How Often Should I Change My Workout Plan For Progress

When working out, it’s important to remember that every body is different and every person will be at different stages of their fitness journey. When it comes to the frequency of changing your workout plan, it’s important to look at the different factors that will determine this, including experience, goals and how your body responds to exercise. Here are some general guidelines for changing your workout plan:

• Beginner - when starting your fitness journey, it’s recommended to stay consistent with a workout plan for around 8-12 weeks before starting to make changes. This allows you to build a good foundation of strength and fitness endurance whilst also letting your body adapt to a new fitness routine. This will enable you to progress as you become more experienced.

• Intermediate - once you have a solid foundation of consistent training, you can begin to make small changes to your workout plan which will help challenge your body and avoid any plateau.

• Advanced -  if you are more experienced with exercise and training or an elite athlete, frequently changing your workout plan will help you to continuously see progress. This may include variations in exercises or breaking up your training into shorter blocks.

Consistency is the key to any workout routine. It’s important to find the balance that will continue to challenge your body and keep you motivated throughout your training.

Can I Change My Workout Routine Every Week

As easy as it can be to change your workout routine every week, it’s not the most effective approach to training. Ways that this can affect your training include:

• Consistency - if you want to see results from your workouts then it’s crucial to stay consistent. If you are changing your workout routine too frequently, you are limiting your ability to see results and track your progress.

• Adaptation -  by changing your workout routine every week you are limiting your body's ability to adapt to new exercises, therefore impeding your progress.

• Effectiveness - if you’re constantly changing your exercises, your body isn’t getting the consistency in specific muscle groups that would allow for strength and growth, reducing the effectiveness of your workouts.

When looking to change your workout routine it’s important to recognise signs and symptoms of overtraining to ensure you are creating a workout routine that is building your strength and overall fitness but not damaging muscles. Incorporating enough rest and recovery time is essential to your fitness journey.

How Often Should You Change Your Workout to Build Muscle?

Changing up your workout to build muscle ultimately depends on your fitness level and experience. It’s important to progress your workouts gradually. Staying consistent with your workout will allow you to see results. 

Correct form is important before progressing with your workout. Once your form is perfected, you can start to increase the weights, repetitions and sets first before you begin to change your exercise. You can increase the weight if comfortable each week, but it’s important to listen to how your body feels and not to increase the weight or by too much when your body isn’t ready. Provide your body with adequate rest to enable your muscles to recover that will allow for further development.

How Often to Change Workout Split?

A workout split (e.g. upper and lower body) is important to target different muscle groups throughout the week to avoid muscle fatigue. This is especially true if only targeting one specific muscle group. The time in which you change up your workout will vary depending on your fitness level and experience. 

If you are a beginner, sticking to your workout split for around 8-12 weeks is beneficial to build a strong foundation of strength. If you are a bit more experienced, you can start to change your split at around the 6-8 week mark. Once you are more advanced, you can change your workout split every 4-6 weeks to enable your body to continue to adapt.

How to Change Workout Routine to Avoid Plateau

It’s common to reach plateaus when working out, so it’s key to change your workout routine strategically to ensure you continue to make progress with your fitness and prevent plateaus. Here are several ways you can change your workout routine to avoid plateau:

• Change repetitions and sets - if you have been doing lighter weights with higher repetitions, look to change it up to heavier weights with lower repetitions or vice versa. This allows your muscles to experience endurance and toning or increased power and mass.

• Adjust rest periods - altering your rest period between sets can benefit greatly. If you increase your rest interval you are enabling your body to lift heavier, and if you decrease your rest, you are increasing the intensity of your workout which in turn burns more calories.

• Progressive overload - a great way to avoid plateau is through gradually lifting heavier weights during your workouts. This will help build muscle strength and power.

• Adjust exercises - by modifying your exercises, you are decreasing the likelihood of plateau. You can bring in variations of the exercises that you are including in your workouts.

If you are at the start of your fitness journey or have doubts about any exercises, make sure to consult with a fitness or medical professional before commencing.

Plan Your Workout With Village Gym

Upgrade your workouts with our state-of-the-art equipment and facilities at Village Gym. Immerse yourself in our luxury amenities across our sites, including rejuvenating steam rooms and saunas. If you are looking for something more within your abilities, our fitness classes are available to everyone of all levels. We have gyms across the nation that will help you stay fit wherever you are.

Sign up for our Village Advance Plan today and tailor your workout plan to perfection with professional fitness experts. Continue your fitness or weight loss journey with us today.

FAQs About Changing Your Workout Plan

What happens if you don’t change your workout?

If you are not changing your workout, you will limit your body’s development as your muscles are not being challenged, therefore not resulting in any changes to your body.

Can I do the same workout 3 times a week?

This can be beneficial for beginners to build a strong fitness foundation, but it’s important to include variations, progressive overload and rest. Listening to your body is key to allowing it to progress and have enough time to recover between workouts.

Can I get in shape in 3 months?

This is dependent on current fitness levels, consistency and dedication. It’s important to remember that individual results vary from person to person, you can still achieve noticeable improvements in your overall fitness, however, you may require longer for significant improvements.

What is the 130-hour rule?

The rule that was created by fitness coach Bobby Maximum is that most individuals typically take 130 hours of good-quality training to become fit.