Rotating similar exercises week over week

[perciville]

Hi all,

Wanted to get your thoughts on rotating or alternating 'similar' exercises week over week:

E.g.

• Week 1 Barbell Row, Week 2 Reverse-grip Barbell Row
• Week 1 Barbell Bench Press, Week 2 Dumbbell Bench Press
• Week 1 DB Curl, Week 2 BB Curl
• Week 1 Rope pushdown, Week 2 Barbell pushdown
• etc

Personally, I find it enjoyable, and have been able to progress while doing this. Would I progress faster (more efficiently) if I kept doing the same exercices every week?

 

[mrsneko]

@perciville Rotating 2 exercises instead of doing the same exercise is probably better for longevity of the tendons and the joints. It will stimulate the muscles slightly different.

Keep doing what you are doing. You are enjoying it and progressing, and that is all what matters at the end of the day so don't overthink it

 

[helen2002]

@mrsneko

Rotating 2 exercises instead of doing the same exercise is probably better for longevity of the tendons and the joints.

AFAIK there is no evidence for this, it's just preference.

 

[saved1994]

@helen2002 There isn’t evidence that says this specifically, but you can connect some dots. Pretty much all of physical therapy is about strengthening your joints through a full ROM. And we know that neglecting a given movement/position weakens the joint in that position. And we know that weakening increases chance of injury.

So its pretty safe to assume that strengthening your joints in a variety of different positions will decrease your chances of injury longterm

 

[helen2002]

@saved1994 Thanks for your theory, but there's no evidence of this as stated above.

And if there was, you would also have to show a benefit that slightly changing the angle of the same movement would have an effect significant enough to warrant doing it. Eg. A Smith Machine Press and a Barbell Bench Press.

Please include your citations to backup this claim.

 

[saved1994]

@helen2002 Sure:

Physical therapists use of joint mobility for injury prevention:

https://theprehabguys.com/joint-by-joint-approach/

Decrease joint mobility increases chance of injury:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8139277/

Neglecting specific ROMs causes strength deficits in those areas :

https://paulogentil.com/pdf/Effect of Range of Motion on Muscle Strength and Thickness.pdf

Weakness in muscles increases chance of injury:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9324710/

Your last statement is a straw man, I never said slightly changing the movement to such a minuscule degree would make a difference. Those movements are almost identical. A barbell row and barbell reverse row is 180 degree difference in joint angle of the wrist. They put very different emphasis on the joint, and provide stimulus for mobility and stability. Which, based on everything above, could increase longevity

 

[helen2002]

@saved1994

I never said slightly changing the movement to such a minuscule degree would make a difference. Those movements are almost identical. A barbell row and barbell reverse row is 180 degree difference in joint angle of the wrist

Right so you're talking about a complete different thing then.

OP's post was rotating similar movements for variety, not a completely different joint angle and muscle bias.

Ad it looks like you are in agreement that such a small difference is unlikely to have and significant impact on joint health. May be an issue of technicalities.

Most full workout programs for say back will include all the main muscle groups across a range of joint angles, so swapping the variation of the SAME similar movement on top of that seems unlikely to have any FURTHER benefit since you're still training all the main joint angles and ROMs.

 

[saved1994]

@helen2002 His first example was the one I used, barbell rows and reverse grip rows. Would say the same for chin-ups/pull-ups, sumos/conventional, neutral grip/pronated presses anything that involves the hips and shoulders experiencing stress at different levels of rotation.

I don’t think barbell/smith machine press is a good example. But incorporating dumbbells can enhance stability at the shoulder joint.

My point is there’s probably some benefit to including exercise variations, but I agree that the variations you pick does matter. There needs to be a significant enough difference in joint angle or stability demands or it’s not worth the added complexity.

I do think many basic barbell focused programs are overly simplistic in that regard. They are great for progressive overload, but can lead to imbalances if kept up too long without switching things up. There are plenty of bodybuilders out there who can’t even supinate enough for a barbell curl

 

[helen2002]

@saved1994

There are plenty of bodybuilders out there who can’t even supinate enough for a barbell curl

I agree with most of this except for this part. I had a major wrist injury trying to supinate too much on a Bicep Curl. It's an unnatural wrist position and we are all built differently for various things. I have to stick to EZ curls now and I haven't looked back.

 

[saved1994]

@helen2002 That’s true everyones built differently. Its not by default an unnatural wrist position for that reason exactly. There are certainly some who are limited by bone and joint structure. But many are simply limited by soft tissue, meaning they have not maximized their mobility. Which is my entire point for injury prevention.

If you were a part of the latter group (not saying you are), your wrist injury would be directly because of a mobility deficit that could have been avoided

 

[gr3mlin]

@perciville If you enjoy it and are progressing, then keep doing your thing.

 

[comyn7]

@perciville If you are making progress and enjoying your training then by all means continue, though this is a programming technique I’d primarily use for a more advanced trainee who is very strong and needs to vary their stimulus to avoid injury.

I would generally recommend against it for people who are newer and still learning the skill of training. The skill component of training is better served by more frequent bouts of the same movement.

 

[sammieliz]

@perciville Rotating exercises can prevent boredom and work muscles slightly differently, but consistent progression on the same lifts often yields more measurable and efficient strength gains.