Final answer:
The training technique that employs varying volumes and intensities of exercise between workouts is known as periodization. It's crucial for preventing plateaus and enhancing muscle growth by altering workout stimuli to continuously challenge the body.
Step-by-step explanation:
A training technique that varies the volume and intensity of exercises between workouts is known as periodization. This method involves a pattern of physical exercise that includes short periods of high-intensity or vigorous muscular work complemented by longer periods of medium and varied intensity training. It is designed to prevent plateaus in training by continuously changing the workout stimulus. Periodization ensures that muscles do not adapt to a constant level of stress, which can result in a halt in progress. Instead, by increasing the load and intensity over time, muscles are forced to adapt, leading to improved strength and muscle growth.
Regarding the study mentioned where 20 people began the same workout program, the differences in weight loss outcomes can be attributed to individual variabilities such as metabolic differences, body composition, and perhaps variability in exercise intensity despite the prescribed uniformity. As fitness and strength training principles suggest, to achieve significant muscular gains or weight loss, it's critical to increase exercise intensity progressively, and this is precisely what periodization aims to accomplish. By continuously altering the intensity and volume of workouts, this approach ensures ongoing improvements and adaptations to the body over time.