How long should you stick to a workout?

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by Trevor Ross

Until it stops giving results in either size or strength.

This is a pretty standard answer, but I think it fails to adequately answer the question. There are lots questions that need to be addressed before just dumping an entire routine. In a lot of cases small adjustments are a better route than wholesale change.

What exactly is no longer working? Are you talking about a split, a fullbody, an upper lower, the questions go on from there. You need to critically analyze what your doing an apply well thought out course corrections.

Depending on the situation you may decide to:

Take a break from training for a week or two, and come back fresh, and a little softer, to rerun at the issue.

Add weight and run smaller set rep schemes for a few weeks, then drop weight and take another run at your sticking point.

Work an assistance group harder for awhile, and let the main lift hold steady.


Those are by no means all the answers to consider.

There are other factors as well, but the point is, think about what your doing, and be involved in what your working. Understand how your program works and how you can work it for all it is worth. Most people quit perfectly valid good programs becasue they don't understand how to really work them.

Getting off a truely bad program is prudent. Quitting a good program for lack of knowledge is a waste of your time. Program hopping is a great way to convince yourself your a hardgainer, when in fact your just impatient.

[Trevor Ross]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

This is a pretty standard answer, but I think it fails to adequately answer the question.

If he has his eating, sleeping, and training down isn't it really the only answer? I understand progression happens in increments and growth happens in spurts, but maybe after awhile when progress begins to stall, a little change in the program just might be what the lifter needs to keep motivated and put their heart into the program. Like maybe a change in assistance exercises, a different rep/set scheme for example. I do get the point you're trying to make in regards to program hopping though.

[5kgLifter]

3 things I usually consider, concerning when or if to change or just tweak a routine:

When it stops giving results
When it no longer addresses the goals I'm after
If I get bored of it, after a duration

[Kyle Aaron]

Never fear to ask questions, that's what a forum is for.

You should stick with a routine for so long as it's giving you results, not a moment more or less. Typically routines are changed every several weeks in gyms because trainers fear that gym members will get bored and give up. This is a justified fear - not many people have the willpower to stick to the same 3-6 exercises for months on end.

The session time is not the key issue, but the work done. Let's say you can bench press 100kg for a single rep, you could spend 60 minutes in the gym doing BP 20kg x5, 40kg x5, 60kg x5, 80kg 3x5, and the rest of the time talking to your buddy about the hot chicks on the treadmills and thinking about Arnold talking about how der pump iz beddah dan der cummink, and this would not really leave you terribly exhausted. Or you could do the same workout in 15 minutes and you would be wasted.

The key thing is intensity, not time. You only have so much work in you. This work capacity depends on rest and nutrition. National weightlifting teams might spend 6 hours a day 6 days a week working out, but they also eat 10,000+kcal, have afternoon naps, ice baths and hot saunas, sports massages, and on-staff physiotherapists. They do a heap to help their recovery, great rest and nutrition.

On the other hand the typical gym-goer who goes to bed after midnight, sleeps for 4-6 hours, misses breakfast and eats pizza or greasy Chinese for dinner, this person is going to struggle just to do 3-4 half-hour sessions a week. Poor nutrition and recovery, poor work capacity.

You can work harder, you just have to eat and rest harder, too.

If you are using supersets etc to "save time" but are still having 2.5-3hr workouts, I would suggest that your list of exercises must be very long. I am guessing that you have six different ways to hit your pecs and biceps. For a medium-sized guy, until you can put a single 45lb plate a side overhead, bench and row 2, squat 3 and deadlift 4, there is usually no need for all those different exercises. If you keep it simple you will keep it shorter without the need for supersets.