Tap to Read ➤

Muscle Confusion Workouts for Men

Shashank Nakate
Muscle confusion workouts are simple, yet effective techniques of exercising the body. Confusing the muscles is actually the process of not allowing an inertia to set in. Here are some useful muscle confusion workouts for men.
The muscle confusion workouts are no different from those used for regular workout sessions. The difference between them is that the former include a variety of exercises. Undergoing the same routine of workouts everyday leads us to a plateau stage.
At the plateau stage, energy spent by the muscles while exercising drops down gradually. This is because the muscles get used to a particular workout, and just go through the motions.

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video.

Muscle confusion workouts for men are recommended to break this inertia of plateau stage. Changes in the workouts have to be brought about on a monthly, weekly or if possible, even on a daily basis. The important thing is to somehow bring a variety in the exercises.

Muscle Confusion Training for Men

Workout for men need to have a lot many strength training sessions. However, cardiovascular exercises are equally important for maintaining one's health. It is only by maintaining a proper balance between strength training and cardio exercises that overall health is improved. These workouts should combine both strength training and cardiovascular exercises in order to make the muscles strong and flexible.

Periodization

This practice is helpful for increasing the size and performance of the muscles. You can try out periodization with any of the workouts you perform. In this practice, the intensity of the workout is changed over a period of time.
Suppose you are doing 4 sets of dumbbells everyday, make the workout more intense by doing 5 sets in the first week, 4 sets in the second, 3 sets in third, and finally resting completely in the 4th week. This alternation helps confuse the muscles, and thereby attains the desired result.

5:5 Routine

The treadmill and elliptical machine workouts can be experimented with, through this routine. A 5:5 routine is implemented by making changes in the speed of incline every 5 minutes. It is observed that the muscles of our body (legs, in this case) get used to the speed of the machine over time. The 5-minute change leads to muscle confusion and forces the muscles to make adjustments accordingly.
The 5:5 routine can also be incorporated in other workout sessions. For example, you can alternate 5 minutes of strength training with that of a 5-minute cardiovascular exercise. Squats, lunges, running on treadmill, etc. are the exercises you can use for the 5:5 routine.

Dumbbells to Resistance Bands

It is not just that you have to do a completely different exercise to confuse your muscles. In fact, a slight change, that of using a different instrument, can be beneficial as well. The use of resistance bands instead of dumbbells helps in training the muscles in a unique way, which confuses the muscles.

Four-Day Workout Routine

Performing exercises 4 days a week is one of the best exercise routines. Undertaking different exercises on each of these days is a recommended practice for muscle confusion. The week should begin with cardiovascular exercises on Monday.
The strength training muscle confusion workouts for men on Tuesdays should incorporate strength training exercises. Wednesday and Thursday should again be reserved for cardio and strength training exercises, respectively.
Cardiovascular Exercises
Cross training is the best way to go about the cardiovascular workouts. This is because, changing the type of exercise (cardio / strength training) you perform is not enough. It is also important to add variety to these exercises. For example, you can do running on the first day of this routine, and swimming on the 3rd day.
Strength Training
The strength training exercises can be performed in a manner similar to that of cardiovascular workouts. You can exercise the abs on one day and the back muscles on the next. In this manner, different muscles of the body can be trained for strength.
Muscle confusion workouts should be performed after prior consultation with a doctor. The reason for this is that, incorporating a variety of exercises in the workout routine can be troublesome for few. Sudden changes in the workouts could pose a danger to one's health. One should therefore take into account the different factors associated with using these workouts.