3 things I don’t recommend to my clients, as a women’s coach. Part 1

Changing Exercises in Each Workout

You might be chasing that feeling of soreness you get when you do a new exercise or workout, but doing a random workout each session won’t bring optimal results.

Soreness is not an indicator of an effective workout because your body needs repetition to change, tone up, or build muscle. “Confusing” your body by constantly changing exercises is a myth that doesn’t translate into results.

Our bodies are incredible at adapting to whatever stress they are exposed to repeatedly. The stress can be positive, like exercise, which prompts the body to change (get stronger, build muscle) in order to become more efficient at handling the same stress next time.

I know your favourite fitness influencer posts a different workout daily, but trust me, if their body looks incredible, it’s not by chance or thanks to a random training routine. If they were to post how they actually train, or if I were to share my training plan with you, you’d keep seeing the same thing over and over again on whatever social media platform you use… and that just doesn’t sell.

It’s important to keep the same plan for a period of time to see results. Follow the plan for 4 to 8 weeks at a minimum, and up to 12 weeks.

Already bored? If you struggle with sticking to the same routine and love variety, here’s what you can do to still get results.

IN EACH SESSION

Whilst keeping 3 to 4 exercises unchanged to allow for progression, you can switch things up by adding some new or different exercises.

IN EACH TRAINING BLOCK (4 to 6 weeks)

Having the same exercises in your training plan is crucial to tone up and build muscle over time. (Side note: toning up or shaping your body = building muscle.)

To allow for variety whilst keeping the same exercises in your program, you can change:

• Rep ranges: Go for more or fewer repetitions for the same exercise compared to the previous block

• Load: Dictated by rep ranges; load = how heavy you lift

• Exercise order

• Supersets: Combine two exercises you used to perform separately

FOR EXAMPLE

In block 1, you were doing 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps of squats in your leg session. In block 2, you can do 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps. With lower repetitions, you’ll also increase the load, so go heavier to make the lower rep range challenging.

Or, in block 1, you performed shoulder press and chest press separately. In block 2, you can create a superset by

performing chest press and shoulder press one after another, with minimal or no rest.

You can also switch some exercises for a different variation of the same movement. For example, if you are performing split squats, in the next block, you can change these to Bulgarian split squats.

These changes will make the new training phase feel like a new program and help you avoid boredom, which can affect even the most seasoned lifters.

If you have any questions, you can reach me on Instagram @marzena_personaltraining