When I first heard the term “muscle confusion” popularized by the P90X workout I let it go. Anyone with knowledge of exercise science knows that “adaptation” to a workout is a bad thing for gaining results. But now this term “muscle confusion” is plaguing conversations about exercise. To be perfectly clear, it’s not only muscles that are affected by and need to be exposed to a variety of exercises and intensities. In case you didn’t know, exercise affects the nervous system first. By exercising with a new routine or protocol, you nervous system is stimulated to recruit dormant muscle fibers if the intensity is higher than previously experienced. As a result of this increased neural recruitment, you’re able to lift a little more. If this increased intensity continues and the body is challenged properly, your muscles will begin to hypertrophy (enlarge) and more strength gains will be seen. In order to continue down this hypertrophy path, increased volume of exercise needs to be implemented. This means doing more exercises at 70-85% of 1RM for a particular body part (i.e.: bodybuilding). To further your gains in maximal strength, increase intensity to 85-100% of 1RM and do more sets (4-6) of exercises. So a bodybuilder might do 3 sets of 6 exercises for chest (18 sets), a strength athlete might do 4-6 sets of 2 exercises for chest (8-12 sets), all with the aforementioned intensities, respectively.
These are general guidelines for avoiding adaptation but by no means the only way. So the next time you hear the term “muscle confusion” you’ll know that it’s not only the muscles that are affected by exercise, but first and foremost, the nervous system. Training is a science; let’s not dumb it down too much.
These are general guidelines for avoiding adaptation but by no means the only way. So the next time you hear the term “muscle confusion” you’ll know that it’s not only the muscles that are affected by exercise, but first and foremost, the nervous system. Training is a science; let’s not dumb it down too much.