Variety in Strength Training Paper

Original Release: Science Periodical On Research and Technology in Sport (SPORTS), Volume 8, No 8,  Charles Poliquin, August 1988

Variety is a critical factor in optimizing the strength training response, as it helps avoiding physiological and psychological stagnation caused by over-empha­sized specialization. Practical experience indicates that the human body's adaptation to the training stresses can rapidly deteriorate, within only two weeks of exposure to a constant load.

Unfortunately, few coaches realize that in order to optimize the benefits of a strength training program, the training loads must be periodically varied and/or progressively increased.

As a result, many programs produce less than optimal results. This article will discuss various methods to build variety into training programs, to enhance their effectiveness and intensity of training. 

This is a downloadable paper.