Mix it or stay consistant?

OnceNatty

OnceNatty

New member
I'm interested to see if people's thoughts are split on this or if everyone agrees.
I've been training for ~42 yrs...always hypertrophy style training. I've never cared for strength training really.
My split is:
Mon = delts, bis, tris
Wed = legs, traps, forearms
Fri = chest/back

I train 3-4 exercises per muscle staying in the 10-12 rep range with an RPE of 9 typically.
Anyway, for at least the last 20 years, I've never intentionally repeated a workout, week after week. I've always chosen 3-4 new movements every session. I've always believed in hitting a muscle from a slightly different angle every time. I've had decent success with this, especially for being natty until recently.
So I was just talking to a reputable resource of knowledge on this topic and he said, yeah, I get it but then you never get really strong at a particular movement and this may be holding you back from gaining muscle.

So...here's the question/debate = do most pros or very accomplished bb'ers stay with 3-4 proven movements week after week, year after year or do they mix it up all the time?
Does it matter?
Thoughts?
 
For accessory lifts, I like to stick to an exercise for about 4 weeks and than switch it out. Each week adding intensity and getting better at the exercise and being able to handle more weight / reps peaking at 4 weeks and then switch it up and start the process again with lower intensity. This keeps my joints from getting destroyed, keeps my mind from getting stagnant and from my experience as a power lifter, keeps me getting stronger. I don't often switch out compound lifts, but will do so a couple of times a year for 3-4 weeks (i.e. front squats for back squats). Not to say I don't do front squats as an accessory. At 58, I am still getting stronger and staying away from big injuries / staying mainly injury free.
 
I would say you've been significantly limiting your progress for years. Every successful bodybuilder or powerlifter ( by successful I just mean guys that are significantly bigger and stronger than the average Joe's, guys who you can look at them and you know right away what they're doing is working, those guys I know train the same workouts months on end. They get significantly stronger and better at each exercise until it becomes redundant and then swap out the exercise for a new one to get stronger at. Continuously chasing some kind of progressive overload. I cross train pretty much all year round and I love it. But it's not how you get huge or become a bodybuilder. Ronnie Coleman did the exact same workout for his entire career.... Jay Cutler only followed 3 or 4 programs through his entire career. Pretty sure the guy big Paul from anabolic bodybuilding talks about how he's done the same type of program for the past however many years.

Consistency brings progress, switching it up all the time is like constantly pumping the brakes
 
Sounds like your following the old Weider philosophy of muscle confusion and that doesn't really work. You need to focus on progressive overload. This doesn't mean train to all out failure on every set then try to outdo it next workout although that is progressive overload it will probably lead to injury. Also, you are only training each muscle once per week, your body can handle much more frequency and hitting everything twice per week would probably lead to more hypertrophy.
If you want to stay with 3 days per week you can and I'd recommend an Upper/Lower body split and alternate those through the weeks ex.
Monday - Upper
Wednesday - Lower
Friday - Upper
Monday - Lower
Wednesday - Upper
Friday - Lower
This way you are hitting each muscle with more frequency ~every 3-5 days as opposed to 7 days.
You can keep each workout the exact same or make an Upper and Lower 1 and an Upper and Lower 2. This is common to emphasize the antagonist bodyparts. Ex. Lower 1 will have a Quad Focus with Hams being secondary and Lower 2 will be a Hamstring Focus with Quads being secondary. You still hit Calves and Adductors on each Lower Workout but those never take primary focus.
Log everything - each set and rep. I usually do 2-3 sets and the last set going to failure the previous sets staying around 1-2 RIR. Try to advance each workout. My system is an 8-12 rep range, once I hit 12 reps at failure I increase the weight but not more than what I can do 8 reps with.
Keep the workouts the same. Switch an exercise only when you just aren't connecting with it anymore and even then give it a couple weeks. This allows you to track progress over time and ensures progressive overload.
If you have the time and can add or day or two in each week it might be helpful. I'm a big fan of Push, Pull, Leg (PPL) splits and was doing a modified PPL UL 5 day split but there are a lot of options. You can still make good progress on 3/week though.
If you need help putting together more of a plan hit me up.
 
Dayum...I was afraid of you guys agreeing with that philosophy :(
My issue is there's just so many good pec exercises, delt exercises, bis etc... I've always just hated the thought of limiting myself to just 3 or 4
I suppose I need to open my mind a little and try something new.
I've done U L U before with some success; usuall after a surgery as I feel I "come back" quicker with the higher frequency....but then I plateau, so I switch back to my old bro split. My issue with U L U now is that on an upper day, to hit delts, chest, back, bis and tris with some intensity, is a huge session. And with my work schedule, 3 days/week is all I can fit in.

So if I were to keep my split the same as I wrote in OP, that wouldn't be a bad thing; you would just recommend staying with 4 movements and getting stronger/better at those ??

Right now I do 12 working sets per week for chest, back and legs (4 exercises, 3 sets ea). Delts, bis and tris get 9 working sets ea (3 execises, 3 sets ea)
Still cool? Just stick to the same exercises?
 
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