You're not going to like this, but lifting is about finding joy in the grind (like a lot of life). Gains are often incremental, but add up over time. For me, lifting is my alone time to listen to music and think. The lifting part is automatic.
There's only so much novelty in a squat, so you have to find something beyond that. For me it was powerlifting, for others it's getting bigger, and others it's getting better in their sport.
Also, I deal with people and complex problems all day long. The gym is my retreat. I speak to no one and focus on the relatively simple task of picking up a weight.
And the reason I mentioned accepting the grind is because exercise is a life long activity. There is only so much novelty, so the faster someone finds the discipline to do it beyond novelty motivation, the better.
Do the thinking every 4-6 weeks as you rotate the plan - but also repetition lets you track some progress (reps / weight / how hard set was).
And then there's the days where stuff doesn't quite work, but you have turned up anyhow. Those are days I chalk up to fun.
But it's detrimental to a progressive/scienctific-like approach to lifting.
We want to know that over time we're getting progressive overload. That means you need consistency to watch that 1) The weight goes up for the same reps, or 2) the reps go up for the same weight (or 3, both). Unfortunately exercises are not direct replacements for each other meaning you cannot simply do the same for a variety of (eg:) bicep curls.
Once someone gets past what linear progression can achieve (see Strong lifts 5x5 app for example) then we start to do periodization or other plateau breaking patterns.
Uh, sources for that? As I powerlifter I have lifted with world class lifter who have a huge variations in their exercises. Bands,chains, boxes, pause/no pause, grip width, stance width.
The reason that works for a world class athelete is because they're extremely careful and persistent to periodize and have progressive overload.
Unless the commenter is an equivalent exception, it's bad advice to follow that, or any other, kind of advice from exceptional genetic folks.
It's very difficult to select the correct weight for an exercise when you're constantly changing it up.
What you're describing are simple modifications as a form of progression. Adding a band to a barbell bench press is still a barbell bench press. But going from barbell bench press, to weighted push up, to (incline|decline|flat) dumbbell bench, to iso lateral hammer machine, to smith, to (low, mid high) (cable, bench) flyes, to dips, to ... Is detrimental.
Most folks should try 12 weeks of the exact same exercise per body part with a RIR3, RIR2, RIR1, RIR0 cycle. (increasing weight each week and from cycle to cycle) . And most folks can do a reasonable selection of exercises for a year or two before they need to tweak for imbalance or personal details like insertions, or weaknesses.
Variety has also helped me do weightlifting without injuring myself. I hurt my back pretty badly doing back squats, probably because I was leaning forward too far, probably because I was overcompensating due to quad dominance. Because of an app like this website I was able to discover and try different squat variants that are helping me fill out the core and glute muscles I was lacking. Again, seems like a good thing.
Only real risk is people getting confused or frustrated as to why they're not making any progress. "Doing a bunch of stuff" is very different from training.
Progressive overload is the thing that needs drilled into the newbie's head. None of this is complicated, but doing a bunch of random stuff every time you enter the gym is a really good way to feel like your doing something all while accomplishing very little.
I've been lifting for almost a decade at this point. My philosophy on it boils down to: it's grueling, so... if you're going to do it, you should get the most bang for your buck. That said, changing up the routine in a structured manner is definitely a good idea very once and awhile (if only to deload for a bit).
I’ve been lifting for about six months, and I think this is the longest stretch I’ve been able to go without getting bored with it, because I’m at a gym this time and have access to a ton of equipment.
Variety can really make a difference, and some will say it’s good for your muscles anyways to do different exercises that are targeting the same muscle groups.
And the point of apps like this is that it makes it easy to say “today is push day, push is chest and triceps, show me chest and triceps exercises.” What’s wrong with a novice saying that?