How Often Should You Change Your Exercises? A Trainer’s Perspective
This is a question I get a lot: How often should I change my exercises? And how many different exercises should I be doing? It’s a great question, and understanding the answer can make a huge difference in the results you see from your training.
I’m all for variety in workouts, especially because training needs to be fun and engaging. We’re not robots, and the psychology of enjoying your workouts is a big factor in staying consistent. But when it comes to the science of exercise, the truth is we don’t actually need to vary the exercises themselves all that much. In fact, sticking to a few core movements might be more beneficial than constantly swapping out exercises.
The Power of Mastering the Basics
When you get better at a specific exercise, you start building efficiency. Your body becomes more comfortable with the movement, and you develop what’s often called a “mind-muscle connection.” Now, I’m not a huge fan of buzzwords like that, but in essence, it means that the more you practice a movement, the better you get at feeling and controlling your muscles throughout the exercise.
Take deadlifts, for example. If you’ve done hundreds or even thousands of deadlifts over time, you start to really understand what it feels like to engage each muscle—your glutes, hamstrings, core, and even your grip. You recruit more muscle fibers, and your form improves, allowing you to lift more weight and get more out of the movement.
So instead of changing exercises constantly, what we really want to focus on is becoming better at the key exercises. By sticking with these movements, you can load them more effectively and see better progress.
What to Manipulate Instead of Exercises
Rather than changing exercises frequently, I recommend manipulating other variables in your training to keep things fresh and challenging. Here’s what you can play around with:
Tempo: How fast or slow you perform each rep makes a huge difference. For example, a five-second lowering phase (eccentric) on a squat will feel entirely different than a quick one-second drop. Controlling tempo can make lighter weights feel heavier and challenge your muscles in new ways.
Rep Scheme: Doing 50 reps versus 5 reps of the same movement will create very different effects. Higher reps with lighter weight build muscular endurance, while low reps with heavy weights focus on strength.
Loading Method: You can change how you load an exercise. Add bands or chains for progressive resistance, switch to dumbbells or kettlebells, or try different implements to challenge your muscles in new ways.
Rest Periods: Shortening or lengthening your rest periods between sets can change the intensity of your workout. Less rest means more of a metabolic burn, while longer rest periods help you lift heavier weights.
Exercise Combinations: Try pairing exercises into supersets or complexes. For instance, do a squat followed immediately by a shoulder press. This keeps your heart rate up and increases the intensity without needing new exercises.
Rest-Pause Sets: Another great technique is rest-pause training. You push a set to near failure, take a short break (just a few seconds), and then continue for a few more reps. It’s a great way to increase time under tension and get that extra burn.
Why Stick to Fewer Exercises?
There’s a limited number of truly effective exercises, and honestly, as we get older or deal with different injuries, some movements just won’t feel right for everyone. It’s more important to focus on eliminating exercises that don’t work for you and zero in on the ones that do.
When you find exercises that fit well with your body and training goals, stick with them. Don’t feel like you need to switch things up just for the sake of variety. Instead, manipulate the variables we just talked about and enjoy the process of getting stronger and more efficient at those key movements.
Advanced Physique Training vs. General Fitness
Of course, if you’re training for a specific purpose—whether it’s performance-based, rehab, or aesthetics—there might be times when you need to include specialized exercises. For advanced physique training, targeting specific muscle groups with highly focused exercises can make a big difference. But for most people, the basics are where it’s at.
Get good at a few fundamental movements, figure out the ones you like and that work for your body, and manipulate the variables like tempo, reps, and rest periods. This way, you keep your workouts interesting without overwhelming yourself with too many exercises.
Conclusion
When designing programs for our clients at Forefront Golf and Fitness, we focus on finding a few exercises they do really well. We use those as the foundation and then change up the other aspects of the workout to keep it fresh and challenging.
This same principle applies to your nutrition, too—stick to what works, tweak the details, and have fun. At the end of the day, it’s all about consistency, enjoyment, and results.