Hi i was wondering if muscle confusion all that beneficial. It seems to make sense, and that P90X program thing swears by it, but it also seems like the people who use that just lose all their body fat without actually getting stronger like in gymnastics. Is there any muscle confusion in gymnastics?
Muscle Confusion
Started by Samuel Carr, September 5, 2009 · 9 Replies · 4,722 Views
element3904 said:Hi i was wondering if muscle confusion all that beneficial. It seems to make sense, and that P90X program thing swears by it, but it also seems like the people who use that just lose all their body fat without actually getting stronger like in gymnastics. Is there any muscle confusion in gymnastics?
************The body adapts to all stimuli! The Cns needs"variety" not confusion. Yes there is "variety" in gymnastics.
Brandon Green
element3904 said:Hi i was wondering if muscle confusion all that beneficial. It seems to make sense, and that P90X program thing swears by it, but it also seems like the people who use that just lose all their body fat without actually getting stronger like in gymnastics. Is there any muscle confusion in gymnastics?
Muscle confusion is a stupid term.
If you constantly switch your exercises you don't really improve your performance much at all.
That said, switching exercises is beneficial at times because your body is used to them, and it lets you work different movement patterns which can also give good stimuli for your muscles
Isn't the real term for this "periodization"? I think p90x created the term "muscle confusion" so they could have a trademark on the terminology they use.
"Muscle-Confusion" is a very popular term in current fitness trends right now.
CrossFit could be considered a bit of this, however over time you will get better at doing some things because it repeats.
In gymnastics, we want to keep getting more proficient at things as this will let us raise the difficulty to some degree.
It's a pretty dumb term, but the term is used that doing different random things does not allow the person to become proficient at them. Thus the same stuff is always just as tough.
mata_leao said:Isn't the real term for this "periodization"? I think p90x created the term "muscle confusion" so they could have a trademark on the terminology they use.
No. "muscle confusion" is not periodization.
The term muscle confusion has been around for a long time. The general idea is that the body needs variety to stimulate growth. I do not think its proponents are against the practice of moves to develop skills. Rather, as a form of body building, or muscle building, in the general sense, and not the limited sense of bodybuilding competition, muscle confusion is a way to avoid working out in a rut, such as by only doing bench press, day in, day out. The idea is to give the muscle, or perhaps better stated, the nervous system, something new to which it can adapt.
If you have been working out for a long time, variety of exercises is important, not only to help build the muscles, but also to keep the mind involved.
Blairbob said:"Muscle-Confusion" is a very popular term in current fitness trends right now.CrossFit could be considered a bit of this, however over time you will get better at doing some things because it repeats.
In gymnastics, we want to keep getting more proficient at things as this will let us raise the difficulty to some degree.
It's a pretty dumb term, but the term is used that doing different random things does not allow the person to become proficient at them. Thus the same stuff is always just as tough.
You're wrong about the same stuff being just as tough. Properly applied, muscle confusion accelerates strength gains as well as size gains. It also forces increased body awareness(is kinesthetic awareness the right term here?) since you'll be doing different exercises in a similar plane of motion. Ideally, each workout is different. Two or three different workouts is all you need to keep a constant state of "muscle confusion". For example, if you are straight bar benching one workout, the next workout you would use dumbbells with a similar level of intensity, ie. you can only do 6 reps with the given weight. Then the next workout perhaps you work pseudoplanche pushups. Then you go back to straight bar, and continue. You will find that your strength or endurance (or whatever you are working on) levels will increase more steadily with this approach. As long as you are working with similar intensity in similar planes of motion, your abilities will not stagnate.
This concept is to be used in concert with periodization. For example, you concentrate primarily on endurance, with perhaps one set a week for heavy work just to maintain the maximal strength levels you have. You still alternate your exercises, using the appropriate intensity levels for the "period" you are in. When you switch to a new "period" such as from endurance to strength, you will then use a higher intensity level, but you would still alternate exercises.
Because gymnastics, at least from the workouts I have seen posted, focuses on different skills different days, but still uses many of the same muscles, it is in fact using the concept of muscle confusion. That is (in my personal opinion) part of why gymnasts develop a very high degree of strength in all areas as quickly as they do.
I really don't give a care about this training modality for gymnastics. Not for creating "real" gymnasts.
If someone simply wants to use gymnastics for their fitness goals in coercion with "muscle-confusion" that's great, but it is not my interest or worth my time.
I want to backhand people, five across the eyes, whenever I hear this term in person. It's right up there with, "feel the burn".
HAHAHA, yes, it is a really stupid sounding phrase. If you really do that, please tell me first. I'll be there with popcorn.