Program Design 101
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So how do you find the right strength training program for YOU?
You can find so many programs out there, and it’s hard to know which ones will work.
Certain programs “work” for certain people, and there’s a lot that goes into whether a program will work for an individual.
Now, diving into every single detail of program design would require an entire encyclopedia, but we’re going to tackle some of the major principles associated with designing a program that’s going to be optimal for you and your goals.
We’re assuming if you’re reading this article you’re interested in getting stronger or building lean muscle. We’re going to discuss strictly the strength side of things.
So here are a few key things you must consider prior to beginning a program:
First, you need to establish what you want.
If you don’t know what you want, you’re going to have a hard time getting there.
You have three distinct choices for which you can train:
1. Health
2. Performance
3. Aesthetics
Within aesthetics, you can train for either muscle gain or fat loss. Unless you’re a beginner, as in someone who has trained intelligently for six months or less, you can’t have both.
If you want optimal results with the goal you’ve chosen, you need to focus all of your training efforts on that one goal.
Sure, you can see some results within each. However, if your goal is to win a championship in a sport, you don’t get a medal for having the best abs or having the best blood panel.
If you want a little bit of each, you just need to accept you’re not going to excel in any one area.
So it’s best to establish a clear goal and focus your attention of that one thing.
You need to establish your priorities in life.
Understand that balance in life doesn’t exist.
Expecting you’re going to train for a bodybuilding show or train hard seven days per week while being highly successful in a demanding job, having a booming social life and being an excellent parent and spouse is setting yourself up for failure.
What’s important to you right now?
Your aesthetics?
Your career?
Your social life?
You need to honestly assess what you most want in your life right now and build your lifestyle around that thing you want.
If you really want a six pack, that’s absolutely fine.
However, you need to understand training for a six pack may involve you going to the gym six or seven days per week for an hour or two each time and will involve diligently following a nutritional protocol aimed at decreasing body fat so your abs are exposed.
So if you need to dedicate time for proper training, nutrition and recovery for the sake of getting a six pack, you’re going to need to accept you likely can’t say “Yes” to every social event invitation from family and friends.
You also need to accept it’s probably not a good idea to work super long hours if you truly want a six pack because the stress from work may impact your ability to recover and train hard.
Focus is the key.
Decide what you want. Eliminate distractions.
Adherence is also important. Make sure you pick a training program that’s optimal for you and your priorities.
For example, if you’re not currently training, don’t give yourself a program for six days per week. You’re likely setting yourself up for failure. Start with two or three days per week.
Slowly, but surely add in training to your lifestyle.
Training age refers to the amount of time you’ve been training intelligently. Note the word “intelligently.” It’s possible you could have lifted weights for 20 years, but not trained intelligently. If you’ve been going to the gym, but not seeing results and doing random programs, you’re in luck because you have a low training age.
If you’re a beginner trainee, you actually have an advantage over someone who’s been training intelligently for a long time. You have a greater potential to see progress faster because of the neurological adaptations you’ll make from training properly.
If you’ve been training intelligently for a long period of time, you won’t make progress as fast as someone who hasn’t trained for a very long time, so that means you’ll need a higher volume of work to continue to see progress.
For example, someone who just started training may see good growth in their biceps by doing four sets of biceps exercises per week. If that person hasn’t been training biceps at all, that person is going from doing no sets of biceps exercises to four sets of biceps exercises. Seeing some progress is likely.
However, for someone who’s been training for a long time and performs 10 sets of biceps exercises per week, doing four sets of biceps exercises per week is going to be a decrease in volume
That’s why programs “work” for some people, but not for others.
It’s all about what you’ve done BEFORE the training program begins.
In another example, if your goal is to improve definition in your shoulders, but you’re currently performing only six sets of shoulder exercises per week, bumping your training volume all the way up to 30 sets per week is a recipe for disaster and may lead to injury.
If you increase your training volume in a certain area of your body by FIVE TIMES, you’re likely not doing yourself much good.
If you had been doing 24 sets of shoulder exercises prior to increasing your weekly volume to 30 sets, you’re increasing your volume by only six sets, or 25 percent, so you won’t be making as big of a jump.
Your body will likely handle the bump in volume much better.
Making small adjustments over time will yield far better results in the long run than making massive adjustments over a short period of time and risking injury.
When devising a program, it’s crucial to consider the health of your body.
Are you currently injured?
Have you had injuries in the past?
Do you have pain during certain movements?
Regardless of your goals, if you’re unable to train effectively because of injury, you’re not going to get the results you want.
So training to reduce the risk of injury is highly important.
If you currently have a knee injury, you may be wise to avoid certain exercises that involve forward traction of the knee, such as forward lunges or knee-dominant squats.
Instead, it would behoove you to perform hip-dominant exercises that keep your shins vertical like box squats or Romanian deadlifts (RDLs).
If you’re injured or in pain and are limited in what you can do, you’re in luck.
Strength training is one of the only, if not THE only, means of exercise in which you can always perform it in some capacity.
If you have a broken leg, you can still train your upper body.
If you have a broken arm, you can still train your lower body.
So make sure to consider the health of your body prior to beginning any exercise program.
We’re all different.
Some of us are introverted. Some of us are extroverted.
Some of us are tall. Some of us are short.
We need to consider individual differences when training, especially in terms of mentality.
Are you willing to push past the point of comfort?
If so, you may be better suited to try different programs or exercise variations sooner than those who want to move at a slow and steady pace.
Do you like keeping exercises constant or varying them?
If you like progressing with certain exercises for long periods at a time, you should keep your program pretty similar week to week and month to month.
If you get tired of doing the same exercises over and over again and want variety, rotate your exercises more often.
Do you like lifting moderate or heavy weights?
If you don’t like the feeling of pushing a heavy weight, keep your weights a bit lighter and do higher reps.
“Heavy” is a relative term and working at higher intensities can be highly beneficial.
However, instead of doing six sets of three reps of a certain exercise, you can do three sets of six reps and keep the same volume.
You can identify a number of other individual variances when designing a program.
Other things you’ll want to consider prior to beginning a training program include equipment to which you have access and the time you’re willing to train.
Obviously, if you don’t have access to something, you can modify it, so make sure the program you follow uses equipment you have or can be modified to equipment you have.
And remember, you can find a gym that does have that equipment, if needed.
You need to also factor in the amount of time you wish to train consistently. If you have a lifestyle that revolves around lots of other things, you may want to stick with three days per week instead of six.
Things that don’t really matter much in a training program include gender, tempo, rest periods and the type of shoes you wear.
In the grand scheme of things, performing the correct volume and intensity and training consistently with proper form are going to get you 95 percent of your results. Manipulating things like rest periods, tempo and the shoes you wear might get you that final five percent.
Particular exercises don’t matter as much as movement patterns.
Incorporating pushing, pulling, squatting, hingeing and core exercises in all programs is a really good idea. Single-leg exercises are important to include in most programs, but not all.
Here are examples of exercises that fit each movement pattern.
Please note this is FAR from an exhaustive list.
Push
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press
Pull
Hinge
Squat
Single-Leg
Core
Sure, you can program a number of accessory exercises like glute bridges, tricep extensions and calf raises, but the above movement patterns will be your staples.
And there are subsets of exercises within each movement pattern, but for the sake of this article, we’ll stick with the basics.
You can write an entire manual on devising proper set and rep schemes, but for the sake of this article, a good place to start is about 21 sets per workout if you’re an average Joe.
It’s always best to start with the minimum effective dose if you’re a relative beginner.
If you’re an intermediate or advanced lifter and want to push the envelope a bit, you’ll want to aim for the maximum recoverable volume. Ultimately, you can only do as much volume as your body can handle while still being able to recover.
Progress the number of sets, reps and weight slowly, but surely, for most.
By now, you can see why making a generic program available to you isn’t a good idea.
However, you probably want to see these principles applied to a program.
So let’s give an example.
Let’s say you’re a 40-year-old mother of two kids who wants to train three days per week. Your goal is to decrease body fat without sacrificing too much strength.
You’ve been training intelligently for six months and have no injuries. You sit in front of a desk during the day, so you want to improve posture too.
So using the principles we learned above, we know we need a program for three days per week, and we’re going to focus primarily on the basic movement patterns since we have only three days per week. The primary exercises are going to give the most bang for your buck.
Frequency is also important in a training program, so we would like to ideally hit each movement pattern at least two times per week.
Here’s a sample template you can use:
WORKOUT #1
Squat 5 sets x 5 reps
Push 5 sets x 5 reps
Hinge 5 sets x 5 reps
Pull 3 sets x 8 reps
Core 3 sets
WORKOUT #2
Hinge 5 sets x 8 reps
Push 4 sets x 8 reps
Single-Leg 4 sets x 8 reps/side
Pull 4 sets x 10 reps
Core 4 sets
WORKOUT #3
Squat 5 sets x 10 reps
Pull 4 sets x 12 reps
Single-Leg 4 sets x 12 reps/side
Pull 4 sets x 12 reps
Core 4 sets
Then, you can and plug and play different exercises:
WORKOUT #1
Back Squat 5 sets x 5 reps
Bench Press 5 sets x 5 reps
Deadlift 5 sets x 5 reps
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row 3 sets x 8 reps/side
Plank 3 sets x 30 seconds
WORKOUT #2
Barbell RDL 5 sets x 8 reps
Overhead Press 4 sets x 8 reps
Split Squat 4 sets x 8 reps/side
Lat Pull Down 4 sets x 10 reps
Hollow-Body Hold 4 sets x 20 seconds
WORKOUT #3
Goblet Squat 5 sets x 10 reps
Seated Row 4 sets x 12 reps
Step Up 4 sets x 12 reps/side
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row 4 sets x 12 reps
Farmer’s Walk 4 sets x 30 seconds
Honestly, the magic isn’t in the design of the program. The magic is in the execution of the program.
Two different people can get the same program and get completely different results. It depends on your adherence and work ethic.
Knowing how to adjust daily, weekly and monthly based on your current circumstances is important.
Just because your program tells you to do something doesn’t mean you should do it.
If your program calls for heavy deadlifts, but your back is sore from moving boxes all weekend, you would be wise to reduce weight on your deadlifts or replace deadlifts with something else for that workout.
That’s why knowing the purpose of the placement of each exercise is important.
Again, you won’t find an exhaustive list on everything you need to know about program design in this article, but hopefully, you’re now equipped to start thinking like a coach.
And hopefully you gained a bit more knowledge on how to put together a successful program for you and your goals.
