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Having just turned 50, I am without question in the shape of my life. Dave has helped me achieve a physique which I did not believe would be possible. Having exercised my entire life, it ...
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Programme Design Secrets
November 30, 2010 No CommentsWith so many contradictory schools of thought regarding effective programme design, it can be very difficult to work out which type of programme you should be following. Should you change the programme every few weeks? Cardio or weight first? How many muscle groups should I train each session? Should I add in more exercises each week or simply try to lift more and run further?
To achieve results in the gym, you need to have some idea of the above. I will attempt to answer the queries and throw in some little secrets to fast track your results in the gym. The first issue of ‘should you change the programme every few weeks for best results’ is a simple one. This is one of the most important parts to following an effective results driven programme. I am proud to introduce to you ‘training phases’. A training phase describes a period of time in which you focus on something specific in the gym. To get the most out of any programme you need to plan ahead and work on specific areas of your training before moving onto the next phase.
This simple model which is a collection of training phases describes the all important word ‘periodisation’. To elaborate a little further, a periodised programme is a collection of training phases put together in view of achieving a specific goal. This may mean working towards a weight loss goal or a professional sporting event. Whichever the case, planning ahead with your training programme is the key to your success.
Going back to these phases and how these relate to your own training. Most people make the mistake of turning up to the gym and making a decision about what they are going to do that day based on which equipment happens to be free. This attitude fully deserves its place in the ‘no results programme’ and is an excellent way to achieve very little in the gym. I see many people participating in a ‘no results programme’ every time I train in my local health club. Some are seasoned experts at achieving nothing in the gym having followed the same ‘no results programme’ for years.
The point I am trying to make is that you will get much more out of your training if you plan ahead. A typical phase should be 4-6 weeks long. You should have already decided which type of training is going to fill up this time period. At Odyssey Fitness, we design all the programmes for our clients so therefore we decide how long and what type of exercise is to fill the sessions within each phase.
The way we design the phases is based on the results of an initial assessment. Our whole body profiling assessment will allow us to see exactly which type of exercise your body will adapt best to. For example, we look at the volume of lean muscle mass you have, your genetic body shape aswell as completing some simple strength tests to determine your proportions of fast and slow twitch muscle fibres you have on your body. This information allows us to create very specific phases to make up your programme and allow you to reach your goal in the quickest possible time.
So we have established that you need to plan ahead with your training to get the most out of it. Let’s have a look at putting some structure into the training sessions. The first thing to note when planning a training session is that doing a little bit of everything each time is also an excellent way to achieve ‘no results’. A typical no results session would start with 20 minutes on the treadmill (at a low intensity to burn maximum fat – don’t get me started on this) followed by 2 sets of 10 reps per body part. This is a great way to achieve nothing!
Splitting the muscle groups over a week is a step in the right direction but still is not the best way to achieve results. Old fashioned bodybuilding guru’s have told us for years that two muscle groups per training session is best i.e. chest and legs or abs and shoulders. Let me tell you now that the industry has moved on from this simple approach and you can get far more variation and better results by following a more scientific and functional approach to your training.
At Odyssey Fitness, we base our training phases and programmes on Industry leader JC Santana’s ‘Hybrid Training Model’ which focuses on training specific movements rather than muscles. This highly effective system has taken the industry by storm and gym users/athletes from all over the world benefit from this highly effective way of training. We leave the old fashioned rep counting and body part training to the body builders and focus on designing programmes which promote a healthy, lean, strong and athletic physique.
I have outlined an example of a typical programme over view for someone who wants to lose fat and shape up:
PHASE 1 (Weeks 1-6)
- Core conditioning and hypertrophy
- This introductory phase will drop body fat, strengthen your core and prepare your muscle for the more intense phases ahead
PHASE 2 (Weeks 7-12)
- Relative strength and strength endurance circuits
- This phase uses your new found core strength and leaner body composition and focuses more on heavier lifting and weight training circuits. Aswell as continuing to drop fat and change your shape, you can expect strength gains and improved cardiovascular fitness
PHASE 3 (Weeks 13-16)
- Power and power endurance circuits
- This is the icing on the cake. Having worked through phases 1 and 2, you are now ready to have a crack at the highest intensity of them all. Circuits made up of strength and power exercises are simply the best way to change your body shape and develop your physique.
This is simply a guide to how we go about designing a programme for someone. This approach can be manipulated to suit any level of fitness. You don’t have to be an athlete to do this. If you are an exercise beginner, there is no reason why you can’t follow this type of programme. The exercises and the weights will always be matched to your physical capabilities.
You can see that there is a lot more that goes into designing programmes than simply picking two body parts per workout. So the answer to the original question of ’should I be changing the programme every few weeks’ is ‘Yes, absolutely’. If you stay too long on any of these phases, your body will stop adapting. Once someone reaches the end of phase 3, there programme is reviewed and 3 new phases are created which coincide with your goals. By this time, we will have seen your body changing so we will have an even clearer idea as to exactly what you need to do to get results quickly.
When working with an athlete, the duration, content and structure of the training phases changes to suit the demands of their sport. The main principles remain though i.e. designing progressive phases which work alongside the athlete’s genetic body type, goals and physical strength and weaknesses.
This backs up our whole company ethos of using functional exercises to change body shapes and develop performance levels. If you have a solid structure to your programme and your sessions are filled with exercises matched to your body type, you will be amazed at what you can achieve without spending your life in the gym – quality not quantity!
Many people often ask me, if the exercises and routines in phase 3 are so powerful and the best for fat loss, why do you need to bother doing phases 1 and 2? The answer is simple; phases 1 and 2 are preparing you for the last phase. By jumping straight to phase 3 programmes, you are highly likely to cause yourself an injury because to be able to complete these advanced programmes, you need to have done the core strength and muscular development which you focus on in phases 1 and 2. Following a specific nutrition plan throughout goes without saying! (I won’t go into this now as we will literally be here all day. The staff at Starbucks in Pimlico have already given me numerous dirty looks for only ordering one green tea in the 2 hours it has taken me to write this).
Written by Dave Fletcher
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