00:00 Intro 00:09 Part 1: Muscle Confusion Theory 01:54 Part 2: The Study 04:18 Part 3: Motivation Levels 04:54 Part 4: Some Considerations 08:54 Part 5: Takeaways I hope the video is interesting and useful in some way!
It would be interesting to see how a “fixed” routine would compare to one that varies in a more reasonable way. For example, using 2 or 3 variations over the course of a week, but repeating those week to week. I think this is how a lot of us train these days. Great video btw!
I plan to make a video on this. There is one study exploring this, and overall doing what you describe (performing 2-3 variations) is likely better for growing more regions of a muscle :)
Agree with both of you and really interested in the topic. I guess a truly random routine is just an unplanned mess. They should have kept working on the same body parts but with different exercises, or different order of exercises, different tempo, different ROM, etc. A truly random plan with random movements for random parts makes no sense.
Not quite, most repeat the same thing over and stick to very limited locked in movements that are not applicable to real world or sports only in small percentages
Great content as usual! Edit: also my experience like this is that I get past plateaues best by getting away from a movement and switching it for a like exercise for 3 months or so then coming back. For example, when I'm stalled on bench I switch over mostly to dumbbell press. What's interesting is that this always has worked for me at breaking a plateau and when I go back to bench pressing I'm stronger (and bigger). Idk if it has to do with movement fatigue or increased recovery, but it's funny...to bench more you need to...stop benching lol.
Thank you for your support my friend! That's very interesting to hear your experience with switching movements! I wonder if there's also some re-sensitization thing involved. As in if taking a break (and instead performing a comparable but yet different movements), "re-sensitizes" your body to the original exercise. Interesting stuff nonetheless! :)
Progressive overload is main factor and how it relates to muscle grow. If you keep changing your exercises every week then you won't be able to track if you are getting better. You should be adding more reps on the same weight or doing more weight on the exercise every week. You might end up switching a bench press for a dumbbell fly which is easier that a bench press. Use your accessory work at the end of your workout for experimentation
A lot of strong people ive seen do a lot of variation eric bugenhagen f.e. If your're not experienced and well informed i wouldnt switch every week but If you are it can be really beneficial. Also a lot of variation is good f.e 3 different deadlifts variations 3 different squats variations, 3 different bench variations, + multiple bench execcories weekly can be amazing.
@@yomomshouse100 It would seem you don't understand the reason behind them using different variations. If you struggle for example with locking out the bench press at the top. You could use bands or chains to make the lockout portion of the bench harder. A bench press and a bench with bands is still a bench. The only difference is the movement is harder at certain areas in the range of motion. It also has nothing to do with being more experienced anyone can do. Most people just don't really understand how to utilize it or they don't have access to different bars, bands or chains
Hence this is why experienced lifters use 'periodization' training techniques to mitigate the 'plateauing effect' in their routines. Even scheduling a 7-10 days break from training every 6 months does wonders for your renewed gains when you get back to it.
Cool video. I think this is accurate. In my experience it works best to do the same workouts for 1 to 2 months. Then switch it up for another 1 to 2 months, then switch back.
I was following a training calendar that varied the exercises everyday with upper/lower splits, followed that for a year and my anecdotical take on that is that I felt exactly all of the mentioned here, fatigue, not great gains, I had a hard time learning the exercise and increasing the load over time. I did get benefits, but I always felt like the proress wasn't great. I got sick of it and changed about 2 months ago to follow the same full body routine 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and I saw very noticeable increases in my strength, particularly on week 3 (I was able to carry 10-15 lbs more that when I started), also finally got to remember and learn the form much better and enjoyed the workout much more, I guess he progress was a great motivator, Inhad been stuck in the same lifting weight for months I also enjoy the extra free time I have for other activities, I play basketball twice a week on my "rest" days. I'm experimenting with a new full body routine month with small in increase of sets/repetitions since I don't have means to increase the lift weights for now, started this week, we'll see how that goes. I was considering doing a 3 week work x 1 week "active rest" (walk and play basketball that week), but on week 4 I still felt like I could push it, prob the rest days in between, particularly the weekend where I don't lift or play basketball help with the recovery, but I will consider it if I start feeling physically wornt out. Anyway, thank you for another fantastic video! Love your channel.
Personally I've found that it's important to stick to training blocks using the same exercises, so that I can get the benefits of accumulation of skill and progressive overload. If I get better at squatting, for example, I can squat more weight over time, which allows me to put more mechanical tension on the muscle fibers over time, helping them to grow. Taking sets to failure, using techniques such as rest/pause reps, strip sets etc that accumulate volume and push past failure, have helped my body to grow. I would not feel comfortable doing random, possibly sub par exercises every training session.
Fuckin exactly! You sound educated. But personally I use a full body program about 5 days a week...a lot of circuit training and barbell work, weighted dips and pullups. Shit ton of leg work... lunges, squats, Bulg splits. Off days might include sprints and pushups and pullups outside in the sun.
If you take all your sets to failure you are taking yourself out of the game and sitting on the bench while everyone else goes on. Another words you wouldn't be active every day and if you were you wouldn't have much strength to workout efficiently
Good video. Thanks! Some further things to consider which can add to the discussion are that in an interview with Mark Bell, Shoenfelds assessment of the Baz-Ville study was that the app-generation is not "concrete research" on the muscle confusion concept. He explained that the app giving random workouts each day is "not smart training" which I take to mean is not the same as smart training. Also, there were 80 exercises randomly generated on the app. This seems problematic to me when we know that certain exercises effect area hypertrophy better than others. The ratios of exercise selection seem like they would wash out the most effective. I wish there would be more research in this area.
Excellent video. It encompassed everything that I have believed, but you summarized it far better than I could have. According to Dr Fredrick Hatfield, the only result of doing an exercise once is developing the neuromuscular pathways. It is foolish to do an exercise once when tremendous gains can be made in the initial workouts of a new exercise.
To track progression you could just make it a huge split. Instead of choosing each time some random exercises, you can lay out a 52-day split. This should still have the same effect, but because you repeat the same exercises after 52 training sessions, you'd have a way to track your progress.
In the early 2000s I trained at Muay Thai gym where the conditioning was done five days a week training each muscle group once per week. The exercises changed every week, but we started each trading session with on main lift that we'd track for progressive overload, eg: Monday we'd start with bench pressing and we'd do two sets of ten adding five lbs any time we could do ten reps on both sets, then that would be followed up with a circuit with dip and pushup variations mixed with bicep and ab isolations doing seven to ten exercises in a row without rest and then taking two minutes rest before repeating for three rounds and yes I was more sore more often trading like that and strength progress was slower, but all you muscles have stamina for days when you train like that. Especially because the fight training was like a full body cardio workout everyday.
I may not understand the word "session" right? Could some one help me? I think every session may be every workout, right? If I train Wednesday, Friday, that 2 session? Sorry for my bad English
When training a muscle 1 x week on a PPL split is it better to have an A/B exercise selection for each muscle and rotate those every week hitting the same exercise every 2 weeks like in DC training or better to stick to the same exercises weekly then switch them a few mesocycles later?
Hi I'm korean. I'm not good at English but I try to understand. I have two curious things. 1. which one is better for strength, hypertrophy and balanced body shape about train muscle group 2x per week or 3x per week. 2. which one is better exercising only use barbell or use barbell and machine each 50%
1) The research on training frequency (how many times you should train a muscle group) currently suggests if you're perfoming 10 weekly sets for a muscle group or fewer, training frequency does not matter. This means that 2x or 3x are probably similarly effective for muscle growth, on average. However, when performing more than 10 weekly sets for a muscle group, the current research is conficting on the optimal training frequency, some suggest higher training frequencies are better, others suggest lower frequencies. I plan to make a video on this soon. Ultimately, I say pick whichever training frequency (2x, 3x, or some other) you prefer the most. 2) Both free weights (barbells and dumbbells) and machines seem to be similarly effective to one another for building muscle, so peforming only barbell or a 50/50 split with barbell and machines exercises are probably both equally similar for hypertrophy. I hope this is clear!
Could work for someone who has mastered technique of every exercise, for most people, familiar routine is probably better because it's easier to fine tune technique this way. Unless you have years of gym experience, not probably good idea to switch exercises in EVERY single session. Also it's easier to track a familiar routine, you can easily see how much weight to load to progress from the previous session.
Is there a scientific reason as to why exercises become stale or any studies on the topic. I know that high rep ranges become stale because the body gets more efficient at clearing metabolites, but other than that idk much.
There is some evidence (from rats) that repeated exercise to the same stimulus "desensitizes" various anabolic pathways (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23372143/). However, detraining for a while restored things back to normal. Thus, I think at the cellular level, consistently exercising the same way just densitizes the various systems and they become "non-responsive". Hope this makes sense!
Excellent information again but if you do the same exercise but change the timing or add static holds. I do this to increase the intensity when my joints are sore without increasing the load. If you have info on that pls share. Ty
Honestly, I'm surprised that this study found that variation works as well as sticking to a routine, I thought that excessive variation doesn't work at all - especially when we're talking about people who are squatting around 120kg. I'd love to see more information on strength gain though. What's the point of having big quads if I can't squat more? xD Anyway, if this study holds true in the future, then for me, the takeaway is that on days when I can't hit the gym, it's okay to do some bodyweight exercises and use my at-home kettlebells - the "muscle confusion" won't mess up my routine too much.
Interestingly, the study found increases in bench press and squat one-rep max were not statistically different between the fixed and variation groups. However, I'm not sure if this was a type 2 error, as the raw data seems to be slighly better for the fixed group. Nevertheless, hopefully we get further future research in this area!
I do appreciate the video, as I do all of your work, but that study is really poor... Throwing random exercises and people, even those with years of experience, is going to make it more challenging to connect with every motion as opposed to doing the same thing every week. Secondly and far more importantly.. I don't think the argument was ever that in 6 weeks changing your routine is superior to a fixed routine.. The debate has always been will it prevent a plateau. Six weeks is not even close to enough time to test this.
I see what you're saying, but muscle confusion is typically just randomly switching exercises frequently. The short duration of studies is certainly a limitation!
00:00 Intro
00:09 Part 1: Muscle Confusion Theory
01:54 Part 2: The Study
04:18 Part 3: Motivation Levels
04:54 Part 4: Some Considerations
08:54 Part 5: Takeaways
I hope the video is interesting and useful in some way!
It would be interesting to see how a “fixed” routine would compare to one that varies in a more reasonable way. For example, using 2 or 3 variations over the course of a week, but repeating those week to week. I think this is how a lot of us train these days. Great video btw!
I plan to make a video on this. There is one study exploring this, and overall doing what you describe (performing 2-3 variations) is likely better for growing more regions of a muscle :)
Agree with both of you and really interested in the topic.
I guess a truly random routine is just an unplanned mess.
They should have kept working on the same body parts but with different exercises, or different order of exercises, different tempo, different ROM, etc.
A truly random plan with random movements for random parts makes no sense.
Not quite, most repeat the same thing over and stick to very limited locked in movements that are not applicable to real world or sports only in small percentages
I love the new transition between parts.
Nice vid as always.
Thank you :)
My humble algo contribution. Like the new transitions and chapters. Good stuff.
Thank you, great to hear :)
the animation is getting better!
Thank you!
Thanks for this. I really appreciate how you bring these things across to us. God bless your work!
Thank you, that means a lot to me :)
Great content as usual!
Edit: also my experience like this is that I get past plateaues best by getting away from a movement and switching it for a like exercise for 3 months or so then coming back.
For example, when I'm stalled on bench I switch over mostly to dumbbell press. What's interesting is that this always has worked for me at breaking a plateau and when I go back to bench pressing I'm stronger (and bigger). Idk if it has to do with movement fatigue or increased recovery, but it's funny...to bench more you need to...stop benching lol.
Thank you for your support my friend!
That's very interesting to hear your experience with switching movements! I wonder if there's also some re-sensitization thing involved. As in if taking a break (and instead performing a comparable but yet different movements), "re-sensitizes" your body to the original exercise. Interesting stuff nonetheless! :)
Progressive overload is main factor and how it relates to muscle grow. If you keep changing your exercises every week then you won't be able to track if you are getting better. You should be adding more reps on the same weight or doing more weight on the exercise every week. You might end up switching a bench press for a dumbbell fly which is easier that a bench press. Use your accessory work at the end of your workout for experimentation
A lot of strong people ive seen do a lot of variation eric bugenhagen f.e. If your're not experienced and well informed i wouldnt switch every week but If you are it can be really beneficial. Also a lot of variation is good f.e 3 different deadlifts variations 3 different squats variations, 3 different bench variations, + multiple bench execcories weekly can be amazing.
I see what you're both saying
@@yomomshouse100 It would seem you don't understand the reason behind them using different variations. If you struggle for example with locking out the bench press at the top. You could use bands or chains to make the lockout portion of the bench harder. A bench press and a bench with bands is still a bench. The only difference is the movement is harder at certain areas in the range of motion. It also has nothing to do with being more experienced anyone can do. Most people just don't really understand how to utilize it or they don't have access to different bars, bands or chains
Hence this is why experienced lifters use 'periodization' training techniques to mitigate the 'plateauing effect' in their routines. Even scheduling a 7-10 days break from training every 6 months does wonders for your renewed gains when you get back to it.
Agreed!
Cool video. I think this is accurate. In my experience it works best to do the same workouts for 1 to 2 months. Then switch it up for another 1 to 2 months, then switch back.
Thank you!
I was following a training calendar that varied the exercises everyday with upper/lower splits, followed that for a year and my anecdotical take on that is that I felt exactly all of the mentioned here, fatigue, not great gains, I had a hard time learning the exercise and increasing the load over time. I did get benefits, but I always felt like the proress wasn't great. I got sick of it and changed about 2 months ago to follow the same full body routine 3 times a week for 4 weeks, and I saw very noticeable increases in my strength, particularly on week 3 (I was able to carry 10-15 lbs more that when I started), also finally got to remember and learn the form much better and enjoyed the workout much more, I guess he progress was a great motivator, Inhad been stuck in the same lifting weight for months I also enjoy the extra free time I have for other activities, I play basketball twice a week on my "rest" days. I'm experimenting with a new full body routine month with small in increase of sets/repetitions since I don't have means to increase the lift weights for now, started this week, we'll see how that goes. I was considering doing a 3 week work x 1 week "active rest" (walk and play basketball that week), but on week 4 I still felt like I could push it, prob the rest days in between, particularly the weekend where I don't lift or play basketball help with the recovery, but I will consider it if I start feeling physically wornt out.
Anyway, thank you for another fantastic video! Love your channel.
Very interesting to hear, thank YOU for sharing your experience as well as you kind words :)
You make amazing research based videos thank you keep it up!!!
Thank you, I'll do my best! :)
Personally I've found that it's important to stick to training blocks using the same exercises, so that I can get the benefits of accumulation of skill and progressive overload. If I get better at squatting, for example, I can squat more weight over time, which allows me to put more mechanical tension on the muscle fibers over time, helping them to grow. Taking sets to failure, using techniques such as rest/pause reps, strip sets etc that accumulate volume and push past failure, have helped my body to grow. I would not feel comfortable doing random, possibly sub par exercises every training session.
Fuckin exactly! You sound educated. But personally I use a full body program about 5 days a week...a lot of circuit training and barbell work, weighted dips and pullups. Shit ton of leg work... lunges, squats, Bulg splits. Off days might include sprints and pushups and pullups outside in the sun.
I think that's perfectly fair :)
If you take all your sets to failure you are taking yourself out of the game and sitting on the bench while everyone else goes on. Another words you wouldn't be active every day and if you were you wouldn't have much strength to workout efficiently
I prefer more variation, makes me feel less bored and variation is important to equilibrated muscle hypertrophy.
Good video. Thanks!
Some further things to consider which can add to the discussion are that in an interview with Mark Bell, Shoenfelds assessment of the Baz-Ville study was that the app-generation is not "concrete research" on the muscle confusion concept. He explained that the app giving random workouts each day is "not smart training" which I take to mean is not the same as smart training.
Also, there were 80 exercises randomly generated on the app. This seems problematic to me when we know that certain exercises effect area hypertrophy better than others. The ratios of exercise selection seem like they would wash out the most effective.
I wish there would be more research in this area.
That's definitely a very good point!
The takeaways are spot on!
Thank you my friend, as always!
Excellent video. It encompassed everything that I have believed, but you summarized it far better than I could have. According to Dr Fredrick Hatfield, the only result of doing an exercise once is developing the neuromuscular pathways. It is foolish to do an exercise once when tremendous gains can be made in the initial workouts of a new exercise.
To track progression you could just make it a huge split. Instead of choosing each time some random exercises, you can lay out a 52-day split. This should still have the same effect, but because you repeat the same exercises after 52 training sessions, you'd have a way to track your progress.
Haha, that it is a possibility :)
In the early 2000s I trained at Muay Thai gym where the conditioning was done five days a week training each muscle group once per week. The exercises changed every week, but we started each trading session with on main lift that we'd track for progressive overload, eg: Monday we'd start with bench pressing and we'd do two sets of ten adding five lbs any time we could do ten reps on both sets, then that would be followed up with a circuit with dip and pushup variations mixed with bicep and ab isolations doing seven to ten exercises in a row without rest and then taking two minutes rest before repeating for three rounds and yes I was more sore more often trading like that and strength progress was slower, but all you muscles have stamina for days when you train like that. Especially because the fight training was like a full body cardio workout everyday.
Very interesting stuff, thank you for sharing!
I may not understand the word "session" right? Could some one help me?
I think every session may be every workout, right?
If I train Wednesday, Friday, that 2 session?
Sorry for my bad English
When training a muscle 1 x week on a PPL split is it better to have an A/B exercise selection for each muscle and rotate those every week hitting the same exercise every 2 weeks like in DC training or better to stick to the same exercises weekly then switch them a few mesocycles later?
Hi I'm korean. I'm not good at English but I try to understand. I have two curious things.
1. which one is better for strength, hypertrophy and balanced body shape about train muscle group 2x per week or 3x per week.
2. which one is better exercising only use barbell or use barbell and machine each 50%
1) The research on training frequency (how many times you should train a muscle group) currently suggests if you're perfoming 10 weekly sets for a muscle group or fewer, training frequency does not matter. This means that 2x or 3x are probably similarly effective for muscle growth, on average. However, when performing more than 10 weekly sets for a muscle group, the current research is conficting on the optimal training frequency, some suggest higher training frequencies are better, others suggest lower frequencies. I plan to make a video on this soon. Ultimately, I say pick whichever training frequency (2x, 3x, or some other) you prefer the most.
2) Both free weights (barbells and dumbbells) and machines seem to be similarly effective to one another for building muscle, so peforming only barbell or a 50/50 split with barbell and machines exercises are probably both equally similar for hypertrophy.
I hope this is clear!
Thank you,
is there any data about changing exercises in each set in the same session?
Could work for someone who has mastered technique of every exercise, for most people, familiar routine is probably better because it's easier to fine tune technique this way. Unless you have years of gym experience, not probably good idea to switch exercises in EVERY single session. Also it's easier to track a familiar routine, you can easily see how much weight to load to progress from the previous session.
Agreed!
Is there a scientific reason as to why exercises become stale or any studies on the topic.
I know that high rep ranges become stale because the body gets more efficient at clearing metabolites, but other than that idk much.
There is some evidence (from rats) that repeated exercise to the same stimulus "desensitizes" various anabolic pathways (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23372143/). However, detraining for a while restored things back to normal.
Thus, I think at the cellular level, consistently exercising the same way just densitizes the various systems and they become "non-responsive". Hope this makes sense!
As a hybrid athlete, strength and endurance sports work the same. Volume, averaged intensity, recovery are the only factors to focus on
There are indeed many cross overs in the broad training variables used in strength and endurance training!
Excellent information again but if you do the same exercise but change the timing or add static holds. I do this to increase the intensity when my joints are sore without increasing the load. If you have info on that pls share. Ty
There's not much research on that, but what you're dong sounds perfectly fine, and it's a great way to progress if you cannot add load :)
3:14 wait,how did you perform 3 sets 6-12 reps to failure?, does it mean you experience failure at the final reps in the final sets?
Each set to failure with a load they could perform 6 to 12 repetitions with (the exact reps varied throughout the study).
Honestly, I'm surprised that this study found that variation works as well as sticking to a routine, I thought that excessive variation doesn't work at all - especially when we're talking about people who are squatting around 120kg. I'd love to see more information on strength gain though. What's the point of having big quads if I can't squat more? xD
Anyway, if this study holds true in the future, then for me, the takeaway is that on days when I can't hit the gym, it's okay to do some bodyweight exercises and use my at-home kettlebells - the "muscle confusion" won't mess up my routine too much.
Interestingly, the study found increases in bench press and squat one-rep max were not statistically different between the fixed and variation groups. However, I'm not sure if this was a type 2 error, as the raw data seems to be slighly better for the fixed group. Nevertheless, hopefully we get further future research in this area!
why not go past 35 and make gains 40 or 50 reps isnt much different
The best way to confuse your muscle is to add more weights to the bar
Boost
Thank YOU!
I do appreciate the video, as I do all of your work, but that study is really poor... Throwing random exercises and people, even those with years of experience, is going to make it more challenging to connect with every motion as opposed to doing the same thing every week. Secondly and far more importantly.. I don't think the argument was ever that in 6 weeks changing your routine is superior to a fixed routine.. The debate has always been will it prevent a plateau. Six weeks is not even close to enough time to test this.
I see what you're saying, but muscle confusion is typically just randomly switching exercises frequently. The short duration of studies is certainly a limitation!
Shock the muscle.
6:27 no still same doms after 7+ years of gym
Seems like such a waste of video authoring time for such small and not very good study.
Soooo inconclusive
Dj undertaker
Don't