10/02/2022
Para los que buscan hacer ejercicios diferentes cada semana, buscando la confusión muscular.. Lean el estudio 💪🏼😎
Should you vary up your workout each time you do it? Or is it better to stick with a program and build on that?
A new study by Angleri et al. compared 2 ways to follow a training program in trained men. For one leg, they tried to progress linearly in the 9-12RM range with 8 sets of quad work twice a week (one-legged leg extensions and leg presses). The other leg mixed up that same workout in one of 4 ways each session: going up to 25-30RM, doubling the rest intervals, adding 50% volume or performing eccentrics.
Despite doing more intensive workouts and accumulating a higher total volume load (sets x reps x weights), the varied leg did not gain more muscle after the 8-week program.
This shows semi-randomly mixing up your workouts is not inherently beneficial. In fact, in this case it's not only needless effort, but it also takes a greater toll on your recovery capacity, which may become detrimental at higher volumes.
And don't say 'what about muscle confusion?' You can't confuse contractile tissue. Only people talking about muscle confusion are confused, as the idea of confusing a muscle to avoid it adapting is precisely what you don't want: adaptation is the very goal of training. That's how it gets bigger and stronger to resist the training stress you imposed on it.
Take-home message: If your goal is maximum muscle growth or strength development, build a solid program and stick with it while optimizing the program based on your progression. Doing random new workouts every time is not ideal.
