If you spend any time on social media, you often see: “Change your exercises more often. That’s how you create new stimuli and that’s the only way you’ll get stronger.”
But is that really true?
What’s actually meant by “changing” here is movement variability. This has different layers that we need to clarify:
- Strategic variability means using different solution strategies, such as high bar vs. low bar.
- Execution variability means small, intentional or unintentional differences from rep to rep with the same technique. Examples are changes in knee/hip angles, the bar’s acceleration profile, or the force–time curve.
- Outcome variability means that there are fluctuations in the result of the movement. It describes what was achieved, not how it was done. Examples would be variation in squat depth or the touch point on the chest in the bench press.
Additional variation in training itself can be created through further adjustments:
- Periodization: Time blocks are the preparation for competition, where volume and intensity are deliberately changed. The goal is to reduce fatigue and increase specificity.
- Exercise variation: Functionally related exercise variations are added, as they can improve regional hypertrophy and strength.
- Set and load variation: Within one exercise you can use clusters, pause work, or load modulation to achieve better impulse or RFD values.
Train What You Want to Show: Specificity in Powerlifting
One study found that dynamic strength training transfers to dynamic strength about twice as strongly as to untrained isometric tests. Translated, this means: if you train squats, you’ll primarily get stronger in squats.
Transfer to other strength forms or exercises is clearly smaller, but still present. The consequence is that the competition lift should also be the main lift in training (Saeterbakken et al., 2025).
Why Exercise Variations Can Still Be Beneficial
Planned and well-reasoned variation (angle, grip, or equipment) can strengthen regional hypertrophy and dynamics and thus indirectly improve the main lift. Too much and too frequent rotation of exercises, however, probably makes progress worse, not better (Kassiano et al., 2022).
One study compared a rotating exercise selection with a fixed exercise selection. Strength gains and muscle thickness improved similarly in both groups. However, motivation increased more in the group with rotating exercises (Baz-Valle et al., 2019).
Chains and Bands: Hype or Real Benefit?
The resistance curve describes how heavy a rep feels over the course of the movement. With chains and bands, you can unload the bottom or overload the top.
With the so-called “bottom matched” setup – meaning the bar is moved at the lowest point more or less without band/chain tension, and at the top the band has the highest tension and thus the highest resistance – you deliberately shift the main stimulus into the mid/top range of the ROM.
That’s why chains and bands can be a meaningful variation to focus specific phases and angles within a lift (Van Den Tillaar et al., 2022).
Vary Training and Still Keep an Overview?
IMUs are small inertial sensors that are attached to the barbell or the lumbar spine and capture the acceleration of the bar or the body. But IMUs don’t just measure bar speed. They make the structure and changes of the movement measurable.
This makes it visible whether exercise or tempo variations or setups with bands/chains really create the intended ROM emphasis.
Reducing Injury Risk
In powerlifting, the most common injuries occur at the spine (Aasa et al., 2017), the shoulder, or the knee (Aasa et al., 2017).
Through planned and dosed exercise variation, you can change the always-same loading pattern on exactly these joints in such a way that overuse becomes less likely and injuries occur less often.
Conclusion
For powerlifting, specificity is and remains the strongest lever. If you want to get better in the main lifts, you have to train exactly those. However, targeted variations – for example through exercise selection, tempo, or ROM accents, or deliberately shaped resistance curves – can improve technical robustness, regional hypertrophy, and motivation.
BUT: variable training is a tool that has to be programmed carefully and does not replace actual training. Tools like IMUs can help with this planning, because they reveal whether variation in training is actually creating the desired effect.
Take-Home Messages
- The main lift stays the main lift: Variation in training is always goal-driven and serves to improve weak points, technique, and possibly hypertrophy stimuli.
- A plan beats constant novelty: Rotate variations in 3–4 week blocks. If you change too often, it’s almost impossible to keep progression measurable and comparable.
- Every lifter is different: For one person, variation in training can unlock big improvements; for another, it can be a hindrance.
Examples for Your Training
- Squat – Paused Squat: This variation has several advantages. You can clearly see whether depth is reached, and it improves strength exactly in the deepest position.
- Deadlift – Block Pulls: Specifically improves the lockout and can reduce overall loading while you still keep deadlifting.
- Bench Press – Close Grip Bench: This slightly unloads the anterior shoulder and increases the load on the triceps, which helps with the lockout in the competition movement.
Written by Coach Lisa Schaake
References
Aasa, U., Svartholm, I., Andersson, F., & Berglund, L. (2017). Injuries among weightlifters and powerlifters: A systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 51(4), 211–219. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-096037
Baz-Valle, E., Schoenfeld, B. J., Torres-Unda, J., Santos-Concejero, J., & Balsalobre-Fernández, C. (2019). The effects of exercise variation in muscle thickness, maximal strength and motivation in resistance trained men. PLOS ONE, 14(12), e0226989. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226989
Kassiano, W., Nunes, J. P., Costa, B., Ribeiro, A. S., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Cyrino, E. S. (2022). Does Varying Resistance Exercises Promote Superior Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gains? A Systematic Review. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 36(6), 1753–1762. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000004258
Saeterbakken, A. H., Stien, N., Paulsen, G., Behm, D. G., Andersen, V., Solstad, T. E. J., & Prieske, O. (2025). Task Specificity of Dynamic Resistance Training and Its Transferability to Non-trained Isometric Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 55(7), 1651–1676. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02225-2
Van Den Tillaar, R., Saeterbakken, A. H., & Andersen, V. (2022). The Acute Effects of Attaching Chains to the Barbell on Kinematics and Muscle Activation in Bench Press in Resistance-Trained Men. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 7(2), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk7020039