ONE IDEA

If you want to optimize your results in the weight room, consider adding more variation to your training.

THE WHY

Variation is a fundamental principle of strength development (Haff & Triplett, 2016). It must be engrained at all levels (macro, meso, and micro) of your training.

MY THOUGHTS/ PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

I want you to take yourself back to the first day you learned to drive a car. Do you remember getting in the car, being timid to put the key in the ignition, hearing the roar of the engine, and being super focused on the cracks in the lines as you made that clunky left turn? Now here you are years later and you can’t even remember how you go to/from work.

Our bodies work in a similar way. When we do a new exercise, we become hyper aware of our surroundings (foot placement, balance, posture, etc.) just to attempt the movement. We keep some of the skill, lose some, and the rest becomes who we are. By varying your exercises at just the right frequency (2-6 weeks depending on your level) you will challenge your neurological efficiency while strengthening your joints in a wide variety of movement planes.

Even a fundamental movement like the squat can be challenged in all sorts of ways (heels elevated squat, split squat, hack squat, front squat, back squat etc..). You will be a much more well-rounded athlete because of it.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

“Variety is the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.”

            – William Cowper’s

References

Haff, G., & Triplett, N. T. (2016). Essentials of strength training and conditioning. Fourth edition. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.