Full Range Coach’s Guide, Part 3: What Makes a Good Training Program?
In the timeless words of The Onion’s Jim Anchower, it’s been a while since I’ve rapped at ya (if anyone gets this reference, or remembers reading The Onion in print, please, let’s chat). My writing of anything other than programming and emails has been sparse, lately, and for that I apologize. Call it what you will, but I often feel like, if I can’t put out something that’s perfectly crafted and extremely useful for someone to read, I shouldn’t bother at all. Obviously, this thinking is stupid, and I should just get on it with it. So, here we go!
What Makes a Great Training Program?
In this edition, I’m hoping to provide you all with some information that I believe will help you a) weed through and decipher all of the different exercise programs that are being advertised, influenced, or otherwise thrown in your face everyday, and b) make the best use of the program that you decide is right for you. As I will reiterate many times throughout (and any time I get to talking about it), there is no ONE RIGHT WAY to do fitness. So, this advice is based purely on what I’ve seen over my coaching career, and is in no way devoid of its own biases, ignorance, and flat-out mistakes that are yet to be made.
Before moving forward, I would suggest reading the last post in this series, “What is Fitness,” as everything I’m talking about today will be predicated on the idea that whomever is following an exercise program is looking to increase their fitness.
Some Background
At the risk of being reductive, I’m going to just throw out a few general maxims regarding programs that are totally true and accurate, but when taken by themselves, leave a lot to the imagination when it comes to “what should I do to workout?” So, a good program should:
Meet the person where they are at, in terms of capability
Take someone from a defined starting point to a defined ending point (aka a goal)
Be something at which someone can maintain consistency over time (ie. “The bad program you actually do is better than you good program that you never do.”)
Allow for adequate recovery between sessions
From here we can see that, even when speaking in generalities, what makes up the “best” training program for YOU already has one important variable — YOU. Everyone’s starting point, goals, time commitments, and recoverability are unique to them. So, when evaluating any training program, we are asking more than “will this work;” we are asking “will this work for ME?”
Templates vs. Individualized Programs
Like most people that have gotten into (or back into) fitness in the past 10-15 years, I started my quest where all quests for knowledge now begin — the internet.
Today, there are probably thousands of programs available online that promise myriad results, whether that be losing X number of pounds, adding Y amount of weight to your Bench Press, or going from the couch to a running a 5k in 30 days or less. All of these have programs (and I’m not speaking to their efficacy), have a commonality in that they are all training templates.
Templates can be a great way to organize and track your exercise, while providing a direction that is clear, and often based off of prior, successful experience (meaning someone else has already use the program, and reached the goals that are advertised). Additionally, when completed by multiple people, concurrently, templates provide an opportunity for community, and or even friendly competition amongst participants, which can greatly increase their effectiveness.
However, templated programs have their limitations, and they harken back to what was discussed above — namely, that they can fail to account for the differences (in ability, motivation, age, stress levels, etc) in the people that are following them. In an ideal world, every individual has their own, personalized route to approaching fitness, and it can often be very difficult to conform to a strict, templated program, especially for long periods of time. People change (hopefully for the better), and the approach needs to change with them. So, then, the “ideal” program must be one that creates structure and direction, but also allows for individualization and adaption over time.
Principles vs. Methods
There has actually been a refreshing shift over recent years (at least as far as I have seen) in coaches and other professionals going from “having all the secrets” to freely sharing as much helpful information as possible to whomever might listen. This is great, for a variety of reasons, and I think that it comes from the simple truth that, really, there ARE NO SECRETS when it comes to fitness. Sure, different methods have different proponents, and maybe there are some competitive people out there that want to maintain any slight advantage over their opponents, but, for the most part, good training and good daily lifestyle practices are based around principles, not mystery.
And it should make sense, then, that another huge aspect of a program being effective is whether or not the participant understands why they are doing what they are doing, instead of blindly following what someone else tells them they should do. “Trust the process” is an often-used mantra to help people stay patient and consistent during times of stagnation, but trust (in my opinion) is best built on a basis of understanding.
So — what should I look for? The Three “P’s”
When assessing or creating programs, regardless of the end goal of training, we always keep the following principles at the forefront: Is is progressive? Does it allow for potentiation? Are we factoring in the right priorities (or are there options for personalization)?
Progression in training is straightforward — as one moves through a program, it should elicit (or at, at minimum, allow for) improvement over time. This improvement should, of course, be in line with the stated purpose of the program; ie., if the goal is increased strength, then there MUST be a progression present either in the loads lifted, the number of reps performed, or the difficulty of the exercises as we move from week to week (or month to month — the speed of progress is different for everyone). And, while the measurement of progress can vary — maybe it’s simply being less sore from a workout from one week to the next — the important part is that the program allows for an INCREASE in difficulty as the participant moves through it. To put it even more simply: if you do the same thing, week-in and week-out, and never progress the level of challenge, then the program will not be effective in creating any change.
Potentiation, on the other hand, is a little bit tougher to explain, but I’ll try my best. One often-overlooked aspect of training is the demand that is being placed not only on the body, but on the brain and central nervous system. As we perform challenging, full-body movements (as we should be, in an effective fitness program), there is a massive amount of work going on “behind the scenes” in terms of coordination, balance, accuracy, and agility. And, even as this amount of concentration might decrease as we get more proficient in movement, we should be seeking out these challenges, continuously, as we pursue our training (see again, the idea of progression). But, as we fatigue, our ability to muster up this mental energy naturally decreases, and thus we have to be aware of this as we put together workouts. To sum this up: the most complex movements should, generally, be performed before the simplest movements.
For people newer to training, this might mean that we start with heavy squats (most complex = high CNS-demand), then move into lunges and dumbbell rows (less complex = lower CNS demand), and finish with bicep curls and plank holds (simple = lowest demand).
For someone more advanced, this might mean that we start with Snatches (fast and complex = very high CNS demand), then move to Tempo’ed Romanian Deadlifts (slow and heavy = moderate to high CNS), then finish with a circuit of push-ups, pull-ups, and air squats (simple, relative to this person = lower demand).
Potentiation can also be seem as we move from day-to-day within a program. This is more important for those that are more intermediate-to-advanced, but it still applies, in some form, for everyone. Basically, what we do on one day of training MATTERS when we want to plan out the following day of training. For example, if we want to potentiate our systems for a 1-RM Back Squat attempt on a Tuesday, it’s probably not a good idea to do 300 heavy weighted lunges on a Monday. Or, if we want to run our best 5k time on Saturday, what we do on Friday makes a difference.
And this brings us to the last principle, which is prioritization. While we have been discussing programs in terms of overall, general fitness, there will still always be aspects of training that are more important for some, and less important for others. So, even within the context of trying to increase strength, expand aerobic capacity, and improve overall movement economy, there needs to be within a program the ability to allow for an individuals needs and priorities to be taken into account.
To give an example, I might have a personal training client that works out twice each week, for 30 minutes each workout. This person has never done any strength training, but walks 10,000 steps each day, climbs stairs dozens of times daily at work, and maybe even jogs from time to time. Should I spend the 60 minutes each week that i have with her performing aerobic circuits? Or, would the priority be to build a basis of strength, using the most efficient means possible (ie. squatting, hinges, pushing, pulling, single leg, and core)? Hopefully you can see by now that the right program for this individual is one that takes into account what she needs the MOST — not just what SHOULD be done in a fitness program.
Even within a more comprehensive program, the need for personalization and prioritization must be addressed. This can be as simple as giving options each day, based on how the person feels. Priorities change, not only over months and years, but also from day to day. My goal one day may be to hit a workout as hard as I can, and the next it may be simply to train in a way that allows me to move well and feel good. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the program for the day needs to change (though the ability to adjust is what makes personalized programs ideal), but a simple change in the approach, by going lighter and focusing on good technique, or slowing down the tempo — anything that allows the freedom to make conscientious choices around what’s being done in the gym will make a long-term program far more safe, effective, and consistent over time.
Last considerations
Based on my previous post (“What is Fitness”), I’ve taken a few things for granted when describing good training, but they bear repeating here. For one, strength training is king — if you only have time to do 30 minutes of exercise, 2-3 times each week, then these sessions should be based around getting stronger. On top of this, the movements you choose should be compound in nature (meaning they use multiple joints and muscle groups), and train the basic patterns mentioned above: squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge, and core.
Second, regardless of your reason for training, it’s always a good idea to talk to someone who might know more than you do — ideally, a coach (and not some rando you see at the gym that looks stronger than you). Being new and ignorant can be scary, but we all have to go through the natural progression from beginner, to just ok, to pretty good, etc. This should hopefully be happening for you in other phases of life, outside of exercise, but I digress.
Lastly, fitness is (as cliché as it sounds) truly a journey, and rarely a destination. I don’t know the last time I spoke to someone who spoke about their present self and said “I’m as fit as I can possibly be.” So, if you are working hard in the hopes of hitting a point where you will just be able to stop, then please, know this now — there isn’t (and shouldn’t be) a firm end point. It’s great to have (and achieve) goals, and creating milestones along the way is good practice in program design — but these cannot be the ONLY thing you take away from exercise. Move because you want to, improve because you can, and enjoy the ride as you go — however that may look for you.
Thanks for taking the time — please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or thoughts!
-ACM
