Change Your Workout Routine For Faster Muscle Gains

             There are some key moments through your way to build muscle that have to be acknowledged and take action on them. Whether you noticed them or not depends how fast you gain muscle mass and how far you still are from your goals. Many of bodybuilders are just following a training workout routine set by themselves or in cooperation with a coach and hope that in the final they will get what they worked so hard for. Time pass and in the end you come the conclusion that your body looks the same way as in the beginning.

             Big effort and time investition are not all the time a guarantee of success. It’s unfair, but it is truth. Properly analyzing your evaluation comparing it with initial records is a good way to see your progress. It allow you to see which direction works best for you and what part of your trainings are just a lose of time. That’s why from time to time there will occur the necessity to make some changes in your workout routine in order to make it more productive. When and how they should look like you will find in this article.

           This is not a calling to jump from one exercise to another in order to find the one that work magically. If you take my words as so, then you are totally wrong.  The internet or magazines are full of articles that urge you to try one or another program promising unbelievable gains in shortest time. Don’t fall in this trap and if plan some changes in your workout routine. Then make sure you have rationally reasons for this.

When you should make changes in your workout

          Whenever they are absolutely inevitable. There may be a range of reasons to consider when it makes sense to switch to other workout routine, but some of them are of great importance.

1. Your exercise program is not promoting results for a long period of time.

                The most common and really justified complaint among bodybuilder. If your workout brings you no results and you feel a stagnation then  you should look for alternatives. In some cases the followed workout may turn up as simply being ineffective to you, because of your body type, fitness level or other factors.

           More often bodybuilders experience a stagnation in muscle growth which is known as muscle plateau. It means that muscles get adapted to load you put on them and are no longer stimulated. In this situation to make some changes to  your workout routine is imperative.  Here are few ways to do it:

• increase the workout intensity: doing more sets or reps, increasing the working time, adding more lifting exercises. Not implement all of them at once, but periodically.
• take a deload week, during which your muscles relax and would be more responsive next time you come in the gym;
• switch to another type of training.

            Make sure you set achievable goals. Gaining massive muscle mass when you are hardgainer is less possible and you have to be aware of this. It’s obviously that in this case you will be very disappointed with your gains and will look for other workout routine plan. In this case the problem is you, and not the exercise program effectiveness. Check our post "How to build muscle mass for hardgainers" to get insights about the specific of muscle building for this category of people. 

2. Your goals have changed

            If you trained for strength and suddenly understand that you want to add more muscle mass than time is to make some modification on your training routine. Muscle building, strength increasing or loss weight workouts are different  and for best results you have to follow an exercise program designed special for one or another goal.

3. You lost motivation

            Getting bored with you workout is not something new. It happens to almost everyone, but it differ from person to person how you deal with it. If you feel you lose motivation and you are not happy already with what you do in the gym, then consider switching to other exercise program.

         Listen to music when training or train with a friend are some easy solutions to overcome boredom. If they don’t work in your case, it’s time for bigger changes.

4. “Force major” changes.

           These are the most unpleasant, since you are required to alter your workout when you are totally satisfied with it. A modify in work schedule may cause come earlier or later on the gym or reduce the time allowed to this activity. An injury may force abandon previous training routine and choose soft one or in worst cases to leave the gym for a while at all.

             A few weeks break in the training is subject to modifications in your exercise program. First training after a long pause looks quite different then it use to be. The body is not ready to renew the trainings from the point you left, doing so may end up with serious injuries. The workout has to be designed in way to  contain more soft exercises with gradual increase of  difficulty level.

5. Your feel tired after your workout

             Strong muscle soreness and tiredness after your regular training is a sign you have to worry about. In a normal way trainings have to left you with a strong feel of energy and ability to do even more things. If this is not your cases and its tend to reaped over the last time, then most probably you are overtraining. You need a pause to let your muscles recover and when you feel better comes back in the gym.

            Once back in the gym try to evaluate your workout program in details and find what cause you get overtrained. Remember, overtraining is always throw you a step back, so it’s better to take slower but steady steps.

Ways to change your workout routine

            There are limitless paths in which you can switch up you can switch up your workout and make it more effective. The track toward bi muscle gains is paved with big challenges. Be ready to overcome and make all them work for you.

Increase workout routine intensity

              The number one rule to follow if you really want to get big fast. As i mentioned above,  you can do it in many ways- altering number of sets and reps, increasing training time, decreasing rest time, use supersets,  forced reps,  and others. Whatever you choose, it’s important to do it. When you train for long time using the same routine you risk to get stuck and your intensity drops down without even you acknowledging it.  You still believe you train hard, but  the results are not showing the same.

Rotate your exercises regularly

             To work out all group of muscle you have to make use of all exercises. Whether they are compound or isolation one. Don’t perform just the ones you like the most and feel comfortable to perform. Rotate your exercise palette and  execute movements that involve in work all group of muscles. To keep growing you need to put load on your muscle using wide range of exercises.

Change the days you work out muscles group

               For better results you are advised to stop training on the same group muscles in certain days and try to alternate them instead. If you used to train 3 times a week then make sure you begin your trainings with the weakest muscles as you have more energy to work on them. The third workout is actually less powerful but enough to train more developed muscles.

             The same way, you can change the number of days you train weekly once in a time. Switching to a three times a week training form 4-5 is not going to left you with less muscle mass gains. Contrary, your body will have more time for recovery and less chances to get overtrained, which usually happens when followings such a busy schedule.

             Remember that your muscles grow during recovery time, and not while training. So, training more is not always equal with more muscles. Extra rest would just benefit your body and  you will feel much better too. Super sets, pyramidal training, negatives are also great ways to bring something new in your workout routine. Resort to them anytime you think you want more from your trainings.

Conclusion

              In conclusion, jumping to one exercise program to another just because it seem more attractive than others is not correct. Any training routine needs time and commitment to benefit you.  So make sure you allowed enough time before considering alternatives. Getting stuck to a training routine is quite easy and which is the worst you didn't even notice the lack of progress. That’s why try to periodically evaluate your evolution and compare what you achieve over the time. Also, stay aware of number of reasons that may cause you to adopt a change. The most important of them we mentioned above, but the list is not meant to be exhaustive.