Are you someone who jumps from workout to workout, always chasing the ‘next best thing’?
Whether in a regular exercise routine or, just starting out, repeating the same workouts may feel boring and ineffective; making you feel the need to constantly change things up!
Maybe you bounce from the latest, trendiest fitness routine to yoga and then to HIIT, sprinkling Pilates in between.
Afterall, it’s all about ‘shocking the body and muscles’, right?!
Ehh….not so much.
While sure, trying new exercises and different types of workouts feels super exciting(!!), it’s not always the fastest or most effective path to results.
In fact, constantly switching up your exercise routine could be exactly what’s holding you back from seeing the results you really want –uhhh, oh!
The truth is, sticking with a well-designed, consistent exercise program—one that you repeat and progressively build on—will actually help you make bigger strides in strength, muscle gain, fat loss, and overall fitness.
Despite what that cool, hip fitness influencer does or says, **Structure Matters!**
Instead of following a random workout routine, following a well-designed, structured plan—what’s known as periodization—is crucial for making steady, sustainable progress!
This is exactly why here at Results Fitness, we program our Small Group Personal Training sessions with a purpose! Behind every workout is a thoughtfully curated, structured program built on the concept of periodization.
The method to our exercise madness is backed by scientific proof; ensuring you master proper technique, move better, build strength, and make constant progress.
The perfect recipe for getting THE BEST results!
To help you understand why workout variety kills results and why you NEED a structured, well designed excise program for real results, this blog’s teaching you:
- What Makes the Ultimate Workout! The key elements transform any program into a results-driven powerhouse!
- Why Random Workouts Hold You Back! Why switching it up only leaves you frustrated—and how a structured plan guarantees real progress!
Ready to level up your workouts and results? Let’s get started!
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THE *ULTIMATE* WORKOUT!
Periodization is the practice of dividing training programs into distinct phases to optimize performance, enhance recovery and prevent overtraining or burnout.
Make no mistake about it: periodization is THE backbone of developing a great exercise program that is challenging, renders the BEST results both in/outside the gym, and is backed by science.
At its core, periodization refers to the systematic planning of physical training AND involves dividing a long-term training program into specific cycles, each with distinct goals, volumes and intensities.
These cycles can range from weeks to months and even years!
Without periodization, anyone can fall into a cycle of inconsistent training and stagnation; leading to burnout, diminished results and an increased likelihood of injury.
Let’s dive into why having a structured, long-term plan on repeat trumps constantly switching workouts or following the latest fitness influencer:
#1. Consistency is Key to Progress: Building strength is all about consistency!
When jumping from one workout to another, you’re missing out on the kind of repetitive practice that leads to tangible improvement.
Strength training doesn’t work by giving your body a new challenge every time you train. It’s about gradually pushing your muscles to adapt and grow stronger over time!
A structured strength training plan is designed to progressively increase the intensity of your workouts. This allows your muscles, joints and nervous system to get used to a certain movement pattern and gradually improve in both strength and efficiency.
Without this kind of consistency, your muscles can’t adapt properly, and you’ll plateau much sooner than if you followed a structured plan.
That is exactly why our Small Group Personal Training sessions are programmed in 8 week blocks! Why 8 weeks?
When it comes to building muscle, getting stronger and moving better, your body needs time to practice and perfect basic movement patterns before it can move on to heavier loads or different variations of exercises.
The key here = consistent REPETITION over time!
#2. You Need Time to Adapt: Doing new and random exercises every workouts doesn’t allow your body to fully adapt.
Strength gains are made when your muscles experience progressive overload (increasing the weight, reps, sets, or intensity over time), which only works if you stick with a routine for a while–recommendation being 8-12 weeks.
As “boring” as it may seem, you want to repeat the same movements over and over and over again each week in a systemized approach (aka a program).
Unsure how to safely and effectively adapt and progress your workouts?
Good news: this is precisely what our coaches do for you and how we program all workouts in Small Group Personal Training sessions!
You start with manageable loads and increase them steadily over time. This approach allows your muscles to recover and grow stronger, leading to greater results in the long run.
#3. Variety Without Chaos: Now, this doesn’t mean that you should never change things up. One of the key principles of periodization is planned variety.
A well-structured program will include different phases, with different focuses, to prevent stagnation and overuse injuries.
These phases may involve changing the volume (how many sets and reps performed) or intensity (how heavy you lift) or even switching up the exercises you do to target muscles in slightly different ways.
But the key here is that the variety is intentional.
Each phase of the program builds on the previous one, allowing you to get stronger while preventing boredom and maximizing results!
In contrast, random workouts, though they provide variety, do not provide clear, tangible progression toward your goals.
Our exercise programs in Small Group Personal Training sessions are structured to infuse intentional variety over the course of 8 weeks:
- Weeks 1-4 are for learning and mastering technique and form.
- Weeks 5-8 are for making more progress – getting stronger and building muscle by increasing sets, reps and weight!
#4. The Power of Recovery: Strength training isn’t just about pushing hard during your workouts; it’s also about giving your muscles time to recover!
When you’re doing different workouts all the time, you risk overtraining specific muscle groups and neglecting others, leaving your body without proper recovery periods.
With periodization, your plan is designed to give muscle groups adequate rest between sessions. It might involve alternating between heavy lifting days for certain movements and lighter, recovery-focused exercises, which prevents burnout and injury.
When your body is rested and recovered, it has the chance to rebuild and grow stronger.
Without this balance, you can easily end up overworked, which slows your progress rather than accelerating it.
In our Small Group Personal Training sessions, we do the thinking and planning for you so you dont have to worry about this! Your workouts are designed to prevent overuse of muscle groups so that you can come multiple days and back to back days without being at risk for injury.
#5. Tracking Progress and Setting Goals: One of the most satisfying parts of exercising is seeing your hard work pay off!
With a structured strength training program, you can track your progress in a meaningful way: how much more weight you’re lifting, how many more reps you’re doing and how much stronger you’re becoming!
This can be incredibly motivating and help you stay focused on your fitness goals.
In our Small Group Personal Training, our coaches track all of your weights and exercises every workout so that together, we can systematically track and assess your progress to give you the very best results in less time than going at it alone or, not tracking at all!
On the flip side, when you constantly switch workouts, you lose this ability to track tangible improvements. Because the exercises vary so much, it’s hard to pinpoint how much stronger you’re getting and whether your program is truly working.
All that time and energy spent may not even pay off!
#6. Periodization Prevents Injury: Another important reason to stick with a well-structured program is injury prevention and working around current aches and pains.
Randomly choosing exercises that you aren’t prepared for (or that don’t properly align with your body’s current strength level) can lead to poor form, strain and injury.
A periodized plan builds up your strength progressively and includes proper warm-ups and recovery so that your body can adjust safely to increasing challenges.
Whether you’re doing bodyweight squats or bench presses, proper technique is essential. A good program ensures that your body is ready for each new challenge, thus reducing risk of injury.
Also, most people at Results Fitness deal with some form of aches, pains and strains – it’s inevitable as you age!
Your Results Fitness workouts are personalized for this very reason!
During your workouts, our coaches have the ability to modify exercises to your current fitness level and individual needs! This means we are always focusing on what you CAN do versus what you CANNOT do while reducing those aches, pains and strains so you move better and feel your best!
#7. Periodization is Tailored to Your Goals: Whether your goal is building muscle, losing fat, or improving endurance and energy, a periodized strength training plan is tailored to suit your needs.
For beginners, focus first on developing foundational movement patterns and increasing muscle endurance before moving on to more challenging phases that emphasize strength and hypertrophy (muscle growth).
In layman’s terms, this means keep the weights lighter, reps higher while perfecting form and SLOWLY going up in weights and intensity over time!
For those more advanced, once you master the foundational movement patterns with perfect form you will be able to progress much faster because your body is adapted to the demands of strength training, making you more resilient!
You will be able push yourself by going heavier weight and lower reps, increasing the volume of training (more sets), and leveling up to a more advanced variation of the exercise.
In contrast, hopping from one workout to another means you’re never building the foundation you need to hit your goals.
You might see some initial gains, but those results will quickly stall as your body doesn’t have the time to adapt to one consistent challenge.
Functional movements patterns are a BIG part of periodization.
There are 6 functional movement patterns that you want to perform in every workout to maximize progress, strength and results! (curious what those are? check out that blog HERE!)
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Starting your fitness journey is exciting, and you should definitely enjoy the process!
However, to make real progress in strength training, you need more than just variety—you need a well-thought-out, progressive program that targets your specific goals.
A periodized plan allows you to build strength safely and effectively, track your progress, and ensure that you’re giving your muscles the time and attention they need to grow.
So, if you’re serious about getting stronger, stop hopping between random workouts and give well thought-out periodization program a try (and let us help you because this is what we do!).
Your body (and your results) will thank you for it!