Quote:
Originally Posted by jamsk8r
I always hear about newbs needing to stick with one plan long enough for it to work, which I translate as needing to pick some exercises and stick with those for at least a month (ish). Is that not correct? .
Yes and no. The plan you mentioned above is your program. It is how you are hoping to reach your destination, your goals. Think of it as your travel itinerary or road map and the exercises are stops within the trip along the way, like hotels. You don't have to stay at a Holiday Inn everynight. You can stay at a Holiday Inn today, a Ramada tomorrow, a Quality Inn the next night. Varieity is good. Of course if you find one you really like, you would want to go back there as much as possible only bypassing it if they don't have a vacancy.
Mix up your exercises. Variety is good. Too much variety, however, has problems too, such as:
1. How do you judge your progress if you do pullups this week, but you don't do them again for another 4 weeks? Do you wait 4 weeks to see if you've progressed?
2. Few people get the weight "exactly right" when they do an exercise for the first time or the first time after not doing that exercise for awhile. They make a best guess or try to restart where they left off (or slightly more) than they lifted for the same exercise a long time ago. What this means is that part of your workout is done at less than optimal weights. If you do the same exercises on a more regular basis, your weights are based on recent performance and much more likely to right for the particular set/rep/intensity that you are shooting for.
You can change exercises every workout if you really desire to do that and get bored easily otherwise. Unless the program specifically tells you to stick to certain exercises, this doesn't mean you are going off the program or chaning your travel plan. A program is much more than a list of exercises. It is the other variables, set/reps schemes, intensities, periodization, and how these and other variables and exercises fit together that is the program.
Personally, if I do a body part (or movement since I personally believe in training movements not muscles) for two exercises two days per week, I would do one group of two exercises on the first day and another group on the second day and rotate those two groups. That's me. It doesn't have to be you. You might enjoy rotating three groups. I do, however, feel hat going past a 3 group rotation will make it harder to judge progress and weight selection, but you can still do it and you can still get a great workout and if switching the exercises is the best way to keep you going to the gym, than that means it is the best way for you.
As far as for doing them 4 weeks. That's totally arbitrary. If an exercise is working well for you and you are still making great gains at it, why would you stop doing it? Just because it's been 4 weeks? I prefer to stick with an exercise that I'm progressing at until my body starts to fully adapt and plateau at that exercise. If progress slows dramatically or plateaus completely, swap it out for another exercise. If it isn't broke, don't try to fix. It's an old cliche, but I believe it has merit.
As for program jumping. That is different. You really need to be sure you have the wrong road map before scrapping the route. Just because you don't recognize where you are doesn't necessarily mean you are lost. There are many things that the programmer is trying to accomplish within a program. Often times what people find the least useful may turn out to be a very important part of the program. For instance, I've seen a person complain about how he got hurt doing one program but when asked about details, found out he skipped the buildup phase (because he was "too advanced for it") and skipped the built in prehab exercises (because they were "too wussy" and wouldn't get him STRONG!). Duh! The program didn't hurt him. HIS version of the program hurt him.
Basically, if you are going to start a program, research it well and then trust it for at least a reasonable time. This is not to say you can't change exercises As long as you pick exercises that do waht the original exercise was designed to do, you are still really giving the program a chance and gaining some individualization.
Quote:
Looking at this, I don't see how one could stick with one primary the whole time, though. For example, if I choose pull-ups for back, and do just one set of rows, and do that for a month, that doesn't sound like a great workout.
You are doing two great compound movements, why would that not souund like a great workout? Sounds fine to me. Now if it doesn't sound great because it lacks variety, then rotate some exercises in for variety, that's perfectly OK.
Quote:
Seems like I'd be better off either going with the BFL sets, but changing the primary exercise frequently, or go with more even sets of each exercise.
You have to find what works for you which includes physiological and psychological responses. It is a blend of what your body responds best toand what you enjoy. You could have the greatest workout plan known to man personally designed for your needs and weaknesses, but if you hate doing it so much that you never do it, then that great workout plan is no better than doing 2 sets of 50 on a curl machine.