Do you like going to the gym to do something completely different every session?
Or
Do you go to the gym to hit the same workout as last 4 weeks trying to get better each week?
Most people fall into one of these two categories… preferring either variety in their workouts or structure and simplicity.
The boom of Crossfit, F45 and bootcamps style gyms has been huge in promoting variety in training.
Although many of the world’s best athletes follow structured training plans.
Both have a place when it comes to building towards your goals but most people don’t know when to apply each method.
We are going to take you through the why’s and where’s to use structure and variety in your training.
So when it comes down to figuring out which approach to use we need to look into a few things
- Goals
- Personality Type
- Individual Weaknesses
- Placement In Workout
What’s Your Goal First
What it comes down to is what do you need to reach your goal?
Want to Squat 200kg… You’re going to need to squat with some form of structure and progression week in and week out.
You can’t squat every few weeks with no rhyme or reason and expect to reach your goals.
But if you only want to lose a few kilos… the main priority while training is maintaining muscle mass while burning calories.
So it doesn’t matter too much if you only back squat every few weeks and do other movements like goblet squats or lunges between.
Want to build muscle and heard you need to keep the muscles guessing to keep them growing?
The short answer is that’s bullshit… The longer answer is yes you need variety but it doesn’t need to be every week. Progressive overload and total volume is way more important for building muscle.
The general rule is the more specific your goal is and the greater difficulty it is the more you should focus on structure and progression.
Any guy can get to a 100kg deadlift doing whatever they want… 200kg, good luck.
The more general your goals are, the more variety you can use in your training without affecting your results.
What’s Going To Get You Going?
Even though there may be a more productive way to get the job done…
We still need to consider what’s going to make an individual want to push themselves in a workout.
Even if you’re on the best program, you won’t get results if you don’t apply yourself in the training session
If you happen to be a person who likes variety then for the best results… Finding ways of increasing variety of your training without making the sessions random will drive results up.
Things like small variations in the main lift as the program progresses. Or utilising more varied accessory work afterwards works great for these people.
An example of this for someone trying to build the deadlift may look like:
Wks 1-4 Deficit Romanian Deadlift
Wks 5-8 Deficit Deadlift
Wks 9-12 Conventional Deadlift
Building Your Weaknesses
A problem most people face when focusing on variety in training is they stick to exercises they like…
Not the movements they need to work on to progress their lifts.
I remember a few years back when I was building up towards my first 200kg deadlift. I would always get to around 160kg and felt something junky in my hamstring tendon.
Since I trained in a gym without much equipment to train hamstrings… I was limited to stiff leg deadlifts and my pain it never got any better.
Then I bought a GHD and started to work on glute ham raises, two months later I deadlifted 205kg with no pain.
What this came down to was I had a single weak point that was affecting my strength. Once I built strength there I made significant progress in little to no time at all. Often when you focus on varied training you never identify or fix those weaknesses.
When you are training generally you can use more variety. Once you start to identify weaknesses, creating structure to fix your weaknesses will keep you progressing.
Where To Use Variety Or Structure
So both variety and structure have a place in your training program but where should you apply each one?
This is something that is dependent on everything else we have talked about but here’s our take on it.
When training big movements like squats and deadlifts then focus on structure to you can improve technique and progress.
When training muscles in your accessory work, you can use more variety. Since muscles only understand time and tension then the difference is minor.
Along with this conditioning is an awesome place to apply variety in your training. Ensure you still use focus on work to rest ratios and exercises that won’t impact your ability to work at the right intensity.
An example would be using olympic lifting in your conditioning if you’re not proficient. Some people aren’t able to continue moving the bar fast enough which limits you bringing your heart rate up to the desired intensity.
Why Don’t We Use Both…
Like everything in fitness it comes down to a matter of context…
Knowing where to use and when to use the right tool is everything.
Simply put…
Structure and purpose first to drive progress, variety second for your enjoyment