Variety is frequently championed in the fitness industry. As the service provider, it’s sexier to sell, and as the consumer, it’s easy to get swept up in the allure of “keeping your body guessing” with a million different movements and an ongoing rotation of different workouts.
While the concept of variety seems fun, we know for a scientific fact that it’s highly overrated, and design our workouts accordingly.
There is overwhelming power in a training regimen that hinges on consistency and repetition. It’s not just about building muscle or sculpting our clients’ goal physiques; it’s about cultivating functional strength, enhancing their overall health, and improving their performance in everyday activities.
Here’s why we pass on variety when it comes to designing MADabolic’s results-driven workouts:
- Progressive Overload: One of the fundamental principles of strength training. This means gradually increasing the stress placed on your muscles over time to stimulate growth and adaptation. Constantly switching up exercises makes it challenging to track progress and implement progressive overload effectively. Instead, we focus on mastering the foundational compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, carries, pushing, pulling, jumping, and landing allows you to progressively increase the weight lifted, leading to consistent strength gains.
- Skill Acquisition: Strength training is a skill that requires practice and refinement. By repeatedly performing the same exercises, clients can enhance their technique, which not only reduces the risk of injury but also allows them to get far more out of their workout.
- Muscle Adaptation: The human body is incredibly adaptive. When we perform a new exercise, our muscles undergo a learning process to become more efficient at that specific movement. While variety might initially provide a novel stimulus, it can also limit the potential for muscle adaptation and growth. By sticking to our structured training program that leverages repetition, clients allow their muscles to adapt and become stronger, ultimately yielding better results in the long run.
- Injury Prevention: Variety often leads to the temptation of trying new and advanced exercises without mastering the fundamentals. This can significantly increase the risk of injury, especially when proper form and technique are compromised. By prioritizing a few foundational movements and progressively loading them over time, we reduce the likelihood of injury and ensure sustainable progress in our members’ strength training journeys.
Instead of chasing after the latest fitness trends or constantly switching up their routines, our members are educated on and value the power of simplicity and repetition. With more than 70% of our membership systemwide on an unlimited contract, they’re able to master the basics, embrace the process, and watch soar their strength and confidence.
In the world of fitness, sometimes less really is more.
