Confusing Your Muscles Can Help You Stay in Shape

Confusing Your Muscles Can Help You Stay in Shape

You may have heard the term in passing at the gym. It's called muscle confusion, and it's the latest rage in fitness.

So what exactly are muscle confusion exercises? And how would you have a muscle confusion workout? Let's start breaking it down.

Muscle confusion means you mix up your workouts so you never plateau in strength or cardiovascular endurance. You keep working your muscles in different ways to achieve maximum results.

Some people might be able to make that happen on their own by alternating types of exercises. Others may need a little help, maybe a training program to follow.

Muscle confusion is the basis for P90X, an at-home workout program that has gained widespread popularity, even with the gym regulars.

I don't usually write about video exercise programs, mainly because there are so many and it's tough to figure out which ones are the most effective. But this program has people talking. At least once a week, someone recommends it to me.

So I had to check it out.

Fortunately, a neighbor who had already shelled out $120 for the 12 DVDs and training guide offered to let me borrow it. The P90X workouts, I found, are nothing out of the ordinary. Basic exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, are sprinkled throughout the program. There also are some kickboxing, plyometric, yoga and Pilates moves.

But it's the way the schedule is set up that creates the challenge for the body. For 90 days -- that's the 90 in the program's name -- you follow a calendar that doesn't allow your muscles to get overly accustomed to any one routine. By the way, the P stands for power and the X is for extreme.

After three weeks of intense workouts, you follow a recovery schedule for one week that mandates less taxing workouts and allows the muscles to strengthen.

P90X isn't all about exercise, either. There are optional nutrition and supplement guidelines that go along with the program. At the very least, participants are encouraged to eat right.

Tony Horton, the exercise trainer who developed P90X, states in the introduction, "You can do thousands of crunches a day, but that eight-pack is not going to show up unless you start making the right food choices."

Author: Maria Howard
Article Source: thirdage.com