Is Muscle Confusion The Best Way to Build Muscle?

The concept of "muscle confusion" is based on the idea that you "keep your muscles guessing" by constantly introducing new exercises and routines.

By continually mixing things up, your body is forced to respond. The plateaus you get with regular training programs are avoided entirely, putting you on the path to rapid muscle growth.

Or so the theory goes anyway.

Is it true that your muscles won't continue to grow unless you keep them confused? Is muscle confusion really the best way to build muscles?

In short, no.

The Muscle Confusion Principle

The so-called "muscle confusion principle" was popular back with bodybuilders back in the 1980's. And like most things in the fitness industry, it seems to pop its head up every few years dressed up as something new. Then everyone gets excited about it until the next gimmick comes along.

The two main factors that stimulate muscular growth are progressive tension overload and, to a lesser degree, metabolic fatigue. While doing a different exercise might leave you feeling sore the next day, it won't automatically "shock" a muscle into growth.

When you include a new exercise in your routine, you'll tend to gain strength relatively quickly. However, this isn't because you've suddenly put on a lot of new muscle.

Your Body Gets Better at Recruiting Muscle Fibers

Rather, the reason that you make rapid gains in strength with a new exercise is because your nervous system does a better job of recruiting muscle fibers.

In other words, any increase in strength with a new exercise has a lot more to do with the fact that your body is using more of the available fibers in a muscle. It's not because the fibers themselves have grown substantially bigger.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should keep on doing the same thing for months on end. But just because your workout has become easier doesn't mean you need to change everything.

If a 50-pound barbell is too light, then put some more plates on the bar. You don't need to start doing a bunch of different exercises simply because the ones you're doing seem easier.

Variety for Variety's Sake is Pointless

"The proper way to include variety in the program is to use it in ways that reinforce training goals so that different types of training during the week have a functional purpose," write strength training experts Mark Rippetoe and Dr. Lon Kilgore in their excellent book Practical Programming.

"This means that the variety lies in the way the basic exercises are applied, and not in a bunch of new exercises."

"Variety for variety's sake is pointless," they continue. "All training must be planned, and success must be planned for. All the variety in the world is no substitute for correct planning."
If you're the sort who gets easily bored, then changing your workout frequently can help to keep you interested and motivated, which is a benefit in itself.

But it's a mistake to do something completely different every time you walk into the gym, or to jump from one program to the next simply because you've been following it for a certain number of weeks. You don't need to.