Typical lifters get variety in their training by changing exercises. An example would replacing the barbell bench press with the dumbell bench press.
Minimalist lifters do not have the option to change exercises. The minimalist approach to training dictates that we only practice a small amount of lifts when compared to non-minimalist lifters. We consider it almost a crime to say that we are bored of any of the few lifts we practice.
The problem with this is that if you keep doing the exact same lifts the exact same way you will make very little progress. Lets use the bench press for this theory because many people live and die by their bench press. It also happens to be one of the most difficult lifts to improve outside of the beginner-gains stage.
Lets take an imaginary beginner lifter who you know can bench press the empty 45 lb bar for exactly 5 sets of 5 reps. You know because you tested him on his first session and that is exactly what he did. This guy tells you he wants to bench press 300 lbs one day. He is ambitious like any new lifter! You tell him to put thoughts of 300 lbs aside and focus on doing 5 sets of 5 reps with 55 lbs, a 10 lb strength increase. In a interesting way it is human spirit that drives the first form of variety in training. I benched 45 lbs today and I want to bench press 300 lbs tomorrow! I want change! I want variety! So remember this INCREASING WEIGHT FROM SESSION TO SESSION IS THE PRIMARY FORM OF VARIETY AND LIFTERS LEARN IT NATURALLY
You put him in the bench during his second session and he manages to bench 4 sets of 5 with 55 lbs but on the 5th set he can only do 3 reps. So you rest him a little bit and he does a 6th set of 2 reps to complete his 25 rep goal. The moment you added that 6 set you learned the next lesson of variety. ADDING VOLUME IS THE 2ND FORM OF VARIETY LIFTERS LEARN NATURALLY.
The first method of achieving minimalist variety is maximizing our strength in different rep ranges. This means that we are first going to practice simple progressive overload on our minimalist lifts and max out our strength with almost no change to the way we are doing the lift. I like to look at each rep range, from 1 rep to 10 reps as 10 different varieties of the same lift. This could take a long time. If you remember your earliest days of lifting you almost never changed the exercise. The bench press is the best example of this as many lifters get infatuated with this lift in their early days. You started each workout with sets of 10 and then usually work down in reps to sets of 5,4,3,2,1. Its a shame people generally do not do sets of 9,8,7 and 6 as these are very good rep ranges to be strong at. This is how you learned the truth about progressive overload and it happens naturally to almost every young lifter with no guidance!
After you feel that you have maximized your strength in the 1-10 rep range using simple progressive overload the next step is to find variety by changing the way you perform your routine.
Here is my list of methods used to change the way you perform your workout routine.
Shortening or lengthening recovery the time between workouts
When you are a beginner you can train the same lift 3 days a week because you are not able to push yourself hard enough to make it that you need a long recovery time. As you become more experienced you generally need more time to recover in between workouts. You can add variety to your program by taking more or less rest days in between sessions.
Change the order of exercises within workout
After a few months of bench pressing first and doing dumbell flyes 2nd the lifter will do dumbell flyes first and the bench press 2nd.
Tempo change during grinds
slow eccentric, fast concentric
fast eccentric, slow concentric
fast eccentric, fast concentric
slow eccentric, slow eccentric
paused reps
pause at apex of rep
pause in the middle of rep
pause at bottom of rep
pause anywhere
changing rep schemes
Some typical rep schemes are
5x5 - 5 sets of 5
10x2 10 doubles
8x3 8 triples
ascending ladders
pick a heavy weight and do 1,2,3,4,5 rep sets
descending ladders
pick a heavy weight and do 5,4,3,2,1 rep sets
Wave loading
reps stay the same, weight goes up at least 3 weight jumps and after the heaviest weight go back down to lighest weight. Example would be 100 x 5, 120 x 5, 140 x 5, 100 x 5, 120 x 5, 140 x 5
On the clock training
Practice different rest periods between sets from session to session
A set every minute is a fast pace and great for conditioning. A slow pace would be a set every 5 minutes and great for strength/hypertrophy.
Supersets, drop-sets, and pre-exhaust sets
Supersets - do 2 different exercises back to back w/o resting. Example is bench press and pullup.
Drop sets - sets within sets without rest and dropping weight. Example is bench press 150 lbs x 10 reps, no rest take 20 lbs off bar, 130 lbs x 10 reps and repeat. One drop makes it a drop set but some people do 3-4 drops.
Pre-exhaust sets - do an isolation movement before a full body movement. Example would be tricep extensions before bench press.
Ultimately variety is in the eye of the lifter. Everybody is different and you should simply chose the approach that resonates with you the most.
