November 2020
Designing your own program is great fun. It's also a place where most lifters end up as we gain experience and knowledge over the years -- not just on lifting per se but also on what works for us. That's a key takeaway right there, knowing what works for you because we don't all respond the same way to the same cookie-cutter program. But, as always, there are some basics that should be in place in all programs.
EXERCISE SELECTION
There's a lot of exercise choices out there and you need to sort the ones you like and which work for you. Often you'll come across a well-established movement like, say, squats but because they're hard or you don't like them, you opt not to do them. Benchpress was like that for me: I avoided it for years. But you know what really thickens your chest? Benchpress. You know what really builds superb upper-body strength? Benchpress.
So when it comes to exercise selection there is a time when you actually need to believe the tens of thousands of lifters who have gone before you. You need to believe their testimonies about how effective squats are -- or in my case, how effective benchpress is. As others have pointed out far better than I, ye old favourites are still the compound movements simply due to the results they produce and it's results we're after, right? I'd rather work up to a heavy set of benchpresses than do a hundred push-ups.
Time is money.
Whilst on the one hand you don't want to allow a movement you dislike and/or struggle with make you forgo it for an easier, less effective or piss-poor option, neither do you want to engage in something that you just fucking hate. There's a time for everything. As I've stated elsewhere, you should automatically drop ANY movement that hurts; likewise you should substitute a movement you enjoy for one you genuinely can't stand...even if the results are not as optimal.
But that's just me, kemosabe.
You do you.
BENCHPRESS
BENCHPRESS THICKENS THE CHEST OUTWARD; SOME PRESSING MOVEMENTS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE AT THIS THAN OTHERS. MOVEMENTS LIKE FLYES SHAPE THE CHEST. OTHERS EFFECT THE CENTER OF THE CHEST; EXERCISES LIKE DIPS OR DECLINE BENCHPRESS DEVELOP THE LOWER CHEST BETTER.
HOWEVER, THESE RESULTS ARE NOT THE SAME FOR EVERYONE, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS ENOUGH CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE BOARD TO SAY BENCHPRESS WORKS FOR THE MAJORITY OF LIFTERS OUT THERE. NOTE THAT SOME PEOPLE USE ONLY 1--2 HORIZONTAL PRESSING AND/OR FLYE MOVEMENTS AND DEVELOP GREAT PECTORALS.
PERFECT YOUR FORM
Once you've got your go-to movements sorted (I list my recommendations in Body basics), you want to get very, very good at them so get the form down. Figure out where and how to generate total body power. Stay tight. Focus. Breathe well. Ingrain the movement(s) so that they become automatic, a near-subconscious pattern you keep repeating over and over and over. Develop your own cues. Study others. Push yourself but don't over-exert yourself.
Bar path is really important for all barbell movements, specifically figuring out how to move from A-to-B in the straightest line. When squatting, you want the weight over your midfoot. When deadlifting you want the bar practically on the shins before you hinge and lift. When benchpressing you're actually pushing the bar back and up. When doing the overhead press you want a near-vertical push, not an over-exaggeration where your arms go backwards and head thrusts between them.
All of these basic considerations guarantees your health and safety, yes, but more importantly they guarantee maximum benefits and longevity. This isn't something we're "experimenting" with; this is something we're engaging in for life day after week, week after month, month after year till death do us part. I shit thee not. We're always trying to do better. Sometimes something as simple as changing your hand position or having elevated heels makes a phenomenal difference.
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Make sure to incorporate progressive overload. That's just fancy-fitness-speak for steadily adding weight over time as you adapt to your current numbers and get stronger. I'm not saying you shouldn't try other exercises or programs, but at least know what your bread and butter movements are, nail them and get stronger at them. Progressive overload is an essential part of any strength-training program.
I've mentioned elsewhere my opinion on "shocking the body" or "changing things up" or whatever other mantra is in popular use today. To recap, I don't think this necessary. Progressive overload works just fine. Always has, always will but hey, if you wanna' swap out your man-shorts for a leotard and start hoisting plastic dumbbells sideways whilst doused in glitter then do your thing, kemosabe. Do you thing. Because often those new, fun circuits all your book-club friends are doing?
...don't build shit.
What I like about progressive overload isn't just the fact that it works but it's simple and easy to track. That's what a good program should be: simple. I see people doing 3-5 different exercises for one body part, usually with a minimum 4-5 sets with high reps, and I just feel sorry for them. Look, if you're in our age group, you don't need to do that much because doing that much can fuck you. Short, heavy work-outs with plenty of rest between will do the job just fine and you'll probably enjoy them more too.
Yes, a lot of people advocate volume but that's not necessary for every single one of us. There are a lot of ways to grow and develop in the iron game, believe me. My preference is actually less volume through selecting smart exercises that work and working up to one heavy set (yes, I'm strength-focused but men in our age bracket need to be as it's imperative we gain and retain our strength). Having said this though, on occasions I'll have a volume-focus more than a weight one.
What can I say...
It's a male prerogative.
You'll still hear the if-I-lift-heavy-I'll-do-myself-a-mischief mantra but again, that's simply not true at least, not for everyone. Short heavy sets are great for total muscle recruitment, power-production, strength-gains and importantly, strengthening our ligaments and joints so they actually get the chance to become accustomed to heavy loads. Suffer from a sore back? Start working up to heavy bent-over rows. Find you have poor mobility in the hips? Start squatting or doing deadlifts. Why?
...because movement heals.
Oh, and for the record, we were designed to move, peeps.
THAT MIND-MUSCLE THING
I must say, after all these years, I have to agree with feeling the muscle(s) you're focused on and no, that probably won't be necessary for everyone. You may have been just as doubtful of the "mind-muscle connection" as I was but focusing on the muscle(s) you're working, trying to get the maximum from it, squeezing the muscle and sometimes just slowing the movement down -- like bicep curls if you even do those -- are all great ways to develop better mind-muscle connection rather than just hoisting shit.
You want to be present when you lift which just naturally segues into a mind-muscle headspace in my limited opinion. Squats are an excellent example for this: knees out, big-toes curled, chest up, torso/mid-section locked, shoulders wedged under the bar, elbows pulled in and down engaging the lats, control of descent, the upward drive -- all this and more shows how necessary it is to be present. In this headspace of focus you find yourself connecting to a wide range of muscles.
That's a good thing.
Look, this may not be necesssary for you but for most people, if they can't feel the muscle they're actually trying to exercise doing anything, they'll naturally doubt the legitimacy of the exercise in the first place. This literal disconnect results in our simply throwing weight all over the place for the hell of it. Form goes out the window. We're not "working" the muscles we're hoisting shit. None of us got into this to hoist shit but to work, train and strengthen our bodies (if necessary, you actually may need to sub in an exercise where you can feel the muscle working better...?).
ORDER YOUR WORK-OUTS WISELY
At the begininng of the week most of us are rearing to go but by week's end we're knackered; by end of week our energy levels are lower and we're ready for the weekend to rest and recuperate. Throw in a healthy dose of stress (yes, I am being sarcastic here), commitments at work, relationship difficulties, screaming kids and the shit-show can happen even quicker. How are you supposed to work out amidst all this?
Figure out what work-out time is best for you and stick to it.
For me it's mornings.
I work out Monday, Wednesday and Friday so for each of those mornings I'm up at 5:30am and do anywhere from 45min to an hour. I have to leave home 7:30am to get to mahi (work) round 8am so I can start prepping for the day. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I walk the dog for an hour so on those mornings -- except for Saturday when I can get up later -- I'm up at 5am. Week after month, month after year, this is my routine. There's no shortcuts here folks, no quick-fix; you either put in work or give up.
But wait, there's more: what about exercise order? This is uber crucial. You need enough space between work-outs so that your musculature gets the opportunity to rest, recover and grow. Now if you're a young gun, squatting every day may tear your nightie clean down the middle but this site indeed, this article, is pitched towards the 50-plus lifters, the majority of whom can't keep up that sort of tempo. At least, not for long.
Further to this, you don't want to do an arm day before your benchpress day because guess what? Benchpress relies tremendously on your triceps; if you've worked them out the day before, you lifts (and results) will be sub-optimal. If you've worked your biceps the day before rows, where bicep strength is crucial, you've again undermined your own potential. So excercise order needs to be strategic. Lets say you do an upper/lower split which looks like this:
WEEK #1
Monday --- Upper body
Wednesday --- Lower body
Friday --- Upper body
WEEK #2
Wednesday --- Lower body
Friday --- Upper body
Wednesday --- Lower body
The above is a great split to use: you have rest days inbetween, you're not going to burn out and your feng shui is good. Get it? It just makes good sense and for the record, the above split is used by thousands of people. I'm currently using the below program where you'll see a similar pattern of upper-body versus lower-body:
WEEK #1
Monday --- Heavy squats, rows & OHT extensions
Wednesday --- Benchpress, flyes & shrugs
Friday --- Overhead press & moderate deadlifts
WEEK #2
Monday --- Overhead press & heavy deadlifts
Wednesday --- Benchpress, flyes & shrugs
Friday --- Moderate squats, rows & OHT extensions
CONCLUSION
Lets recap what a well-created program should contain: smart exercises, good form in ALL lifts, progressive overload, a genuine connection to the musculature being worked -- not just hoisting shit -- set times and a wise order of exercises that takes into account rest and recovery between work-outs. If you have all of these on point for yourself, you're going to have a great, fun and productive program to utilise and tweak over the years.
Lastly, allow yourself days or even weeks where you may choose a slightly different focus or decide to increase some lifts whilst decreasing others. It's okay -- this is your program after all, you dictate it. Feel free to use another program for a month or three as well; like I've said elsewhere, I usually rotate between 2-3 programs per year but that's fluid, based entirely upon where I'm at and what I'm feeling (last year's heart event has also played a key role in shifting some of my lifting focus). Kia ora whanau.
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