A while back I wrote an overview of two training principles which promote long-term progress when applied to program design: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands (SAID) and Same but Different (S/D).
The basic ideas are as follows:
- The body adapts relatively quickly to exactly what we impose upon it (SAID).
- Stimuli needs to be consistent enough to promote adaptations while also being varied enough to prevent stagnation (S/D).
Both principles are simple enough in concept, but, of course, implementation can spiral into the realm of utter complexity if you’re not careful, especially with S/D.
Here’s how to keep it simple if you train at home and are designing programs for yourself. Alternatively, if you train at TNT, what follows will give you a better understanding of how I design programs for the gym. (Believe it or not, I don’t just slap stuff together to tire you out! 😉)
Simplified program design
Step 1: Decide on an objective and choose a few high-level movements. (SAID)
Pick a primary characteristic (e.g. posterior chain strength, general endurance, shoulder mobility and resilience) that you want to improve and a couple (i.e. 2-3) primary exercises that promote that characteristic.
And as much as you’re going to want to pick a number of characteristics and twenty different exercises to cover all the bases, don’t.
Why?
Because you can’t prioritize without deprioritizing. The body has only so much adaptive capacity, and trying to do everything rarely gets you anywhere specific other than “burned out or injured”. Then again, if that’s where you want to end up…
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.
Besides, every exercise has secondary benefits. So you’re likely to experience additional results besides just your primary objective… so long as you’ve prioritized!
Step 2: Create the skeleton outline. (SAID & S/D)
In my experience, twelve-week programs are the perfect combination of “long enough to see progress” and “short enough to remain interesting”, especially if they’re further divided into three four-week segments or two six-week segments.
Whatever option you choose, pick one variable from the following list that you want to manipulate over the course of each segment.
- Volume: the total number of reps per set and per training session
- Density: the amount of time required/allowed to complete the specified volume
- Intensity: the amount of weight to use, relative to the maximum amount of weight you can lift for a given exercise
- Exercise: different but similar exercises, also known as specialized variety (this is the example tactic used in the SAID + S/D tip)
Then decide on the number of sessions you’ll complete per week (two to four is generally optimal) and which exercises to do on which days. That’s your skeleton outline.
Step 3: Add the detail. (S/D)
At this point, I usually create a sample session for each training day of the week. These sessions are “punch the clock” or “Goldilocks” types of sessions. That is, not too easy, and not too hard. Although it’s generally better to err on the side of too easy in order to give yourself more runway to progress. (You can always make future sessions harder.)
Then I wave the loads when adding details from week to week.
By waving the loads, what I mean is manipulating the variable selected in Step 2 to make the session easier or harder (not always just harder!!!) than the same session from the prior week.
Some examples, based on the different variable options, might include:
- Volume: 10 (sets) x 5 (reps) → 20 x 5 → 5 x 10 → 10 x 10
- Density: 10 x 10 with one set performed every 2 min → 90 seconds → 1 min → 45 seconds
- Intensity: 10 x 10 @ 16 kg (50% of example 32 kg max) → 24 kg (75%) → 20 kg (63%) → 28 kg (88%)
- Exercise: Two-arm swings (i.e. one kettlebell, two hands) → hand-to-hand swings (i.e. switching hands each rep) → one-arm swings (i.e. switching hands each set) → snatches
And with that, you have what is likely to be a reasonably effective training plan.
Of course, you can get fancier by aiming to improve multiple characteristics, choosing dozens of exercises, and manipulating multiple variables. But doing so also increases the chances of delving too far into the different part of Same but Different. (Re-read the prior tip if you’re not sure why that’s not a good thing.)
Putting it into practice
While program design is an important component for generating meaningful training results, it is only part of the equation. The other part involves dialing in your technique.
If you’d like to work on the latter and ask questions about the former, attend one of our upcoming workshops…