What is Muscle Confusion?
July 27, 2009 2 CommentsThis is a term that is growing in its popularity, although the principles behind it have been around for many years. I was first introduced to this concept when I signed up for a 6-month body transformation program called Elite Bodies.
Muscle confusion is a specific way of exercising that ensures your body does not plateau. It forces your muscles to grow quicker than any other training method. Believe me! I’ve experienced it myself.
To demonstrate the contrast, let’s first talk about what many people’s exercise routines look like.
If you were to hang out consistently at your local gym, you would find a couple things.
1) Most people go for a little while and then stop entirely.
2) The ones that do go regularly usually have a very predictable routine. They’ll show up around the same time and hop on the same machines for the same amount of time. The ones that don’t use machines typically have the same routine of lifting certain weights on certain days.
Although getting some exercise is better than none at all, performing the same exercise routine day after day guarantees you will plateau at some point.
The concept of muscle confusion is to constantly change several variables of your routine so your body never gets a chance to “settle in”. The key to remember here is consistent change.
Here are some of the variables:
1. Number of repetitions.
2. Number of sets.
3. Type of exercise.
4. Length of exercise.
5. Length of rest periods.
Here’s a small example. My personal trainer, Jim at the Gym (cute, huh?), told me that I can receive much more benefit on the treadmill by walking for 1 minute, then jogging the next minute, then sprinting the third minute, and cycling through that same routine every three minutes than I would hopping on the treadmill and just doing a straight jog. My body doesn’t get a chance to settle into the walk or the jog or the sprint.
An example with lifting weights is to use free weights with your exercises one day, and the next time use machines. There are many different ways of targeting the same muscle group. The more you change it up, the better!
If you’re someone that thrives off routines, this may be a challenge, but keep at it. The results are SO worth it!
Hiring a Personal Trainer who is experienced with the muscle confusion technique can be a great help in maximizing those results too. After working with Jim at the Gym, I learned that, no matter how self-motivated we are, a good Personal Trainer can get us to reach deeper and work harder and achieve more than we’d have ever done on our own.
If you really want the biggest overall benefit from your workouts, muscle confusion is the way to go.
Until next time, I leave you this quote: “If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all.” ~Joey Adams
What change to your routine will you make this week? Post your comments below.
Related posts:
Health, Weight Loss
Hi, good post. I have been woondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
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