning to occur and it keeps things interesting. I think the deconditioning is critical for long term participating given that it will decrease the load on the body - say you can dead lift 350 for 5 reps. If you take 3 months off of dead lifting to focus on squatting, when you return to dead lifting your numbers are going to be much lower (say 295 for 3 reps). This deconditioning will reduce the wear and tear on the body over the long haul.
I agree with you that most people are NOT so elite as to need to change their program constantly. There’s a sweet spot for people and it’s going to be different for everyone.
Pat

]]> by: PT http://www.newstasis.com/2009/02/16/when-do-you-change-your-workout-routine-part-1/#comment-5364 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:05:41 +0000 http://www.newstasis.com/2009/02/16/when-do-you-change-your-workout-routine-part-1/#comment-5364 Love that first paragraph! Especially this; "Recently I’ve come to realise just how useless this answer is because when all is said and done almost every workout will continue to give you some results if you do it consistently. " I was thinking the same thing. The gift and curse of Poliquin was teaching people that they need a change in their routine. The gift being that people aren't doing the same thing for 12 months. The curse, now everyone thinks they are so advanced that they need to completely change their routine ever two weeks! Poliquin himself has said when looking at the top power lifting and Olympic lifting routines the most common thread with them all was a slight change in sets and reps. ie- exercises stayed the same for long stretches. As for the rest -pausing and what influencing what at each stage, hard to say. I'll have to meditate on that one. I know Friday the 13th has passed but I blogged about CNS and the muscular system today, just before reading this post. Weird! Love that first paragraph! Especially this;

“Recently I’ve come to realise just how useless this answer is because when all is said and done almost every workout will continue to give you some results if you do it consistently. ”

I was thinking the same thing.

The gift and curse of Poliquin was teaching people that they need a change in their routine. The gift being that people aren’t doing the same thing for 12 months. The curse, now everyone thinks they are so advanced that they need to completely change their routine ever two weeks!

Poliquin himself has said when looking at the top power lifting and Olympic lifting routines the most common thread with them all was a slight change in sets and reps. ie- exercises stayed the same for long stretches.

As for the rest -pausing and what influencing what at each stage, hard to say. I’ll have to meditate on that one.

I know Friday the 13th has passed but I blogged about CNS and the muscular system today, just before reading this post.

Weird!

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