Untitled design (2)

How Often Should You Change Your Workout Routine?

Stop changing your workout routine more than you change your underwear.

That constant switching—new programs every week, random workouts from Instagram—is one of the biggest reasons people never consistently hit PRs or get strong AF.

And I get it. Thanks to social media and great marketing, a lot of people believe you need to "confuse your muscles"...
That if your body gets too used to something, you’ll stop progressing.

But here’s the truth:
Your muscles don’t have a brain—so they can’t get confused.

What they do need is repeated exposure to the same movements so your body can actually adapt and get stronger.

If your goal is real strength—like adding 100 pounds to your squat or deadlift—you can’t keep bouncing around.
You need structure. You need repetition.

What most people don’t realize is this:
Strength is a skill.

Think about anything you’re good at right now.
You weren’t great when you started, right?
You got better through practice. Reps. Repetition.

Lifting is the same way.
Learning a barbell squat, deadlift, or bench press is like learning a new language.
If you want to become fluent in Spanish, you’re not practicing it for one week and moving on to French.
You stick with it—week after week—until it clicks.

These lifts aren’t just movements. They’re technical.
You need proper setup. Bracing. Bar path. Timing.
And your brain has to learn how to send faster, stronger signals to your muscles to generate force.

If you keep switching exercises too often, your body never builds that coordination or power.
You’re basically resetting every time.

So how long should you actually stick with a program before switching it up?

 If you really need variety to stay motivated, 6 weeks is your bare minimum.
But just know—you’re not going to get the most out of your lifts if you switch before that.

Here’s why:

If your goal is to build strength—like adding 50–100 lbs to your squat, deadlift, or bench—you need to keep those lifts in your program consistently.

Because like we just talked about—strength is a skill.

Every time you add a new lift or variation, your body enters a learning phase.
Your nervous system is figuring out how to coordinate that movement.
Until that’s dialed in, you’re not getting stronger—you’re just getting used to the movement.

That’s why constantly switching things up kills progress.
You never give your body time to actually master the movement.
But once you do?
That’s when you can load it up and start chasing PRs.


What If Your Goal Is Muscle Growth?

If your goal is muscle building, the rules shift slightly.

Muscle building isn’t as skill-dependent.
Yes, you need good form—but you don’t have to do heavy barbell lifts to grow muscle.

The key drivers for hypertrophy are:

  • Proximity to failure (intensity)

  • Volume

  • Frequency

So if you’re someone who gets bored easily, you can have more variation in your programming.
You can swap barbells for dumbbells, change angles, or rotate machines—
as long as you’re still training hard and sticking to those three principles.

That said, even with muscle growth…
Don’t switch exercises too early.

You still want to progress the lifts you’re doing.
Changing them too often just for the sake of “doing something different” makes it harder to track that progress.

So here’s the quick rule:

  • Muscle growth = 6+ weeks minimum

  • Strength = 8+ weeks minimum


Know Yourself, Know Your Goal

At the end of the day, this comes down to two things:
Knowing your goal—and being real about how you train.

If you say you want to get stronger, but you can’t stick to a program for more than 6 weeks...
That’s a disconnect.

Strength takes time. Repetition. Patience.

And I’ll give you a personal example—
When I first got into lifting, I thought I wanted to do a powerlifting competition.
But every time I ran a powerlifting-style program, I’d get bored by week 8.
I didn’t want to just squat, bench, and deadlift with a few accessories for 12+ weeks straight.

I liked the style… just not enough to stick with it long enough to actually compete.

And that’s not a bad thing.
But it means I had to be honest with myself about what kind of training I was willing to do—and whether it aligned with my actual goals.


To Recap

Strength is a skill. Repetition matters.
For strength, stick to your program for at least 8 weeks—longer if it’s still working.
For muscle growth, you have more flexibility, but still aim for 6+ weeks before switching.
Don’t confuse boredom with a plateau. That’s not the same thing.

Progress comes from repetition—not random variety.
If you’ve been switching workouts every few weeks and not seeing results, maybe your program isn’t the problem.
Maybe you just haven’t stuck with it long enough to let it work.


How Long Do You Stick to a Program?

Let me know in the comments—how long do you usually stay consistent with your training block?

Want More Tips Like This?

Subscribe to the Lift Without Limits newsletter here

AND subscribe to my Youtube channel here - for weekly training tips to optimize your training and build strength that lasts.

Let’s connect:
Instagram: @keyonniadams_dpt
Facebook: Keyonni Adams, DPT

Leave a Comment