You practice bodybuilding several times a week and observe a phase of stagnation in your performance? Maybe it's time to change your training program and vary your exercises to optimize your muscle development. But does it really make sense to switch to a new full bodybuilding program?
Why do we need to change our weight training program?
When you practice bodybuilding, whether you want to sculpt your body, lose weight or gain muscle mass, it is important to optimize each session. Keep in mind that it is fundamental to warm up before starting strength training.
If your strength training exercises are always the same from one workout to the next, your muscles may get used to them. This could slow down the development of your muscle mass. It is therefore essential to "shock" your muscles by replacing certain exercises with new ones.
Similarly, if you are stagnating, changing your program is a great way to progress by putting new demands on your muscle groups. However, if your current weight training program is working for you and helping you gain muscle or improve your fitness, there is no need to change it without reason.
Instead, you should try to adjust it over time to build muscle effectively. In other words, your bodybuilding program must be personalized and perfectly adapted to your needs. Of course, it must be evolving to allow you to achieve your muscle goals. But as in fitness or cardio, these changes in your strength training program must be carried out very gradually.
Whether you work out in the gym or at home, with body weight or with weights, it is therefore essential to adjust your program from time to time.
When to change your training program?
Many gym-goers ask themselves this question: when should you change your training program? In reality, it will depend on the practitioner, his level, his progress and his objectives.
It is sometimes possible to read that it is advisable to change your bodybuilding program every 8 to 12 weeks. In reality, all the nuance is in this notion of change. Thus, it is not necessary to change for the sake of change, but to do so when it is necessary for a given muscle group.
If you continue to progress after 12 weeks, then there is no need to change your program. Instead, you can adjust it from one workout to the next, whether by changing your warm-up, increasing the number of reps on certain exercises, or reducing rest times. You also have the option of doing variations on a given exercise, for example using a barbell, dumbbells, elastics or a pulley.
If you stop progressing or get bored (one often goes with the other), you can then adjust your program more thoroughly. On the other hand, it will probably not be necessary to change everything, or you will lose your progress. Similarly, a change of objective, from mass gain to lean for example, may require the replacement of certain exercises.
How do you know the right time to add some variations?
Whether it's multi-joint, strength training or ab exercises, it may be appropriate to add variations to your training plan. Simply alternating the plugs (neutral, pronation or supination) or the equipment used (body weight, bars, dumbbells, pulley, etc.) will allow you to develop your muscles by requesting different portions of each muscle group.
To keep your muscles from getting used to it and to maintain your progress, you can also try out new movements, vary the order in which you perform the exercises, adjust the reps, change the tempo or even incorporate intensification techniques such as supersets or pyramids.
The simple fact of taking into account these different parameters will allow you to reach your goals in bodybuilding.
2 Comments
Hi Julien. On the other hand, is it good (or at least not bad) to have 9 or 10 circuits and alternate from one session to another?
What do you mean by 9 or 10 circuits? If you are talking about circuit training, I don't consider it as a real weight training program but rather a fitness program with the objective of losing weight for example.