Building muscle is not as simple as going to the gym and lifting weights. If you want to make continual gains in your muscle size and strength, you need to change your workout program regularly. Some schools of thought in the fitness world call this muscle confusion, and it basically means that your muscles do not have time to adapt to the work you put them through.
Muscle Confusion Origins
The concept of muscle confusion was born out of the idea of periodization created by Tudor Bompa, Ph.D. in the 1960s. According to Bompa in his book "Periodization Training for Sports," your body will only continue to grow muscle as long as you are putting it under physical stress. As your body adapts to physical stress, you must change how you train to experience the same workout benefits you did previously. Though Bompa created his theory of periodization for athletes to follow on a yearly basis so they would hit their physical peak during competitions, the idea also applies to weight training programs over a shorter period of time.
Variable Factors
Bodybuilder Rick Ryan writes in his book "Dialed In" that there are many factors you can change about your workout if you want to encourage muscle confusion. The most common factors a person changes are the number of sets and repetitions as well as the exercise types performed. However, you can also encourage muscle confusion in your body by changing your body position and the amount of rest between exercises and time spent on each repetition.
When to Change
Generally speaking, you need to change your workout routine every few weeks to avoid hitting a lifting plateau. However, bodybuilder Joey Vaillencourt states that you can tell you need to change your workout when you experience a loss in strength, lack of muscle pump after you finish lifting, or generally have no motivation to workout. Additionally, if you do not notice any size or strength gains in your muscles after two weeks of working out, you need to incorporate muscle confusion techniques into your routine.
Additional Benefits and Guidelines
Apart from helping your muscles to grow, adding muscle confusion into your workouts will keep you from becoming bored. Variety in your training can make workouts exciting even after your initial motivation for strength training has worn off. When you make changes to your workout to encourage muscle confusion, only change one or two variables in the program, as that will sufficiently stimulate your muscles without making your routine significantly more complicated.
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