Monthly Archives: January 2009

Designing an effective training program is a very difficult task to undertake. You cannot just throw together a few exercises and expect something magical to occur. I have come up with four key questions a trainee, whether at the advanced or beginner level, must ask themselves before setting up their training program.

What Have You Done?

When creating a new training program, many times all I need to do is look into the past.

• Which workouts made us cry?
• Which workouts did we conquer?
• And which workouts barely broke a sweat?

This requires hitting the training logs. If you have not been keeping a training log, then I suggest you start doing so immediately. It is next to impossible to plan for the future without an accurate record of the past. Get in the habit of logging every single workout that you perform. Once you get into the habit of tracking your workouts, it’s time to track your progress. Tracking your progress means that you find a means of measurement specific to your objectives.

Shah Training is all about intensity, and intensity is all about power. So we measure the amount of work accomplished within a given time frame. The most common, simplest, and sensible method of measuring progress for us is to define work (develop a workout) and define a threshold (time allotted to complete the work). For example, take the following workout:

Perform 50 burpees in 2 minutes

50 burpees would be our work, and 2 minutes is our threshold.

For a beginner, time would play a part in developing some level of conditioning. For example, if a beginner were to perform a workout that consisted of 50 burpees, it would be wise to perform 10 sets of 5 repetitions with 90 seconds of rest in between. Gradually, the rest periods would decrease by 15 seconds each week, until the athlete was able to perform 50 burpees with minimal rest. Once this level of fitness is achieved, we then start timing the 50 burpees to see how fast one can complete them.

What Do You Wish To Do?

Goals are as important as the work itself. However, I do not believe that a goal such as “put on muscle mass” should be a single objective. You should always have one end objective that is above all else. For example, my primary objective is to maintain my strength and mobility throughout my life.

I do wish to attain that six-pack level of definition, but I refuse to engage in any sort of training program or dietary technique that is not sustainable in the long-term. Fitness needs to be a part of my life, not a tool that I use in order to achieve a temporary level of conditioning. I am not a Hollywood actor getting ready for a role, nor am I professional bodybuilder competing on the stage. I’m an average guy, with average genetics, trying to achieve a healthy, athletic, and aesthetically pleasing physique.

First and foremost, the movements that I choose all must adhere to the principles of mobility:

1. I must be able to pick things off the ground
2. I must be able to lift heavy objects and put them on shelves
3. I must be able lift heavy objects across a certain distance
4. I must be able to move quickly in the face of danger.

The point is my mobility and real-life fitness goals are above all else. This is one of the reasons why I am very weary of making barbell curls a permanent part of my training. You must think, is what you are doing sustainable in the long term? Will a 6 hour per week training schedule fit into a real-life schedule filled with a 9-5 job, trips to the daycare center, grocery store, and laundromat all in the same day? Is there a better way to maintain and gradually improve your strength and fitness?

What Are You Capable Of?

When I say “what are you capable of?” I mean what are you capable of in the future. For example, based on your training log you know that you are capable of performing 33 burpees in 2 minutes, but are you capable of performing 50 burpees in 2 minutes? The best way we can determine this is by hypothesizing. I have some sense of what a two -minute burpee drill feels like, and what it would take to hit the 50 mark. What I need to figure out is:

1. Is this physically possible? Can I perform 1 burpee for every 2.4 seconds? That speed is doable, but can I sustain that speed throughout the two minutes?
2. Is this mentally possible? What mental blocks did I face when performing 33 burpees and where did those mental blocks occur? Did they occur at rep 20, and is rep 20 the culprit, or is the culprit 60 seconds. If the culprit is 60 seconds, than we can set a goal of hitting the first 30 burpees in the first minute, and 20 burpees in the second minute.

At the beginner level, these questions are important, but from a different perspective. For example, can you even perform 1 burpee? If not, then what will it take to achieve that one burpee? Do you need to work on your push-ups, or do you need to work on your squat? Or do you need to work on the transition between the two?

What Are You Not Capable Of?

I believe that with some practice in technique, endurance, and mental strength, I will be able to hit the 50 burpees in two minutes mark. I believe it is physically possible to achieve that level of intensity for two minutes straight. Difficult, but possible.

However, performing 100 burpees in the said time would be impossible. I would be surprised to come across an athlete that could achieve such a feat. But also, we have to think about the relevance of the feat. Is it really necessary to be able to perform 100 straight burpees? There is a ceiling in every sport or endeavor in terms of what level of endurance, power, and agility is necessary to accomplish the task. Performing fifty extra burpees may actually cause you to sacrifice power and speed for endurance. Although burpees are a great way into increase one’s mass, strength, and power, at the end of the day it is a calisthenic exercise and so you will always be training for muscular endurance when you train for reps. The point here to be very aware of your “ceilings.”

Some things are not physically possible, and most things are just not necessary. Learn to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant.

The above four questions are just the beginning of effective program design. Think of these as the preliminary questions a scientist must ask himself before setting up the proper experiment. They will help you identify specific parameters of action and allow you to gradually progress with your training. Many trainees just skip right over these questions and often hit a brick wall too early. Take the time to sit down with a paper and pen and really get your thoughts down on paper.

Any questions or feedback, please post to comments.