I was just talking to a patient yesterday about his work-outs. He mentioned how he had plateaued with his results. I so often hear that comment. I started asking him questions – how often did he worked out? What did he do for his routine? Not surprisingly, he has been doing the exact same routine for year and he always does an entire body routine.

Strenght training needs to have variety if you want to have success. The body is smart and it will adapt to your routine and will not progress.

I suggested to him to start doing a 4-day split: chest and biceps, back and triceps, legs and abs and shoulders, traps and calves. Being a creature of habit, he was not sure about making these changes.

By doing a 4-day split, you do 3 exercises per body part – you make the muscles work harder but you give it more time to recuperate and “growth”. In order to see gains with muscles you need to stress the muscle enough to create micro-tears which will create repairs and growth.

Now I’m not talking “Arnold” size here – just your normal natural muscle building which we all need to maintain a good muscle mass and a better metabolic rate!

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Nathalie Beauchamp, B. Sc., D.C. is co-author of the book Wellness On the Go: Take the Plunge - it’s Your Life! And the founder of www.roadmaptowellness.com, and on-line wellness education program. Dr. Beauchamp is a chiropractor, a certified personal fitness trainer, a professional bodybuilder, a TV personality, a corporate wellness consultant and an inspirational speaker.

As the co-author of the book Wellness On the Go, I would like to invite you to claim instant access to 3 chapters of my book by visiting www.wellnessonthegofreechapters.com

Dr. Nathalie Beauchamp www.drnathaliebeauchamp.com