Apollon Nutrition
Cart 0
  • HOME
  • 💰 DEALS
  • BUNDLES
  • SHOP
    • BESTSELLERS
    • MILITARY & 1st RESPONDER DISCOUNTS
    • PROTEIN
    • GLP-1 SUPPORT
    • PRE-WORKOUTS
    • MUSCLE BUILDING
    • RECOVERY & AMINOS
    • FAT BURNERS
    • HEALTH & WELLNESS
    • GEAR
    • BODY BY K
    • SAMPLES
  • SAMPLES
  • ABOUT US
    • MEDIA
      • NEWS
      • BLOG
    • OUR FOUNDERS
    • WHERE TO BUY
    • CONTACT
    • TEAM APOLLON
    • JOIN OUR AFFILIATE TEAM
    • BLOGS
  • WHERE TO BUY
    • STORE LOCATOR
    • MILITARY & 1st RESPONDER DISCOUNTS
My Account
Log in Register
Apollon Nutrition
  • HOME
  • 💰 DEALS
  • BUNDLES
  • SHOP
    • BESTSELLERS
    • MILITARY & 1st RESPONDER DISCOUNTS
    • PROTEIN
    • GLP-1 SUPPORT
    • PRE-WORKOUTS
    • MUSCLE BUILDING
    • RECOVERY & AMINOS
    • FAT BURNERS
    • HEALTH & WELLNESS
    • GEAR
    • BODY BY K
    • SAMPLES
  • SAMPLES
  • ABOUT US
    • MEDIA
      • NEWS
      • BLOG
    • OUR FOUNDERS
    • WHERE TO BUY
    • CONTACT
    • TEAM APOLLON
    • JOIN OUR AFFILIATE TEAM
    • BLOGS
  • WHERE TO BUY
    • STORE LOCATOR
    • MILITARY & 1st RESPONDER DISCOUNTS
Account Wishlist Cart 0

Search our store

Apollon Nutrition
Account Wishlist Cart 0
Popular Searches:
Hooligan Wellness
Blog

SHOCK THE SYSTEM!

by apollon on Sep 05, 2017
SHOCK THE SYSTEM! - Apollon Nutrition

By NPC National Bodybuilding athlete & Team Apollon trainer Jason Fowlks

     In bodybuilding, as well as other sports, VARIATION is essential to physical progression. This means varying everything from your diet to your training split, exercises, rep timing and set types. It was Albert Einstein who once said "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." This is why I want to bang my head against the wall whenever I see people doing the same things, the same way, over and over, week after week, and then wondering why they're not making the progress they potentially could be making.

     The human body is an extremely intricate and complex machine which does a wonderful job of adapting to stimulus. It is important to occasionally  "SHOCK THE SYSTEM!" (people who know me have heard me say this a million times.) By shocking the system, we confuse the body by introducing a new or different stimulus, thus forcing an adaptive response, a.k.a "change." 

     One example of shocking the system is when you're restricting a diet for days, even weeks, then give your body a "re-feed" or "cheat meal". Although these two terms are often confused with each other, they are, in fact, different. A "re-feed" is a calculated increase in caloric intake, which typically consists of large amounts of carbohydrates. A "cheat meal" is an indulgence in something that's not a part of the diet, which typically consists of junk food like pizza, or burger and fries. Although different, both are meant to serve a similar purpose, which is to...yes, SHOCK THE SYSTEM. Believe it or not, this principal does actually serve several physiological purposes (besides giving us a sense of fullness, satisfaction, and yes, sanity, albeit temporarily.) The basic idea is to create a "reset" of the body's adjusted hormonal responses to the plain, healthy, carb-less diet food we've been feeding it. These hormones are responsible for regulating muscle glycogen, metabolism, energy levels, and fat-burning mechanisms. 

     Just as these occasional changes to your diet are important for progression, so too are changes in your training. The body will eventually learn to adapt and endure whatever physical resistance it is given, thus the importance of "mixing things up." The idea here is to keep the body confused and therefore having to constantly adapt to new stimuli, thus forcing a physiological response. There are many different ways this can be done.   

   One way is to vary the training split. In other words, to occasionally change the combination, frequency, and/or order of body parts trained. Personally, I like to change up my split every couple months or so. For example, if my lagging body part is my legs, I'll split my legs into two days, one day focusing on quads, a few days later focusing on hams/glutes. Also, if my shoulders are dominant, I'll train them last, and focus on a weaker part first, when I'm strong and muscle glycogen levels are highest.

     Another way to shock the body is to vary the exercises performed for any given body part. If every chest day you constantly do the same exercises, your chest muscles and the surrounding stabilizing muscles will soon adapt, and learn to better endure, and even combat, the "burn" you're longing to achieve. By doing this, you create a "plateau". But when you periodically throw new movements and/or different angles into the mix, you force the recruitment of different muscle fibers, and thus growth and/or strength will increase.

     Another strategy is to vary set types and rep timing. Just telling someone to "do 3 sets of 10 reps" is only scratching the surface of describing the performance of an exercise. The principal here is referred to as Time Under Tension (TUT). This means the length of time a muscle is under strain during a rep or set. The longer a muscle is under strain, the more muscle fibers are recruited to perform the movement. For example, if you swing the bar up and down during bicep curls, and each rep takes 1 second, a set of 10 means the biceps are working for a total of 10 seconds. But if your rep timing is 2-1-2, meaning 2 seconds eccentric(down), 1 second rest at bottom, and 2 seconds concentric(up), now your ten-rep set forces the biceps to work for a total of 40 seconds, which makes a big difference. Another way to increase TUT is to vary set types. This is done by incorporating "drop sets", "pyramid sets", "rest-pause sets", or one of my favorites, "timed sets", where I choose a somewhat light/moderate weight, and perform as many reps as I can in 45 seconds, or 1 minute, or even 90 seconds (TUT).

     In conclusion, if you want your body to respond (and ultimately improve), the key is variation. Remember to SHOCK THE SYSTEM! If you want your body to change, you must give it a reason to have to. Your body's job is to adapt to whatever you put it through, so your job is to always stay one step ahead of it. Don't be afraid to try new and different things; your body will hate you now, but will thank you for it later. Now get to work!

Previous
“Don’t be mad at the results you never got, for the work you never put in.”
Next
Muscle Dysmorphia is an Emerging Condition that Primarily Affects Male Bodybuilders

Related Articles

Is Apollon 50/50 Formula-X Protein Worth It? Inside Apollon's Dual-Source Protein Blend - Apollon Nutrition

Is Apollon 50/50 Formula-X Protein Worth It? Inside Apollon's Dual-Source Protein Blend

Top 5 Reasons Athletes Use Health Supplements Daily for Performance, Recovery, and Injury Prevention - Apollon Nutrition

Top 5 Reasons Athletes Use Health Supplements Daily for Performance, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Whey Isolate vs. Casein: Why Apollon Nutrition Blends Both for Max Results - Apollon Nutrition

Whey Isolate vs. Casein: Why Apollon Nutrition Blends Both for Max Results

Inside Apollon Nutrition: The Science Behind High-Performance Formulas - Apollon Nutrition

Inside Apollon Nutrition: The Science Behind High-Performance Formulas

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Tags

  • 5050 formula x
  • Alpha Of Omegas
  • Amino Acids
  • Apollon
  • Apollon Gym
  • Apollon Nutrition
  • Apollon RevolutioniZe Challenge
  • Arginine Nitrate
  • Arms
  • assassin
  • Astrion
  • ATP
  • Bare Knuckle
  • BCAA
  • BCAAs
  • Beta Alanine
  • betaine
  • Blackberry Cheesecake
  • Bloodsport
  • Branch
  • Branch Chain
  • Branch Warren
  • caffeine
  • caffeine free
  • Capsimax
  • Carbohydrates
  • Carbs
  • casein
  • casein protein
  • Chainsaw
  • Chaos
  • Chill Pills
  • Chris Vera
  • Citrulline
  • coffee
  • Collagen
  • Company History
  • cookies
  • Creapure
  • Creatine
  • Creatine-X
  • Dermaval
  • diets
  • Double Impact
  • EAA
  • EAAs
  • Egg Protein
  • Egg-Cellent
  • Electrolytes
  • elevATP
  • Endurance
  • Energy
  • Enigma
  • Fat burner
  • Fat Burning
  • Fish Oil
  • Flexible nutrition
  • Formula X
  • From Dusk Till Dawn
  • Gaming
  • hardcore
  • hardcore gym
  • Hooligan
  • Hooligan Bare Knuckle
  • Hooligan V7
  • IFBB Pro League
  • InnoSlim
  • Intra-Workout
  • IsoBlast
  • isolate
  • Joint Support
  • KollaGen II-XS
  • L-Citrulline
  • Legs
  • Lionheart
  • Liver
  • Liver Lover
  • low carb
  • Macronutrients
  • Macros
  • Marina
  • mascarpone
  • Melissa Cardillo
  • Metroflex
  • Michele Frankel
  • Michele Zandman
  • Molotov
  • My Fitness Pal
  • MyFitnessPal
  • Naticol
  • Nitrates
  • NO3-T
  • non-stim
  • Nootropic
  • NPC Bodybuilding
  • nutrition
  • Omega 3
  • Over The Top
  • Overtime
  • parfait
  • Plyometrics
  • Power
  • pre-workout
  • preworkout
  • protein
  • protein balls
  • Protein Cake Pops
  • protein cookie
  • protein cookies
  • Protein Recipes
  • Protein Shake
  • pudding
  • Pump
  • R-600
  • R600
  • recipe
  • RevolutioniZE
  • Robert
  • Robert Samborsky
  • Ruby Chocolate
  • Samborsky
  • Senactiv
  • Shoulders
  • Sleep
  • strong
  • Tabata
  • Taurine
  • Team Apollon
  • Thermogenic
  • Timecop
  • TRAACS
  • Training
  • Transformation
  • Truffles
  • Tyrosine
  • Universal Soldier
  • Vasodilation
  • Wellness
  • whey concentrate
  • whey protein
  • whey protein isolate
  • Workout

Instagram

Let’s get in touch

Sign up for our newsletter and receive 15% off your first order.

Main menu

  • HOME
  • 💰 DEALS
  • BUNDLES
  • SHOP
  • SAMPLES
  • ABOUT US
  • WHERE TO BUY

Information

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Shipping & Return Policy
  • Military & 1st Responder Discounts

Where Are We Located?

Apollon Nutrition, HQ

(inside Apollon Gym)

160 talmadge rd
Edison, NJ 08817

Store Locator

© 2025, Apollon Nutrition
*The statements made within this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements and the products of this company are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Payment options:
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • Mastercard
  • Visa
Cart 0

Confirm your age

Are you 18 years old or older?

Come back when you're older

Sorry, the content of this store can't be seen by a younger audience. Come back when you're older.