Being Consistently Inconsistent.

Doing programs up for our athletes and functional fitness members is a lot more complicated then a lot of them realize. When doing a program there is a lot of variables that need to be considered. One of the largest is how much periodization/ focus change should there be week to week.

What I mean by this is that the variety in exercise type, set/rep/load, rest intervals, cardio and overall program focus is in my opinion a key to greater total success then intensity and linear increased demand.

I have been a gym rat for my whole teenage and adult life. I have seen hundreds of people who start out hard and fail fast. But, I have also seen a large group of people who go to the gym religiously and get very little out of it. These are the people who could best benefit from a little bit of informed wisdom.

The golden rule of fitness is the SAID principle. Specific adaptation to increased demands or more easily explained as make it harder as you get better to see results. Unfortunately, this linear (strictly forward moving) approach will always eventually hit plateau. Our bodies are finely tuned to adapt to stimuli in a way that will lessen damage and reduce loss of energy. Unfortunately what most of us want out of a fitness program is to increase metabolic demand (energy) and build strength (stronger muscle is born out of tearing down and rebuilding muscle tissue). We need a rule that follows something like specific adaptation to a variety of stimuli while pursuing the ability to perform greater work capacity. How ever I doubt the acronym SAVSWPAPGWC will ever catch on.

What to do? I keep to a few simple rules

-change things up every couple of weeks, it doesn't have to be drastic but it should be noticeable. 

-try new things regularly and asses whether they are effective enough to get into your regular rotation

-keep it simple stupid, program change too drastic all the time will leave you behind the learning curve

-what would cavemen do? I'm not saying not to include scientifically modern ideas, I just think people should realize that a lot of the issues we have with our bodies is that we have drastically different diets and lifestyles then that of our genetic ancestors. We should stand, throw, pick-up, push, pull and move dynamically way more then what we do on a regular basis. Our lack of fluid movement and good health is rarely taken, it's lost!