Change up your gym routine!

As avid gym goers, we enjoy our routines. Monday being leg day (the dreaded day of immobility following), Tuesday chest and biceps, Wednesday core workout, etc. But do we always feel that burn after our sessions? If we are honest, no we don’t.

That burn has a specific acronym, it’s called DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness). These are micro tears in the muscle after a workout that allow the muscle to repair and grow. As the body is an amazing machine it starts to figure out what type of workout is most likely to happen and when. This works in the same way as medication in the sense that your body starts to adjust to it and eventually rejects it.

This is why it is important to have a routine but to also change that routine every two or three weeks to shock the muscles into growth and change.

This also applies to the targeted muscle groups. We have all heard the “boets” in the gym saying things along the lines of “Bru, today I’m going to klap Bi’s and Tri’s” however it is not always good to do the same muscle groups together for the same reason as stated above.

Gym ruts can also have an effect on your dedication and commitment to the gym. It can start to feel like work and become boring. This can be prevented through a routine change. The days that you don’t feel like going to the gym are sometimes the perfect days to try new workouts just for fun. These will allow for more dedication and perhaps new exercises that can be added to your already designed routine.

Changing your routine can also affect your psychological view of gyming. It could allow for the feeling of more active control over what you are doing and provide an improved sense of progression.

Not all exercises are for everyone, which is very important for gym users to understand, especially new gym goers. As we all have different genetic builds, rates of metabolism and energy systems some exercises will be more valid for us in terms of weight loss or muscle increase. Not being in a gym rut and trying different routines allows us to find the best exercises for our own bodies.

Therefor if your workout is no longer challenging, you feel like your muscles aren’t really strengthening or you are simply feeling bored every time that you go to the gym it is time to change your routine!!