The Balance of Training: Progress and Variety

Training progress and variety

One of the biggest frustrations people have with their fitness is not seeing results.  Some people never see results, and some think their results should come faster.  But on a random day, more people are focused on the variety of their workouts than the progress of their workouts.  There is a balance to training progress and variety of your workouts.

“I just did that exercise 2 days ago! Why are we doing squats AGAIN?”

Holy crap…I’m glad my wife doesn’t think about our relationship like that.

“Seriously? You’re sleeping here again?”

This issue was created by the fitness industry…not the consumer.

Every time you turn around there’s another gadget (shake weight) or exercise you saw on social media that can be modified with a band on one leg and a slider on the other.

Trainers are people too, and they get sucked down this rabbit hole as well.

I’ve been guilty…it can be hard to resist trying to do weighted box jumps for time. 😲

Variety Isn’t Always the Spice of Workouts.

There is no shortage of fitness companies and trainers that pride themselves on the variety of their programs and exercises.

Like hundreds of exercises. Instead of pontificating the finer points of progressive and variable overload, the industry is focused on the creative expression of endless exercise options.

Guess what the random application of a large number of exercises produces?

Endless variety and little progress.

I’ve had the opportunity to learn from some of the best minds in the industry. One of the quotes that has stuck with me was “If it’s important, do it every day. If it’s not important, don’t do it at all.”

This is a pretty big departure from the way many people approach their training. But it’s something to keep in mind when the scale shifts towards variety.

With everyone getting drunk from the fountain of variety, it isn’t easy to get someone to focus on progression of a particular movement or exercise.

But when you have to get dressed up for a special occasion, variety doesn’t matter. In that moment, all you can think about is the results you aren’t seeing.

What gets measured gets improved.

This works in so many areas of our lives and especially with our fitness.

And I’m not talking about step counters and calorie trackers. If you really want to help people get results, we would partner with dentists and create a calorie tracker that measures what we actually shove in our faces.

If you go on to create this device, please remember where you heard the idea and send my royalty checks monthly.

(Stay with me…I’ll get back on topic.)

Ask a runner about their mile time or their most recent 5K time.

They know.

Ask any guy in any gym anywhere what he benches.

He knows and will probably tell you. It’s also probably rounded up slightly for enhanced social effect. (We’re guys, and we’re prone to stupid crap like that).

But if we  measure our efforts,  we can make progress.

There’s a Reason They’ve Been Around So Long

A little specialized variety never hurt but it shouldn’t get in the way of progress. Your essential push, pull, hinge and squat movements will lead to the majority of results.

A plyometric medicine ball curtsy lunge with a twist probably shouldn’t be a staple of your training.

Runners may change their course, distance or pace for a little variety. But we don’t see people running backwards over the causeway.

“The goal is to keep the goal the goal.” – Dan John

If your goal is to get STRONGER, keep getting STRONGER the goal. Measure and enjoy the progress.

If your goal is VARIETY, keep VARIETY as the goal. Good luck with your progress.

About No Limits

No Limits Fitness provides step-by-step programs to help busy adults get the body they’ve always wanted, without restrictive diets or time-consuming workouts, so they can lead more fulfilling lives. Life is a much better experience in a strong, healthy body!

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