By: Zane Leicht
Whether a first time gymgoer or a lifelong athlete looking to improve their performance, program design is the backbone to all exercise regimens. Implementation of an appropriate strength and conditioning program is critical to maximize the chances of reaching an individual’s goal while minimizing the risks of injury and exercise dropout. Strength and conditioning programs should be designed specifically for each individual’s training level, abilities, age, gender, and overall goals they wish to accomplish.
Organizations like the National Strength and Conditioning Association use research-based information to produce guidelines for coaches, trainers, and exercise enthusiasts to follow to best promote positive training adaptations and decrease the likelihood of injury when designing programs. The most common and basic guidelines and recommendations to be taken into account when designing a program are classifying the individual’s training status and determining their, or your, overall goal, as these two factors will determine the specific training variables to be implemented into their program. From there, you will want to be familiar with the concepts of progressive overload, periodization, specificity, and the size principle.
The first step in designing a program is to identify current training status, as either beginner, intermediate, or advanced. These classifications are based on the clients current training experience and frequency. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a client is classified as a “beginner” if they have been training for less than 6 months between 0 to 3 times per week. An “intermediate” classification is given to those who have been training between 8 to 12 months around 3 to 4 times per week. Lastly, an “advanced” client is someone who has been exercising for over a year more than 4 times a week. (Clayton et al., 2015) Based on the client’s training status, a recommended training intensity and frequency can now be determined. The general rule of thumb is the more advanced the client’s training status, the higher the intensity and frequency the program should be. It would be illogical to take a beginner with practically no experience and place them on a high intensity workout 5 days a week, as their body would physiologically not be able to withstand the demands placed upon it and injury would most likely result. That said, it would be counterproductive to take an advanced client and place them on a low intensity program 3 days a week as this would not benefit the client at all. The client should be challenged enough to promote adaptation without increasing their risk for injury, thus the importance of classifying training status.
The next major step in designing a program specific to the client is determining the overall goal for the individual. Does the client want to gain muscle, lose weight, get stronger, etc? There are four main types or phases of training each specialized to produce a specific effect: muscular endurance, muscular hypertrophy, muscular strength, and muscular power. Understanding the basics of each type allows the trainer to shape a program more towards the overall goal(s) of the client. Muscular endurance training uses higher reps of lower intensity and short rest to test the body’s ability to resist fatigue. This usually will be between 10-25 reps at 65-75% of 1 rep max with less than 30 seconds of rest between sets (Clayton et al., 2015). Muscular hypertrophy is the increase in muscle mass and cross-sectional area. The hypertrophy phase combines moderate loads, repetitions, and rest to promote maximal muscle growth. This higher volume with moderate load training also is associated with an augmented anabolic hormone response to exercise thus increasing muscle hypertrophy more (Mangine et al., 2015). Muscular hypertrophy generally is the result of three factors: metabolic stress, mechanical stress, and/or exercise induced muscle damage. The typical variables for hypertrophy are 6-12 reps at 67-85% of 1 rep max with 30 to 90 seconds of rest (Clayton et al., 2015). Muscular strength utilizes heavy loads with lower reps and a longer rest time. Optimal ranges for muscular strength include 1 to 6 reps at greater than 70% 1 rep max for beginners and 85% of 1 rep max for an advanced client with between 2 to 5 minutes of rest between sets (Clayton et al., 2015). This forces clients to recruit the most amount of motor units possible to increase their overall strength gains. Muscular power is much like muscular strength except the emphasis is on explosiveness rather than maximum force. Thus, power lifting is not recommended for beginners as it requires a solid strength base to be performed properly. Power lifting uses a high intensity, low volume ratio with relatively long resting periods. Muscular power training is performed around 1 to 6 reps at about 30-60% of 1 rep max with a resting time of around 2 to 5 minutes (Clayton et al., 2015). Since the load is decreased compared to strength training, the force generated comes from moving the weight as quickly as possible, recruiting more fast twitch fibers. This will in turn make the client more explosive/quick over time.
Overall, the program should be designed by using the phase of muscle training that most directly corresponds to the client’s overall goal, but should not be limited to just that phase. By implementing exercises from other phases in addition to the phase of training being emphasized, the client will benefit much more. An example would be implementing strength training in an individual with a goal of hypertrophy. The heavy loads with longer rest time of strength training is shown to increase circulating testosterone levels while the moderate load with short rest of hypertrophic training increases growth hormone levels (Willardson et al., 2008). These combined would allow for greater growth and quicker recovery times when paired together.
In conclusion, there are multiple factors to consider when designing a program for a client. The two most basic factors to consider are determining the training status or experience of the client and their overall goal they wish to achieve, as these most directly relate to which style of program is best suited to their needs. A much more thorough understanding of the basics of program design than noted here is recommended to ensure the most important aspect of all program design, which is the clients safety.
Clayton, N., Drake, J., Larkin, S., Linkul, R., Martino, M., Nutting, M., & Tumminello, N. (2015). National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA): Foundations of Fitness Programming. Retrieved from https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/NSCA/Resources/PDF/Education/Tools_and_Resources/FoundationsofFitnessProgramming_201508.pdf
Mangine, G., Hoffman, J., Gonzalez, A., Townsend, J., Wells, A., Jajtner, A., Beyer, K., Boone, C., Miramonti, A., Wang, R., LaMonica, M., Fukuda, D., Ratamess, N., Stout, J. (2015, Aug 13). The effect of training volume and intensity on improvements in muscular strength and size in resistance-trained men. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562558/
Willardson, J., Burkett, L. (2008). The Effect of Different Rest Intervals Between Sets on Volume Components and Strength Gains. Retrieved from http://www.pgedf.ufpr.br/downloads/Artigos%20PS%20Mest%202015/DE/TP-
Willardson%20and%20Burkett_The%20effect%20of%20different%20rest%20intervals%20between%20sets%20on%20volume%20components%20and%20strength%20gains_JSCR2008.pdf