In this context Novelty means variations in exercises (specialized variety) and volume (load/reps/sets) – at StrongFirst they call it simply “waviness“.
Your body and your brain need novelty to stimulate progress.
If you are doing the same workout everyday, you will quickly plateau. Your body will adapt so that those same exercises are easier and easier to do – and after about 3 weeks they will be completely ineffective at promoting change.
The easiest thing to do is to vary each day by 20%. Choose which exercises you will be focusing on and stick to them for at least 3 weeks. If you are training 3 times a week then you have an 90% day / a 70% day / a 50% day.
90% of what you may ask?
– reps done
– weight used
– difficulty of the exercise selection
I suggest choose one variable. track it and adjust it for each session – and record any notes / progress / soreness etc. However you will be adjusting more than one variable per workout as you progress (and this is were programming gets tricky!)
Honestly, following this principle makes the whole training process easier and ensures you don’t train at a constant intensity, which leads to plateaus and burnout.
Do NOT go hard every day. Your muscles need novelty of intensity as much as volume and exercise selection in order to get stronger.
Apply this principle into your training and reap the benefits! An added bonus if you can incorporate the topic from the last post : Progressive Overload.
EX.
– week 1 = 80%/60%/40%
– week 2 = 90%/70%/50%
– week 3 = 100%/80%/60% … rest 2 full days …. then test your new 100%
Let me know how it goes. Until then,
Stay Strong