Stop being confused about muscle confusion! Countless people make the mistake of constantly switching up their training program or jumping from new exercise to new exercise because they “crave variety” or “get bored easily.”
Rather than constantly changing your workout program and trying to ”shock” or ”confuse” your muscles or to “keep your body guessing,” follow a fundamentally sound program that addresses YOUR needs and goals, work at improving your form, and apply the principle of progressive overload. If you do so consistently and indefinitely, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised at what happens.
Here are 5 strategies that will help you achieve muscle ‘’confusion’’ without taking away from the overall effectiveness and integrity of your training program.
#1) Change Your Lever Length
Here is an example using dead bugs. By altering your body lever length you can change the difficulty of the exercise. Shortening the lever makes the exercise easier (top video with bent knees), and lengthening the lever makes the exercise more challenging (bottom video with legs fully extended).
I recommend starting off with the bent knee variation, and ONLY fully extending your knees if you are performing the exercise correctly. This should not feel ‘’too easy,’’ even when adapted.
Most people start out doing the longer lever variation of dead bugs, and as it’s too advanced for many people (at least currently) they say the exercise feels ‘’too easy.’’ Shortening the levers by keeping the knees bent can actually be a great example of making an exercise feel more challenging by adapting as doing so will allow them to perform the exercise correctly.
No matter who you are, there is NO shame in adapting an exercise!
#2) Use A Different Grip
You can “shock” your muscles by performing the same exercise and simply changing your grip. Let me use pull-ups as an example. In the first video I am performing pull-ups using a regular (pronated) grip, and then chin-ups (supinated grip). In the second video I’m performing triple pause pull-ups using a neutral grip.
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#3) Change The Tempo
Rather than using the same tempo for all of your exercises, you can ‘’confuse’’ your body by performing the same exercises while using different speeds.
You can do negative reps and focus on performing the lowering/eccentric component very slowly as I am with these back squats (I like to use a range of 3-5 seconds).
I also find that using a slower tempo can be a great way to help individuals learn how to do an exercise correctly.
I’m also a huge fan of using a negative 1.5 rep tempo, or using pause reps.
You can also perform exercises more explosively (as long as there is control).
With any tempo you use, the key is that you are able to maintain proper form and control for 100% of the exercise.
#4) Incorporate An Unstable Surface Or Unstable Object
Let me be clear. I am not a big fan of most forms of unstable surface training (especially what I often see on social media), particularly when it comes to training the lower body. I’ve written multiple articles on this topic. Here is one of them. It’s a throwback!
However, when used properly unstable surface training can be beneficial, and a great way to keep people “interested.” I am an advocate of using unstable objects while on a stable surface.
In this video I’m performing seated bottoms-up overhead kettlebell presses.
Here are several examples of training on an unstable surface. I do occasionally use some “chaos” exercises.
#5) Change Your Body Positioning: Alter Your Hand Width Or Stride Length
It IS possible to target different muscle groups while performing the same exercise.
Here is an example using push-ups.
If the goal is to target more chest:
✅ The hands are positioned wider than shoulder width apart (optimal width will vary on an individual basis).
✅ In the bottom position, the elbows and torso form about a 45-60 degree angle. This should look like an ‘’arrow.’’
If the goal is to target more triceps:
✅ The hands are positioned so they are much closer together.
In this video I demonstrate how to target different muscles while performing reverse lunges.
If the goal is to target more quads:
✅ The torso is more upright.
✅ There is a shorter distance between the front and back foot.
✅ The knee of the front/working leg is in closer proximity to the toes (or is past the toes).
✅ There is more ankle dorsiflexion.
If the goal is to target more posterior chain:
✅ There is more of a forward lean in the torso.
✅ There is a greater distance between the front and back foot.
✅ The knee of the front/working leg is in closer proximity to the heel.
✅ There is less ankle dorsiflexion.
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