(Today’s title is a shout-out to my dad and an article he published in a business magazine years ago.)
It seems like every day I am seeing articles in popular fitness magazines (shared on social media, because I generally don’t seek out the articles) on the “Best” this or that for one body part or another. If exercisers changed their exercise program every time a new workout or exercise was suggested, they would probably have to up their training frequency just to keep up. The reality is that most of the articles keep repackaging the same information (good or bad) is ever so subtle different ways. It can be confusing, though.
The key to success at the gym is consistency. I personally think the whole notion of “muscle confusion” is nonsense. Yes, one should periodize their program—i.e., annualize the training plan to work through a progression of goals and specific training to optimize long-term goals and performance (e.g., include hypertrophy, strength, and power phases)—and not simply do the same weights, sets, and repetitions day after day, week after week, and month after month (for some of you: year after year). It increasingly less convinced that the exercise really need to change all that significantly.
When I read the fitness articles, I increasingly see a common thread of exercises. These are what I refer to as the “basic 5”—the squat, deadlift, bench press, barbell row, and overhead press. Want “functional strength”? I would call these movements “functional”. There are, of course variations of these exercise (e.g., front squat, goblet squat, Bulgarian split squat, lunge, etc.), but these all tend to be mere tweaks to an effective exercise. Master these and focus on technique and progressive overload, and you will get stronger, increase muscle mass, and likely lose fat, as well. Varying the volumes of these basic exercises (i.e., the structure of the intensity or weight, repetitions, and sets) and movement tempos (e.g., performing pause squats or eccentric overloads) forms the basis for periodization and the level of variety to the stimulus that will affect growth and improved performance.
Most of us are not bodybuilders and don’t need a long list of isolation exercises to grow our weak areas. Powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters grow and can have impressive physiques (not to mention greater muscle strength) performing relatively few movements. Those of us looking for general fitness (and a majority of athletes, as well) can be well-served by keeping it simple and just focusing on getting stronger at the basic lifts. The key after all, is to overload the muscle. Contracting a muscle fiber under load stimulates growth. It matters rather little what exercise is being performed. The fiber shortens the same either way. It is the speed of contraction, the time under tension, and the load (i.e., intensity) under which the muscle is stressed that affect the type of adaptation. Varying the exercise (movement) does, indeed, affect the neuromotor aspects of performance—e.g., rate coding, motor unit recruitment, muscle inhibition, coordination, balance, etc.—but these are a small part of strength and can be affected in other ways. These are what make “muscle confusion” appear to be beneficial. This excessive variety of exercises keeps us in the novel phase of exercise and it only seems like we are working harder. Sometimes, working harder is just working harder—progressively doing more work.
If lifting weights is intimidating, then remove the intimidation factor. Keep it simple. Do few exercises well and do them effectively. If what you are doing is working, don’t think you are doing something wrong because some “fitness expert” posts an article about their program. It shouldn’t be complicated.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!