Right. My opinion: one of my goals for this year is to train in a very structured way. That means one month this routine and the next that routine. Three routines for the year. I know the rep range Im working in. I know the length of rest. I know the exercises.
Trust me: I ve been working out a long time with pathetic results. I think the reason is the lack of consistency. ANd you only get that consistency by following a plan. The micro-reason the progressive overload issue. The other, bigger reason is the motivation. When you track you ll know what to go for the week after.
When it comes to training in a spontaneous way: even though your muscles burn and you re all pumped you are not actually overloading the muscles every week. You are not progressing. You are just pumping. And hence muscle growth is sub-optimal.
Yet again I ve found over the years that motivation and fun are super important. And if the pumped feeling is what motivates you then go for that. Others may get motivated by increasing reps or weight each week.
Whatever gets you fired up the most is the best for you.
Amen.
Over and Out
Good post !
I agree with your points here. However I belive this comes down to how experienced the individual is. Take me for instance, I know what my body needs in order to grow, I have never gone an entire year without seeing gainz. Nevertheless not everyone will be able to do something like that. I think that the majority of people should follow a training plan that has been proved to work.
I would never improvise all my workouts over an extended period of time, about 1 month maximum. The reason for that is quite obvious, it is sub optimal (just like you said). Furthermore it is true that it is hard to know if you are doing the right work to overload the muscles. On the other hand shocking the body with improvised workouts over a small period of time could bring new gainz to the table.
