Week in Review 3-2-18
March 2, 2018Week in Review 3-9-18
March 9, 2018
If you’ve missed any of the previous installments in our Strength Training Staples series, you can find their links below:
Intro: The Importance of Strength Training
Part I – Squats
Part II – Deadlifts
Part III – Upper Push
Part IV – Upper Pull
Part V – Supplemental Exercises
Part VI – The Core
Today, we’ll be covering program design. Program design is a loaded topic – if you polled 100 different coaches on how to design programs, you’d get 100 different answers. Furthermore, I could probably write a month’s worth of articles about the subject. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to keep it simple and show you how to put together a well-rounded program using exercises from the previous articles.
Lots of things work…
There’s more than one way to…
I’ve heard it said that poorly a designed program done consistently will yield better results than the perfect program done sporadically. I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately, if you are disciplined in your adherence to the program, results will follow. If, along the way, you refine and improve your program you will maximize the opportunity to achieve of your goals.
With that said, you’d be well served to incorporate several principles that are universally considered to comprise a well-designed program:
Individuality: The program has to be right for you. Your exercise abilities may differ from your friend or workout partner. Be sure that the program you follow takes into account factors like skill level, mobility, injury history, etc. Better program adherence and positive results will follow.
Progressive Overload: Our programs should encourage us to improve daily, weekly and monthly. If you’re still squatting the same weight in week 6 of your program at the same rep count as you were in week 1, it’s time to challenge yourself a little more.
Specificity: The program should help you work toward your goals. Whether the goal is strength, fat loss, movement quality, etc. be sure that the program fits the desired outcome.
Variety: If squat, deadlift and bench press are the only exercises in our program, we miss out on an opportunity to challenge the body in multiple planes and ranges of motion. Exercises that promote rotation, side to side movement or single-leg stability are all great examples of how you can sprinkle variety into your program, while still keeping the primary exercises. Changing the rep or set count is another way to add variety.
Recovery: Our gains happen during recovery. A well-designed program has periods of high intensity and periods of lower intensity and recovery. If you neglect the recovery component you will increase your risk of injury while harming your overall improvement.
Exercise Selection
We’re going to create two days of programming using exercises from the previous installments. To create our program we’ll refer to the following categories to help ensure that the designed program adheres to the principles above:
Squat
Deadlift
Single Leg Strength/Stability
Core
Upper Pull
Upper Push
Pull Up
Push Up
I like to pair lower body push exercises with upper body pull and vice versa. For people who have limited time in the gym, this helps to keep our workout sessions as productive as possible. Here’s the selection for each day:
Day 1 – Lower Push/Upper Pull
Squat
Pull Up
Lateral Lunge
Dumbbell Split Stance Row
Dumbbell Farmer Walk
TRX Tall Kneeling Fall-outs
Day 2- Lower Pull/Upper Push
Deadlift
Barbell Bench Press
Dumbbell Single Leg RDL
Push Up
Kettlebell Pull Thru
Kettlebell Bottom-up Waiter Carry
Program Design Strategies
With our days outlined and exercises chosen for each day, we can now determine how to design the program to fit our goals. We’ll look at two options, one is a circuit and the other is strength focused.
Circuits are really effective when you’re trying to establish a strength training base. They also allow you to double up on strength training and conditioning, provided you move quickly between exercises. These points make circuits a great choice for someone who is:
A novice exerciser
Recently returning to strength training
Prioritizing fat loss over strength gains
Whose time is limited
I’d actually design the circuit exactly as it’s written above. Alternating lower/upper exercises allows you to move quickly from exercise to exercise with little downtime. The set-up of the circuit would look like this:
8-10 reps for each exercise. Minimize thinking!
A set number of rounds (e.g. 4), with rest only between each round. Keep moving! OR
As many rounds as possible for time (e.g. 30 minutes). Works great if you’re on a time crunch.
The only downside to the circuit approach is trying to set one up in a crowed gym. If you run into this challenge, try to carve out a corner where you can complete most of your exercises. Otherwise, expect to share your stations with other users.
Strength
Our set-up for a strength focused workout will look a little different. The strength focused workout is ideal for an intermediate or advanced exerciser who’s built a solid foundation. Here’s how it looks:
Day 1
A1. Squat – 4 x 8
A2. Pull Up – 4 x 8
B1. Lateral Lunge – 3 x 8/side
B2. Dumbbell Split Stance Row – 3 x 10/side
C1. Dumbbell Farmer Walk – 3 x 20 yards
C2. TRX Tall Kneeling Fall-outs – 3 x 10
Day 2
A1. Deadlift – 4 x 8
A2. Barbell Bench Press – 4 x 8
B1. Dumbbell Single Leg RDL – 3 x 8
B2. Push ups – 3 x 10
C1. Kettlebell Pull Thru – 3 x 8/side
C2. Kettlebell BU Waiter Carry – 3 x 20 yards
You’ll perform all of your “A” exercises, progress to “B”, then “C”. Rather than waste the time resting between sets of squats or deadlifts, we’re going to fill that time with a different exercise. You can significantly cut down on the time you spend in the gym, while ensuring that you’ve recovered enough between sets. Some additional notes:
Provided your technique is good, your level of difficulty on each set should be a 7-8 on a scale of 10. Intensity is your friend, especially on the squats and deadlifts.
I usually program 3 rounds on “B” and “C” for that reason, but feel free to add a 4th if you’d like an extra challenge!
The above is a good starting point. As you advance, consider adding more “A” sets, but reducing the reps and increasing the weight (e.g. 5x5). This is a good way to ensure adherence to the progressive overload principle.
We have many ways to set up our strength based workouts. For example, some people like to split days between upper and lower body. As you advance, play with different strategies to help your progress.
Programming is Both an Art and a Science!
Today, and over the last several weeks we’ve covered a lot. We have a variety or exercises to choose and ways to program – this series only scratches the surface. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your strength training programs. At Vitalifit, we adhere to the principles discussed throughout this series to create challenging, well-rounded workouts. Whether you’re a novice who’s just learning to strength train or a more seasoned lifter who’s in search of new challenge, contact us today to join the Vitalifit Coaching Program that is right for you.
If you’ve missed any of the previous installments in our Strength Training Staples series, you can find their links below:
Intro: The Importance of Strength Training
Part I – Squats
Part II – Deadlifts
Part III – Upper Push
Part IV – Upper Pull
Part V – Supplemental Exercises
Part VI – The Core
Today, we’ll be covering program design. Program design is a loaded topic – if you polled 100 different coaches on how to design programs, you’d get 100 different answers. Furthermore, I could probably write a month’s worth of articles about the subject. For the purposes of this article, we’re going to keep it simple and show you how to put together a well-rounded program using exercises from the previous articles.
Lots of things work…
There’s more than one way to…
I’ve heard it said that poorly a designed program done consistently will yield better results than the perfect program done sporadically. I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately, if you are disciplined in your adherence to the program, results will follow. If, along the way, you refine and improve your program you will maximize the opportunity to achieve of your goals.
With that said, you’d be well served to incorporate several principles that are universally considered to comprise a well-designed program:
Individuality: The program has to be right for you. Your exercise abilities may differ from your friend or workout partner. Be sure that the program you follow takes into account factors like skill level, mobility, injury history, etc. Better program adherence and positive results will follow.
Progressive Overload: Our programs should encourage us to improve daily, weekly and monthly. If you’re still squatting the same weight in week 6 of your program at the same rep count as you were in week 1, it’s time to challenge yourself a little more.
Specificity: The program should help you work toward your goals. Whether the goal is strength, fat loss, movement quality, etc. be sure that the program fits the desired outcome.
Variety: If squat, deadlift and bench press are the only exercises in our program, we miss out on an opportunity to challenge the body in multiple planes and ranges of motion. Exercises that promote rotation, side to side movement or single-leg stability are all great examples of how you can sprinkle variety into your program, while still keeping the primary exercises. Changing the rep or set count is another way to add variety.
Recovery: Our gains happen during recovery. A well-designed program has periods of high intensity and periods of lower intensity and recovery. If you neglect the recovery component you will increase your risk of injury while harming your overall improvement.
Exercise Selection
We’re going to create two days of programming using exercises from the previous installments. To create our program we’ll refer to the following categories to help ensure that the designed program adheres to the principles above:
Squat
Deadlift
Single Leg Strength/Stability
Core
Upper Pull
Upper Push
Pull Up
Push Up
I like to pair lower body push exercises with upper body pull and vice versa. For people who have limited time in the gym, this helps to keep our workout sessions as productive as possible. Here’s the selection for each day:
Day 1 – Lower Push/Upper Pull
Squat
Pull Up
Lateral Lunge
Dumbbell Split Stance Row
Dumbbell Farmer Walk
TRX Tall Kneeling Fall-outs
Day 2- Lower Pull/Upper Push
Deadlift
Barbell Bench Press
Dumbbell Single Leg RDL
Push Up
Kettlebell Pull Thru
Kettlebell Bottom-up Waiter Carry
Program Design Strategies
With our days outlined and exercises chosen for each day, we can now determine how to design the program to fit our goals. We’ll look at two options, one is a circuit and the other is strength focused.
Circuits are really effective when you’re trying to establish a strength training base. They also allow you to double up on strength training and conditioning, provided you move quickly between exercises. These points make circuits a great choice for someone who is:
A novice exerciser
Recently returning to strength training
Prioritizing fat loss over strength gains
Whose time is limited
I’d actually design the circuit exactly as it’s written above. Alternating lower/upper exercises allows you to move quickly from exercise to exercise with little downtime. The set-up of the circuit would look like this:
8-10 reps for each exercise. Minimize thinking!
A set number of rounds (e.g. 4), with rest only between each round. Keep moving! OR
As many rounds as possible for time (e.g. 30 minutes). Works great if you’re on a time crunch.
The only downside to the circuit approach is trying to set one up in a crowed gym. If you run into this challenge, try to carve out a corner where you can complete most of your exercises. Otherwise, expect to share your stations with other users.
Strength
Our set-up for a strength focused workout will look a little different. The strength focused workout is ideal for an intermediate or advanced exerciser who’s built a solid foundation. Here’s how it looks:
Day 1
A1. Squat – 4 x 8
A2. Pull Up – 4 x 8
B1. Lateral Lunge – 3 x 8/side
B2. Dumbbell Split Stance Row – 3 x 10/side
C1. Dumbbell Farmer Walk – 3 x 20 yards
C2. TRX Tall Kneeling Fall-outs – 3 x 10
Day 2
A1. Deadlift – 4 x 8
A2. Barbell Bench Press – 4 x 8
B1. Dumbbell Single Leg RDL – 3 x 8
B2. Push ups – 3 x 10
C1. Kettlebell Pull Thru – 3 x 8/side
C2. Kettlebell BU Waiter Carry – 3 x 20 yards
You’ll perform all of your “A” exercises, progress to “B”, then “C”. Rather than waste the time resting between sets of squats or deadlifts, we’re going to fill that time with a different exercise. You can significantly cut down on the time you spend in the gym, while ensuring that you’ve recovered enough between sets. Some additional notes:
Provided your technique is good, your level of difficulty on each set should be a 7-8 on a scale of 10. Intensity is your friend, especially on the squats and deadlifts.
I usually program 3 rounds on “B” and “C” for that reason, but feel free to add a 4th if you’d like an extra challenge!
The above is a good starting point. As you advance, consider adding more “A” sets, but reducing the reps and increasing the weight (e.g. 5x5). This is a good way to ensure adherence to the progressive overload principle.
We have many ways to set up our strength based workouts. For example, some people like to split days between upper and lower body. As you advance, play with different strategies to help your progress.
Programming is Both an Art and a Science!
Today, and over the last several weeks we’ve covered a lot. We have a variety or exercises to choose and ways to program – this series only scratches the surface. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your strength training programs. At Vitalifit, we adhere to the principles discussed throughout this series to create challenging, well-rounded workouts. Whether you’re a novice who’s just learning to strength train or a more seasoned lifter who’s in search of new challenge, contact us today to join the Vitalifit Coaching Program that is right for you.
