Program Design 101

Effective exercise programming is made up of several key elements.  Of course the first question is: Where to begin? Most of us either go into the gym blind or you are stuck in your same routine. For men, it's Chest/Tri day, back/bi, Arms/core and legs if you're lucky. Sometimes you go a little crazy and throw in some super sets. Women, you hit triceps, abs and glutes hoping to solve your problem areas before 45 minutes of low intensity cardio. 

To overcome this ineffective training (please don't get me wrong I am happy you at least train), here is a very basic way to build a program with some rhyme and reason. Please 

The easiest way to begin writing a program is to work backwards.  First, ask yourself how many times a week you want to workout.  Make this realistic and something you will stick to!!!  This will be your Training Frequency.  2 days a week is doable, 3 days is optimal for most people, 4 days a week is usually reserved for athletes or intense programs with a great amount of volume. 

Next, we have to know what we’re doing each day before we go into the gym. This is our Movement Selections.  We view our movement selections as having four main options:

1.)  Upper body push movements (push-up, bench, presses)

2.)  Lower body push movements (squat/lunge variations)

3.)  Upper body pull movements (rows and pull-ups)

4.)  Lower body pull movements (deadlifts, rdls, glute bridges)

Our goal is to stimulate each muscle group and movement pattern 2x within a 7 day period.  You can accomplish this easily by first combining opposing movement selections from the upper and lower body.  So if we use upper body push movements, we combine them with lower body pull movements and vice versa.  In two and three day a week programs, you will also have to include some full body workouts. 

Next, set up your strength blocks (grouping of exercises), which should simply include:

1)   A strength or power movement

2)   The opposing strength movement

3)   A core exercise

4)   A corrective exercise (active recovery)

To this point you have your training frequency, training splits and a blueprint.  Filling in your blueprint with exercises now has meaning to it.

Make sure to stay within your limits; do not choose an exercise or a progression of an exercise that you have not yet earned.  Also be sure to choose exercises that compliment each other.  So if you do an upper body push strength movement, do a corrective exercise for those same muscle groups.  Here is an example:

1.)  Upper Push Movement: Alternating Chest Press

2.)  Core Movement- Rotating Wood Chops

3.)  Corrective- Active Pec Stretch

Once you have filled your strength blocks with appropriate and specific exercises, we need to select the appropriate sets, reps, and rest. To guide you, we put together a basic strength-training continuum: 

Your goal decides where you land on the continuum.  As you can see, maximal strength gains come from heavier weight loads with fewer reps and endurance gains are typically seen on the completely opposite end of the spectrum with a much greater amount of reps. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) usually falls in the middle. 

Lastly is the amount of rest needed. This is up to you. Rule of thumb: higher reps w/ lower loads require less recovery time. Low reps with high loads require more time to have the muscle recover. Key take home with rest: DO NOT SACRIFICE FORM FOR WEIGHT/REPS. Let your body recover and the gains come quicker and safer. 

That is a very simple approach to the way we program.  However, the basics are both safe and effective.  Follow this blueprint and you will see success with your programming for years to come.