Exercise is about stress and stress causes adaptation (only when recovery is met). However, the way an exercise stresses the body doesn’t just depend on how heavy the weight is. Think about it, when are you the most sore after a workout? Probably when you did an exercise for the first time in a long time. The opposite is true when you do the same exercise over and over again (not sore).
What am I getting at?
Well, its the idea of variation without consideration. The body is kind of like a stubborn child. When you give it what it is used to, life goes just fine. When you make it experience something new for the first time, its resists you until what is new becomes “normal”. The same is true with any exercise. As you perform the same exercise over a long period of time, your tissues adapt to the pattern of loading, your technique gets better and you can handle more and more loads with quicker turnover times. However, if you throw a wrench in the system and force an equal loading scheme to a new exercise, the stressor is magnified. Not only is the neuromechanical process of motor control being stressed, new tissues and muscle groups are now being loaded. This can actually be quite useful, as it can help bring up deficiencies in some of the tissues not being loaded previously. But, there are some caveats.
In-Season
In season, the body is dealing with a slew of stressors. Ideally, the weight-room is complementary to performance and never steps on the toes of the athlete’s abilities. And… as we all know, when extremely sore, our ability to express skill is hindered. Thus in-season, if we do not take into account the influences of the new exercise, we might be in a world of hurt, literally. A new stressor is a stressor in of itself (stole that line from Teddy Willsey) and a when the body is already having to manage the in-season demands, this stressor might just be the last straw on the camel’s back. Fatigue and soreness may become exacerbated and skill acutely reduced, unless loading and integration of this new stimulus is managed.
Work Around (My Opinion)
Personally, I don’t think there should be much variation in-season. However, if you are going to mix it up, I feel that a couple of steps need to be taken.
- Reduce the magnitude of the load more than you think necessary
- Reduce the number of sets you think necessary
- Stress the motor skill more than the load (at first)
The first two are easy to do, the second is a little trickier. The best way to do this is with a controlled tempo (doesn’t need to be as slow as shown in the video below) and with a set and rep scheme that is more than manageable. In my opinion, as a former college basketball player, this kind of process allowed me to handle new stressors in-season without being wrecked. The video below is an example of something I may implement. Notice, the time under tension is much higher than usual, but the load is about 50%1rm and the controlled tempo allows for technique to be the focus (plus it removes the need to handle high velocity eccentrics = soreness).
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPC-0kcbopo[/embedyt]
Conclusion
A new stressor is a stressor by itself. Rushing to load a new movement variation or exercise is a recipe high levels of acute fatigue. Thus, erring on the conservative side may help this transition be a little smoother. Remember, “no one training session can make you, but one can break you”. I know that quote is a little extreme, but if you have ever played college sports at any level, you would understand where I am coming from. Especially some slow ass like myself that had to rely on strictly jumpers!
G-Flight and G-Tech