It is a common saying in the bodybuilding world: to grow, you have to ‘shock’ your muscles. But is that really the case?
The answer is: no, your muscles are smarter than you think. To provide a good stimulus, you don’t need to switch exercises every week; on the contrary.
Consistency is the most important factor for the development of muscle mass and strength. Only in this way can you apply progressive overload.
This boils down to you gradually:
- more weight used;
- does more repetitions;
- trains closer to muscle failure,
- adds extra sets;
- to improve your execution or range of motion.
Progressive overload is therefore not merely about adding weight. You can choose one from this list if desired, but you can also apply several at the same time.
As long as you are making progress, there is in principle no reason to change anything, except possibly for the sake of specificity (for example, to highlight a particular muscle group) or safety (for example, to relieve pressure on joints, or due to an injury).
Absolute beginners usually only need to start tweaking their training program after six months to a year.
If you are attached to variety in your training, look for it in the smaller exercises. Alternate cable curls with dumbbell curls, dumbbell side raises with a machine version, bent-over side raises with seated reverse flyes, and so on.