[ws100]

ws100 on November 18, 2004 at 9:14 am #10052

If you are weight lifting for a long continuous period when should you switch between say incline bench, milarty, decline, and regular bench press? Should you switch them every session or wait until you feel you are now longer increasing steadly witht that specific lift?

[simon]

simon on November 18, 2004 at 6:42 pm #34914

Experience says that you should stick to the same exercise regime for a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 weeks.

Switching exercises very regularly and ‘on feel’ gives the impression of progress…but for all but the most experienced strength athletes does not lead to long term, predictable improvement.

[frit17]

frit17 on November 18, 2004 at 8:55 pm #34915

I like every 4 weeks. I usually stay fairly low on reps throught the year and enjoy going 90% + 1RM so i tend to hit a wall fast, so i will change it up often. But thats my own training, my athletes may stay on for 6 weeks or so.

[800prince]

800prince on November 19, 2004 at 2:26 am #34916

Honestly, with those exercises you could cycle them around anyway you wanted. The difference between movements is minimal. Except maybe military press.

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on November 21, 2004 at 1:35 pm #34917

I like to switch up every 4 weeks however I don’t think you necessarily have to change the movement altogether. Instead you could just change how the movement is performed. For instance, you could do standard bench presses for 4 weeks and then switch to slow eccentric phase bench presses. You could change the sets, reps or tempo, add different types of resistance (bands, chains, etc.), add pauses, change the range of motion, etc. The options for variation are limited only by your imagination.

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