Can you work out the same exercises your whole life?

Author: Mikhail Ziborov - author of the site makefitness.pro.
2024-01-11

Looking ahead, I will say this: Yes, you can. You can definitely use the same set of exercises throughout your entire life. There are several conditions for this. The first is how broad this set of exercises is; the second is the goal of your training; the third is the intensity (load) of your workouts, based on those goals. Perhaps you no longer need to progress further, and it’s enough just to maintain your shape. Then the intensity of the exercises should be appropriate, rather than being so intense that it strains you excessively.

In our Telegram channel, our team posts daily on topics related to training, nutrition, supplements, or answers interesting questions from followers. Subscribe to stay updated on all of this.

So, it is possible to train for a lifetime using the same exercises. But we need to go over the conditions for it to be feasible.

1. Set of (arsenal) exercises. When we say that it is possible to use the same set of exercises, how many exercises does that set include? Three? Bench press, deadlift, and squats? Of course, you can manage with just these three and train using only them. Or is your list much broader?

Personally, I believe that a minimal set of exercises should include:

- Barbell bench press with both wide and narrow grips, dumbbell presses, dips (for chest and triceps);

- Bent-over barbell row with both overhand and underhand grips, pull-ups or lat pulldowns, barbell shrugs, bicep curls with a barbell standing (for back and bicep muscles);

- Squats with a barbell on the shoulders, dumbbell lunges, deadlifts (particularly Romanian), and standing calf raises (for leg muscles);

- Barbell or dumbbell shoulder press, standing lateral dumbbell raises (for shoulder muscles).

Optionally, you can also add exercises for the abs to this set, but that’s your personal choice. In total, in my humble opinion, the minimal arsenal that can be used for a lifetime includes 17 movements.

So, determine which exercises will be included in your arsenal that you will use. Once determined, you can then think about how to combine these exercises (which to do on specific days). By following the link, you will find ready-made programs that not only combine exercises but also detail the intensity – how many sets, repetitions, rest periods, and training frequency.

2. Training goals. The thing is, your goals determine the intensity with which you will work. That is, you need to understand what training volume you need to set. Do you want to continue progressing, or are you focused on maintaining your current shape?

Yes, you can increase your results with the same list of exercises. But it might also happen that your progress stops without adding some new exercises.

From personal experience: at one point, I couldn’t increase my bench press due to shoulder pain. I had to add exercises for the rotator cuff to strengthen my shoulder joints. And then my bench press started to move forward.

In general, you can progress with the same list of exercises if you increase the training volume – the number of sets and repetitions per exercise. But sooner or later, you will hit a plateau: it is impossible to constantly increase the load. And to continue refining your shape, athletes often add (or completely switch to) isolation exercises. Sometimes, they even use specific movements for better muscle engagement (non-standard movements for the chest and for the whole body).

3. Training intensity (load, training volume). This parameter is important because if you need progress, this parameter cannot be static. The number of exercises may not change, but the number of sets and repetitions should change to show improvement.

If you always work with the same exercises and within the same range of sets and repetitions, the maximum you can expect is maintaining your current shape and keeping your body toned. But there won’t be a growth in physical abilities or muscle mass.

Therefore, load progression is not just an arbitrary idea. Want to enhance your capabilities? Gradually increase the load over time. Don’t aim for that? Then just keep everything as is, training with the same load and the same set of movements.

However, even maintaining your shape and keeping your body toned requires proper nutrition. You won’t be able to preserve muscle mass (and thus strength and endurance) if you’re not meeting your daily protein needs. Likewise, you won’t be able to maintain a visible six-pack if your diet is excessive in fats: subcutaneous fat will accumulate and cover the abs.

In summary, if you are training (maintaining existing results or aiming to improve them) you need to eat appropriately! There’s no way around it.