7 ways you can add some variety into your training

Why do people expect new and different outcomes when nothing has been changed to accomplish this? Why is it so comforting to do what you've always done, where and when you've always done it?

Daily routines and rituals serve as a sense of security- whether it's the daily Starbucks Americano before work, scanning Facebook for 30 minutes before bed, or doing the same workout you did yesterday and the day before. No matter what it is you are referring to, if you want to change the effect, you must first change the cause.

With fitness, something is almost always better than nothing, but doing that same something every day is your ticket to staleness. If you're unhappy with aches and pains, a little extra stomach fat that wasn't there a few years ago, or declining energy levels throughout the day- you need to change your routine. It is time to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Variety is a physiological principle that all sound training programs adhere to in order to maximize results. Let's take resistance training for an example. You need to switch up the "acute variables" in order to see progress. Acute variables include:

Consider these variables to be dials on a control panel – you can dial them up or down to create variety and achieve progress much faster. Here's a quick look at each of these variables:

Exercise Selection is not only choosing the exercise which trains a specific movement pattern/muscle group(s), but also a modification to that movement which best suites you. All strength training programs should promote balance throughout the body. You can do this by covering basic patterns of squatting, hinging, lunging, pushing, and pulling. If walking lunges seem to exacerbate your knee pain, maybe lateral lunges are a better alternative that doesn't cause pain yet still allows training the lunge pattern.

Intensity refers to the weight, load, or resistance. Let's remember that exercise is a means of creating a physiological stress on the body. This is referred to as the physiological principle of overload. The easiest way to create overload is by progressing the load or intensity. Heavy loads = high intensity = training results.

Repetitions. As intensity climbs, the repetitions should drop. People generally train anywhere from 5-20 reps. A simple approach would be beginning at 20 reps and falling to 15, 12, 10, 8, 5. By making these programming changes monthly, you have a 6 month progression of intensity and repetitions laid out in advance.

Sets are crucial; they're a primary measure of working capacity and training volume. More is often better, as long as you work up to it over time. Importantly, after achieving higher levels of volume, it is wise to incorporate a low volume week, or unloading week, to ensure proper recovery. This week could be applied every 6-12 weeks.

Rest is a variable that is all too often overlooked, but it's critical for achieving your best results. Depending on your goal, this, may be anywhere from 15 seconds to 4 minutes between sets. When improving maximum strength is paramount, longer rest intervals should be observed. For most populations, rest should vary between 15 and 90 seconds, progressing to longer rest periods as the intensity increases.

Tempo is a term which refers to the speed of the movement being performed. Take a squat for example, there are three phases of this and every movement: lowering, bottom (change of direction), rising. The lower phase should be the slowest of the three, taking anywhere from 1-4 seconds. The change of direction is often less than a second, but can also be seen as a brief isometric hold lasting for 1-3 seconds. The upward phase back to standing should be an attempt to accelerate very forcefully, lasting less than two seconds. A controlled movement should begin with a tempo of 4/1/1 (4 seconds lower, 1 second hold, 1 second or less back to the top). More powerfully movements are done with tempos such as 2/0/1, showing a rapid change of direction. None the less, the lowering portion of the movement should always be controlled no matter what tempo is being trained.

Duration of a training session is usually based on how much time you have available and how much training volume is desired. If you only have 30 minutes during your lunch break for a quick lift, but you still want moderate volume, rest should be minimal. Longer durations are not always better or more effective. Generally an hour is plenty of time for a great program.

Frequency and duration are highly correlated. The frequency refers to how many sessions per week. Depending on the population and training program, this can be anywhere from 2-6. As previously mentioned, more is not always better. With resistance training 3-4 days a week is optimal for the masses.

Tomorrow, I'll show you how you can put all of these acute variables together in one workout. Check back tomorrow for 2 sample workouts.

Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.