General guidelines for changing a routine?

[obsolete29]

Good morning-
Can somebody offer some general guidelines for changing up a routine? It's my understanding from reading that it's usually good to change your routine up about every 6 weeks because as your body gets used to a specific set of exercises done in a specific number of sets and reps, your body gets used to it and starts to adapt and therefore retards improvement.

How much do I have to change an exercise for it to count as a "change of routine"? So if I'm doing bb flat bench, 5x5, is changing my set/rep scheme to 8x3 enough of a change? Or should I change to db incline, 8x3 in it's place (for example)?

My preference would be to continue doing a full body workout. Is that ok?

Right now, I'm doing a pretty basic full body routine.

day 1, 5x5
flat bb bench
full bb squats
bent over bb rows

day 2
hiit cardio

day3
sumo deadlift
military press
lat pulldown
weighted lunges

day 4
hiit cardio

day5
Same as the day 1 workout except the weight starts light and works up. So, if I'm squating 185lbs on day 1, I'll start with 155lbs and increase 10lbs per set until I'm at 195lbs on the last set. If I can do 195lbs with no problems then I do all 5 sets at 195 on the next day 1.

[RipStone]

First of all, if you are still making good gains with this routine, they there isn't really a need to change things up. If not, I would try changing your exercises and your rep/set schemes.

Try this:

day 1: (3x8-10)
low incline DB press
front squats
reverse grip BB rows or t-bar rows

day 3: (3x8-10)
coventional deadlifts
seated DB press
pullups
bulgarain split squats

day 5: (3x8-10)
you can do the same thing you are doing now.

also, I suggest you check out Bill Starr's 5x5 program. It's also a 3-day full body workout. Here is the link...

http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375215

[GqArtguy]

The general rule (for me at least) is that when you change things, you want to make sure that there is a purpose to that change that whatever you are currently doing helps lead into what you will be doing. That is, each phase leads into the next and helps improve yourself.

[GSP]

I'm not personally a big fan of regularly changing routines, not that making changes can't be productive though. The whole 'I don't want my body to adapt to a routine' stuff is just pretty silly in my opinion. I think a lot of people switch routines just when it is starting to really become productive for them.

One thing to keep in mind is that the large strength gains one benefits from during the first 6-8 weeks doing an exercise are largely from increased neural efficiency. When those initial gains slow down, it doesn't mean the exercises aren't effective anymore, it means that your muscles are going to have to grow more to adapt. In my opinion, routinely changing things up every 6-8 weeks is simply a haphazard application of dual factor theory, whereby the muscles are being deloaded by changing exercises such that neural efficiency can't reach workloads that fully stimulate the muscles. It works to an extent, but I think it's an inefficient manner to go about it.