We're told over and over that in order to be successful at something, we need to be consistent. But consistency not tempered with intelligence is as bad as inconsistency when we are being intelligent. You can run east looking for a sunset and no matter how consistent you are, you still won't find a setting sun.

When it comes to consistency with natural bodybuilding workouts, here's the caveat: Be consistent with your workouts when you've found a muscle breakdown/recuperation schedule that's effective. If the one you're using for any of your muscles is ineffective; STOP being consistent.

When an individual starts a bodybuilding regimen, he or she usually adopts a workout schedule obtained from a magazine, book, or fellow workout enthusiast. The muscle building neophyte follows this weekly workout/rest day schedule that's been written out or endorsed by a self-proclaimed bodybuilding expert. These schedules are usually rigid; work your deltoids on Tuesday, rest them X number of days – work them again. Three days on – two days off, or four days on – three days off, etc. etc…. whatever.

But let's ask a pertinent question: If you work your deltoids today (assuming you work them hard), what guarantee do you have that they'll be recuperated and stronger by next Monday, or whenever your etched-in-stone schedule tells you to work them again? The recuperation of your deltoids through the process of protein synthesis will take whatever time is needed. None of us are capable of making a deal with our muscles; "I'll work you once a week if you promise to grow at that rate." Put differently, our muscles have no idea what day it is.

Yet this is exactly how most people treat the workout and recovery process. They act like they've signed some kind of pact with their muscles in which the body has agreed to a specific and fixed number of days in which to repair and grow. Moreover, they assume that even with all the variables inherent in a workout (intensity levels, set numbers, rep numbers) and the variables affecting recovery (stress levels, sleep patterns, cortisol fluctuations), everything will just fall in to place if they follow their schedule. In addition, it's often implied that if we'd just eat a calculated amount of calories above our basal metabolic rate, we're sure to pack on that sought-after muscle.

But what if something's off? What if you work your quadriceps today after having given them a bit more intensity of effort than usual on your last leg workout? In this case, it's quite feasible that you'll need an additional day of rest in order that your quads are fully recuperated and stronger as you go in to this next workout. If that's the scenario and you go ahead and work them anyway (because "today is your leg day"), you could end up running a deficit on that muscle's recuperation. That's because after you've worked them while they're in a state of under-recuperation, it's likely you'll need even more recovery days for your quads to get stronger on the next go-around. This is how hard-training people often end up in a frustrating situation of working out and making no gains. Their rigid adherence to the status quo throws them into a perpetual state of over-training.

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