As I mentioned here on numerous occasions, there are different ways to do the same exercise. Yet simple changes in the positioning of one’s body, changing time under tension, or other things, can all drastically alter the intensity of the exercise and an individuals response to the exercise. This can be particularly useful if someone doesn’t have much time to exercise, or if they don’t have access to a gym. They can do body weight exercises and purchase cheap weights, alter how they do an exercise, and make it more intense.

For instance, a study on a the plank exercise was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research this year, which indicated that suspension training appears to be an effective means of increasing muscle activation. To put this in plain English, putting your arms or your arms AND legs in suspension straps to do planks leads to greater abdominal muscle activation. This can be done at home, too. Theoretically, one can simply place their arms/feet on an elevated surface and accomplish the same thing. For instance, maybe by placing one’s feet upon a foam roller or ottoman.

There are other things to take note of, though, that we will go over in the future. Different exercises, especially when done differently, can alter the response of the CNS in different people. This can easily be tracked with things such as one’s range of motion in different joints, their strength, their vision, and more. Again, we’ll go over this soon, but it’s something to take note of.