What is "muscle confusion" and why is it supposed to be more effective than regular training?

You need to tear down muscle to build it bigger. Not down to the ground, just enough to do some damage. Then when it repairs itself it is stronger. If you do the same reps/weight then you’ll end up with a bit of definition but no major muscle growth. Unless of course you are simply out of shape to begin with.

This is also why recovery time and diet is so vitally important to muscle growth.

Muscle confusion is where you substitute your everyday alarm clock with a fog horn or where you are sound asleep in the recliner and your cup of coffee tips forward in your lap.

Muscle confusion is self explanatory. Every time you work a particular muscle group, you switch up the exercises used to hit that particular muscle(s) and you use either high weight low repetitions, low weight high reps, and so on. It is called muscle confusion because your muscles are not dealing with the same amount of weight and they are not dealing with the same exercises over and over.

By switching exercises, the weight used, and the number of sets and reps, your muscles never get accustomed to the same load. Your body does a pretty good job of being able to adapt to a particular amount of weight lifted over and over. Therefore your muscles will reach their genetic mass and not grow larger.

Muscle confusion works wells because it incorporates muscle fibers that are typically dormant when you lift the same weight over a longer period of time. Because these fibers tear, they contribute to the larger gains in muscle mass

One thing I’d like to add is that this research has been known for quite some time. I am jealous of the P90x guy because he came up with his own plan, it could have been anything as long as he stressed the idea of muscle confusion. He has sold a bunch of copies of his workout schedule based on this purpose even though this info was old hat.

These exercises work well, but like any work plan, you have to stay consistent with them in order to at least maintain muscle growth.

Random fact: Your body maintains the same muscle mass for 12 weeks by doing a full body workout once a week.

@mass_pike4 Am I the only one that thinks the phrase “Because these fibers tear” can’t be a particularly good thing?

Honestly it’s only intuition speaking here, but its speaking loudly.

Muscle confusion is a made up term. Basically the idea has been used for decades (if not centuries). When you work out you rotate what muscle groups you work out, giving your previously worked out group time to rest (or “confusing” your muscles as too who is getting worked out). The only kink added recently (and not really even added, just expressed more greatly by the likes of P90x) is the idea of changing what workouts you do for the same muscle group. Hence “confusing” that group by giving it a new workout. The only problem being that your muscles aren’t sentient and don’t have any clue that you’re doing a different workout. They work exactly the same as if you were doing the same workout every time. It can however work different muscles of the same group together or apart, or include other muscles that wouldn’t normally be included (but again, you could counter this by simply doing those same exercises continually).

Not to belittle the P90x workout. If you follow it, it does work pretty well. And the idea of mixing up your workouts does make the monotony of working out daily a bit less repetitive. But the term is just a made up word to sell product.

@RedMosquitoMM: Well tearing of muscle fibers (tissue) is good because this is how muscles grow. The protein that we receive from our foods helps to repair muscle tissue and in turn helps the muscle grow.

@mass_pike4 Helping you out here. In the basic explanation, your muscle fibers break, and your body rebuilds them stronger so they don’t tear as easy the next time.

@westy81585: Tear is the proper term and you are right, the protein you consume in foods helps rebuild the muscle tissue. Any time there is growth, there has to be a break down of muscle tissue and a rebuilding process

That certainly makes sense.