Have you ever heard the term muscle-confusion? This is commonly used in the marketing pieces of fitness centres to tell you how you'll get better results by doing something different all the time. The premise is that when you do the same activity repeatedly the body 'learns' what you're doing and thus doesn't spend as much energy in order to do. While there is some neuromuscular efficiency that occurs with training it doesn't necessarily lead to the best results. One thing is certain when you perform new movements all the time. You are really sore after doing the first of whatever sport activity you're going to do. Think of how your butt feels after the first long ride on a skinny bike seat. Or how your legs feel after the first heavy powder ski day of the year. Or how your forearms after the first time going rock climbing. Yes it's true. New sports and activity will induce soreness. But I have yet to have one person come through the door of Okanagan Peak Performance Inc identifying soreness as their goal. Or to be sweaty. Or out of breath. How do we know that muscle confusion doesn't work? Because of the research. Recently I was down to Spokane for a conference and had the opportunity to see James Krieger present. During his presentation he showed a study that compared training frequency on size and strength gains. And there were a couple of interesting things about this study. James was the co-author of this study along with Brad Schoenfeld. For those that aren't familiar with Mr. Schoenfeld he is known for producing a lot of great of research on strength training. He is also contracted by the New Jersey Devils. I believe James's role in this paper was to handle the statistics....