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Designing Your Own Resistance Training
Program
I thought this was already over
here but as many are into designing their own programs with sub par
knowledge, maybe they can look at this...it was written a couple of years
ago by your truly but i'll update it soon...it was originally posted at
bossman's steelmuscle site..i havenb't read this for ages either so i
might have posted things differently recently but the principles remain
the same:
Program Design
There are many variables that
need to be taken into account when designing any training program.
These include:
- previous training experience
- training goals
- exercise selection
- training scheduling
- structural balance
I’ll address these points
and more to provide some guidelines so you can design your own training
program.
Training Goals
As with anything we do, we need
to determine the reason for actually doing to make it worth while for
this will keep us disciplined and consistent going forward. Many trainers
don’t actually have specific or even general goals, and are usually
the one’s who train for a while before dropping off when nothing
seems to be happening.
You need to set both short term
and long term goals. A long term goal might be to lose 10kgs in 6 months
with a short term goal being to drop a dress size in 4 weeks. Your short
term goal should generally be related to your long term goal, otherwise
you’re trying to accomplish too many things at once and
you’ll end up spinning your wheels.
Previous Training Experience
Your previous training
experience will determine what program you’ll do. It will affect
sets, reps, exercise selection and training schedule. If you’ve had
a break from training for longer than 6mths or so, than it’s always
best top drop back a “level” instead of going straight back
into what you were doing. Here vary some general recommendations:
0 – 12 months training
experience - beginner level
12 – 36 months training
experience – intermediate level
36+ months training experience
– advanced level
Now, depending on your progress
and consistency you can reach these levels quicker. One thing to note
though is that this is based on continuous training so if you’ve
trained for 2 bouts of 6 months but with 3 months off in between,
you’ll still be classed as a beginner.
A lot of trainers miss this
point and want to start off at higher levels when optimal results would
come from beginner type programs as the body needs time to adapt to
increasing training stimulus (load, volume etc).
Exercise Selection
Before anything, remember this,
“do what you need to do, not what you want to do.”
Now continuing with that theme,
exercise selection is where most trainers mess up their programs. Your
goal should be to stimulate the greatest response, no matter your goal,
in as little time as possible. Sadly though, many trainers usually look
in the muscle magazines for routines instead of doing their own research.
These programs are usually advanced level programs and not suited for
most “natural” trainers, let alone beginners.
Let’s compare some
popular exercises in their efficiency.
Barbell Curls vs Chin Ups
Say for BB Curls you can lift
30kgs for 8 full range of motion reps and you can do 6 full range of
motion reps for Chin Ups at your own bodyweight of 80kgs. Which exercise
is more effective?
BB Curls – 30kgs x 8 reps
= 240 total kgs lifted.
Chin Ups – 80kgs x 6 reps
= 420 total kgs lifted.
Now, not only do you get bicep
stimulus, but also upper back, mid back, lat and forearm stimulation so
instead of using 1 exercise for each of those 5 areas, we’ve used
one.
This is the number 1 reason to
use multi joint compound exercises, purely for efficiency, especially if
you’re a beginner with not a lot of training tolerance or an
athlete who also spends plenty of time with sport specific training.
One aspect over looked for most
beginner programs are bodyweight exercises. One should be able to handle
their own bodyweight before adding external load. Squats, Lunges,
Inverted Rows and Push Ups should be the staple of all initial programs.
Most of the time these exercises yield a greater total weight lifted than
lighter using light external wt for less efficient exercises.
Push Ups vs Bench Presses
You don’t get too many
trainers, especially males that do Push Ups for their main chest exercise
except when they don’t have a bench available for Bench Presses.
Often Push Ups are better choice allowing for muscles to be used and even
a greater load being lifted. Say you can Bench Press 30kgs x 10 reps at a
bodyweight of 80kgs, keeping in mind for a regular Push Up from the feet
you lift about 60% of your own bodyweight.
Bench Press – 30kgs x 10
reps = 300kgs total kgs lifted
Push Ups – 48kgs (60% of
80kgs) x 10 reps = 480 total kgs lifted.
Until you can Bench Press at
least 60% of your own bodyweight for the same reps you can for Push Ups,
than Push Ups are the best option. Also with Push Ups you’ll also
recruit your core muscles, shoulder and scapula stabilisers as well as
low back muscles on top of the chest, deltoid and tricep muscles that the
Bench Presses uses.
You need to use exercises that
will provide the most stimulation in the least amount of time.
Training Scheduling
This is another variable that
trainers pick up from magazine workouts that is better suited to more
advanced trainers. According to Alwyn Cosgrove, 95% of the population
will respond best to full body resistance workouts every second day as
they provide more recovery time for growth and strength increases. Once
you have increased your body’s ability to tolerate more exercise
without affecting your performance or lifestyle, than you can progress to
a lower / upper body split which will have you resistance training 4
times a week. Anything more than this without specific periodisation and planning
will more than likely lead to over training as we haven’t even
taken energy systems workouts into account yet.
Unless you are being
“assisted”, 5+ days of resistance training a week will not
yield better results than 3 or 4 days. Bodybuilders build up enormous
exercise tolerance to perform these types of splits over a number of
years to be able to do this, as well as the aforementioned
“assistance,” and is not a viable option for most of us.
Structural Balance
This should be the number one
thing that you should strive for with each training program you do.
Structural Balance to equaling out the work performed by the different
joints of the body, through both total volume and weight lifted. A
perfect example to use is Chest and Back work. A lot of self made
beginner programs have a lot of Bench Pressing, sometimes using 3 or 4
different variations in a single workout, with limited Row or Pull Up
work. This can cause muscle imbalances at the shoulder joint leading to
serious shoulder impingement problems through poor posture and weak
stabilizers.
This can be broken down even
further into movement patterns of which there are 6.
1 – Horizontal Upper Body
Pulling (Row variations)
2 – Horizontal Upper Body
Pushing (Bench Press and Push Up variations)
3 – Vertical Upper Body
Pulling (Pull Up, Chin Up and Pulldown variations)
4 – Vertical Upper Body
Pushing (Shoulder Press variations)
5 – Hip Dominant Lower
Body (Deadlifts, High Step Up and Long Stride Lunge variations)
6 – Quad Dominant Lower Body
(Squat, Low Step Up and Short Stride Lunge variations)
This is where 80% of your
exercises should come from. The best options for scheduling are:
Option 1 – Full body
workouts performing 1 exercise from each movement pattern per session,
preferably using a different one each session of the week
Sample
Monday – Deadlifts
(heavy), Step Ups (light), DB Row (h), DB Bench Press (h), Face Pulls
(light), DB Shoulder Press (l)
Wednesday - Front Squat (h),
Reverse Lunges (m), Pull Ups (h), Handstand Push Ups (h), Inverted Row
(l), Push Ups (l)
Friday – Single Leg
Squats, Long Stride Lunges (l), Bent Row (m), Incline Press (m), Chin Ups
(m), Push Press (m)
The extra rest days leave more
time for you to grow and recover and although time constraints may limit
the amount of remedial work you can do on training days, the 4 days off a
week leave ample time to fit this in either at home or at the gym without
dipping into your recovery stores.
Option 2 – Pair movement
patterns for the upper body and having single days each week for each
lower body pattern for a 4 times a week lower / upper body split
* it is not advised to pair hip
and quad lower body movement patterns as they are generally to demanding
and fatigue can become an issue with training quality.
Sample
Monday (Hip Dominant Lower
Body) – Plyometric Jump exercise if training for performance,
Deadlifts, Long Stride Lunge with back leg elevated on small step, Glute
Ham Raises, DB Dorsi Flexions
Tuesday (Horizontal Upper Body)
– DB Row alternated with DB Bench Press, Inverted Row alternated
with DB Inline Press, Diamond Grip Tricep Push Ups
Thursday (Quad Dominant Lower
Body) – Squat, Step Ups,
Single
Leg
Supine
Bridge with foot on step, Leg Press Dorsi Flexions
Saturday (Vertical Upper Body)
– Wide Grip Pull Ups alternated with Handstand Push Ups, Chin Ups
alternated with DB Push Press, BB Curl
Exercises for weak point
area’s can be implemented easier in a split like this as you have
less volume per session so each workout is quicker than full body
workouts.
I hope this basic article
assists you in designing simple training programs for yourself and any feedback on this article is encouraged.
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