“Can we learn more about how to write programs?”
The request is simple. The explanation is complex.
Designing training plans or “programming”, is a complex topic because there are so many variables and “it depends” scenarios. There is also more than one road that leads to Rome. There isn't one *right* way to program.
When boiled down, programming is part art and part science. Some of it can be taught and some aspects take time and seasoning to learn.
This guide will focus on the variables and systems that can be taught. It's specifically written to help you build one phase (or block) of training, which is typically around 4-weeks long.
Think of it as a starter kit. It will provide you with a repeatable system that will save you time, energy, effort, and ultimately, it should help you write better programs.
This is the guide that I wish I had when I was a young coach.
Pre-Planning
Before we jump into the step-by-step process, here are some thoughts to get you started on the right path.
- Get to know the person
Gathering personal info before designing a program is a cheat code. You're already getting a peek behind the curtain before you ever step onto the training floor. Dig in on aspects like goals, injuries, weaknesses, timelines, availability, & training preferences.
Here are 4 questions I ask new athletes:
- When's the last time you followed an intensive training program?
- Do you have any injuries that are currently limiting you?
- Do you have any workout likes or dislikes?
- What's one thing you want to focus on in your training?
- Physical Assessment
What are the key performance indicators (KPI's) that you will use as a baseline? Examples include a Functional Movement Screen and jump/speed/sprint/strength testing.
*Disclaimer on testing: Don't just test to test. Use measures that will inform or help you design a program. Don't just do it because it looks cool or because you've seen it done on social media.
- Keep it simple
Simple, hard work will never fail. Young coaches dig themselves a hole by trying to do *all the things*. As Michael Boyle said in his article, Stick to the Recipe, programs that are too fancy (with too many ingredients) are hard to implement and even harder to coach. Keep your programs simple and coach the sh!t out of them.
- Go analog on your first draft
Shut your computer and grab a pencil and paper. This will allow you to cut out distractions while giving you more freedom to adjust and scribble without needing to be perfect on your first try.
- Commit to writing a damn good program
Don't just copy/paste from a past program or, worse yet, make it up on the fly while on the training floor. Put some thought, intention, and effort into the process. Design a program that you would be proud to show another coach.
Alright, enough talk. Let's get into the step-by-step process of designing a program.
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6 Steps to Writing a Program
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STEP 1: NUMBER OF TRAINING SESSIONS PER WEEK
How many days per week are we going to train? Lifestyle and schedule restraints notwithstanding, here are guidelines on how many times per week someone should train:
2x/Week
Used for in-season training or general maintenance with athletes. 2x/week can also be a good starting point when looking to implement a minimum effective dose approach for novice athletes or adults.
3x/Week
Consistent, steady gains. Can be used in-season or off-season. 3 sessions per week is also a sweet spot for adults who like a consistent workout schedule on Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thur/Sat.
4-5x/Week
Dedicated push. 4-5 days per week is often used in the off-season for athletes and for adults who are dedicated to their fitness. 4x/week is one of the most common athlete training schedules.
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STEP 2: CHOOSE A TRAINING SPLIT
How will you organize movement patterns within a week? Before we get there, let's do a quick review of the 4 foundational movement patterns:
Upper Body
- Push: Bench, Overhead Press, Pushups
- Pull: Pullups, Rows, Pulldowns
Lower Body
- Push: Squat, Lunges, Split Squats, Single Leg Squats
- Pull: Deadlifts, Single Leg Deadlifts, Leg Curl Variations
Now let's organize these patterns within a week of training. One of the simplest ways to begin is to shoot for balance in your training programs.
Aim for a 1:1 ratio of upper body and lower body work as well as a 1:1 ratio of pushing and pulling patterns. Here's what I mean by 1:1 ratio:
Upper - Lower Ratio: If you are programming a 4-day per week plan, you don't want three upper body days and one lower body day (even if that's what your inner bodybuilder wants). Go with two of each.
Push - Pull Ratio: If you are programming a 3-day per week plan, and you insert an upper body pressing movement in each workout, you would also insert an upper body pulling movement in to maintain a 1:1 ratio of pushing to pulling.
3 Training Splits for Athletes
Full Body Split
All 4 movement patterns used each workout. Provides a broad/general stimulus to the entire body. Used when training 2-3x/week. Often used with novice or untrained athletes.
Push / Pull Split
One upper body pattern & one lower each workout. Ex. Upper Push + Lower Pull one workout. Lower Push + Upper Pull the next. Used when training 3-4x/week. Allows for a more focused stimulus while still incorporating both upper and lower body each session. Used with middle to advanced athletes and also with adults that train consistently 3+ times per week.
Upper / Lower Split
Upper pushing & pulling one workout. Lower pushing & pulling the next. Provides a direct and advanced stimulus that overloads one portion of the body. Used when training 4+ days per week. Used in the off-season with advanced athletes and also with adults that train seriously most days of the week.
TRAINING SPLIT QUICK VIEW
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Body Part Splits What about the bro split? Chest on Monday, Back on Tuesday, Legs on Wednesday, etc. These splits fully exhaust and hammer one or two muscle groups. It's meant to grow big muscles but not necessarily a big engine with ample horsepower. Put more focus on movement patterns and less on muscle pumping to enhance athletic qualities. |
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STEP 3: SESSION BLUEPRINT
If you were building a new home from the ground up, you would start with a blueprint. That blueprint would have the number of rooms, the kitchen layout, etc.
The problem with many noobs is they go straight to picking out the furniture and paint color - i.e. exercises, sets & reps - before they have built their session blueprint.
Here are things to keep in mind when crafting a blueprint for each individual workout:
- Movement Priority
A session should start with high speed and/or high loads with primary movements and finish with lower speed and/or lower loads with secondary or auxiliary movements.
Think of your session as a three-course meal in this order:
Power / Explosive Movements = Appetizer
Primary Movements = Entree
Secondary & Auxiliary Movements = Dessert
Here's why: Movements that are demanding on your nervous system and have a higher degree of difficulty (ex. Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows) need to be respected. You don't want to smash your legs with leg curls and leg extensions and then try to get snappy and powerful with hang cleans afterward. Make the main thing the main thing and prioritize power & primary movements toward the beginning of a session when the athlete is fresh.
- Session length
How much time do you have? The 10x10 German Volume Training you read about isn't going to work if you only have 30-minutes with a soccer team.
- Equipment access
What type of gym are you training in and what's the equipment access and count? You can't pair DB Bench and DB RDL's in the same superset if you don't have enough dumbbells to accommodate a team of 20 players.
If you're in an S & C gym, you will probably need to pair a barbell movement with a dumbbell or bodyweight movement. If you workout in a commercial gym, it's harder to save multiple pieces of equipment, which may mean you stick to one rack or bench with a set of dumbbells, etc.
- Gym flow
Understand the flow of traffic and where equipment is located in your space. It may seem like a great idea to pair back squats with depth jumps, but it may not work if your athlete has to do squats and then trek 100 yards to the nearest ledge to do the depth jumps.
Here are some example session blueprints:
3-Day Full Body Split for Novice Athlete (45-min session)
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Day 1: Full Body |
Day 2: Full Body |
Day 3: Full Body |
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Power (Plyos) Movement 1 Movement 2 |
Primary Block Upper Push Primary Lower Pull Primary - Bilateral Mobility / Core |
Power (Medicine Ball) Movement 1 Movement 2 |
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Primary Block Lower Push Primary (Squat) Upper Pull Primary Mobility / Core |
Secondary Upper Pull Secondary Lower Push Secondary Core |
Primary Block Lower Body Push Primary (Split Squat) Upper Body Pull Primary Mobility / Core |
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Secondary Lower Pull Secondary Upper Push Secondary Core |
Auxiliary Upper Push Auxiliary Bicep Tricep |
Secondary Lower Body Pull Primary (Single Leg) Upper Push Primary Core |
4-Day Push/Pull Split for Intermediate Athlete (60-min session)
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Day 1: Upper Push/ Lower Pull |
Day 2: Lower Push/ Upper Pull |
Day 3: Lower Pull/Upper Push |
Day 4: Upper Pull/Lower Push |
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Power Block Olympic Lift |
Power Block Plyometrics |
Power Block Sprints |
Power Block Medicine Ball |
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Primary Block Upper Push Primary Lower Pull Primary Mobility / Core |
Primary Block Lower Push Primary Upper Pull Primary Mobility / Core |
Primary Block Lower Pull Primary Upper Push Primary Mobility / Core |
Primary Block Upper Pull Primary Lower Push Secondary Mobility / Core |
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Secondary Block Lower Pull Secondary Upper Push Secondary Core |
Secondary Block Upper Pull Secondary Lower Push Secondary Core |
Secondary Block Lower Pull Secondary Upper Push Secondary Core |
Secondary Block Upper Pull Secondary Lower Push Secondary Core |
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Energy System / Conditioning or Auxiliary |
Energy System Conditioning or Auxiliary |
Energy System / Conditioning or Auxiliary |
Energy System Conditioning or Auxiliary |
4-Day Upper / Lower Split for Advanced Athlete (60-75 min session)
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Day 1: Lower Body |
Day 2: Upper Body |
Day 3: Lower Body |
Day 4: Upper Body |
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Core Stability Block Core Movement 1 Core Movement 2 Mobility |
Shoulder Prep Shoulder Prep 1 Shoulder Prep 2 Mobility |
Core Stability Block Core Movement 1 Core Movement 2 Mobility |
Shoulder Prep Shoulder Prep 1 Shoulder Prep 2 Mobility |
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Power Block Plyometrics Sprints |
Primary Block Upper Push Primary Upper Pull Power Mobility |
Power Block Olympic Lift |
Power Block Medicine Ball Circuit |
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Primary Block Lower Pull Primary Core Movement Mobility |
Secondary Upper Pull Sec Upper Push Sec |
Primary Block Lower Pull Primary Core Movement Mobility |
Primary Upper Push Primary Upper Pull Primary Mobility |
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Secondary Lower Push Secondary Lower Pull Secondary |
Auxiliary Bicep Tricep |
Secondary Lower Push Secondary Lower Pull Secondary |
Auxiliary Upper Push Auxiliary Upper Pull Auxiliary |
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Energy System / Conditioning Sprint Repeats |
Upper Body Finisher Chinup/Dip Combo |
Lower Metabolic Finisher Leg Matrix or Sleds |
Upper Body Finisher Battling Ropes |
Supersets & Tri-Sets
Pairing 2-3 movements in a grouping enhances training density (more work, less time) with minimal performance sacrifices.
Just make sure to not overlap movement patterns in a superset or circuit. Use push/pull antagonistic patterns or upper/lower/core so that you're not burning out a set of muscles in one pairing. Don't put squats and lunges in the same superset or tri-set.
Now that you have a blueprint, it's time to pick out the paint colors……
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STEP 4: INSERT MOVEMENTS / EXERCISES
My wife loves to change the paint colors in our home every couple of years. She always asks my opinion (mostly just to be nice, as she really already knows what she wants), and when she does, she pulls out the paint cards that house like 28 different shades of beige. After I look at them for a few minutes, I almost always start to think to myself, “These all look the same. I can't choose between them”.
This is what can happen when you start selecting exercises. There are endless variations and choices. Your head starts to spin and you end up wasting time hemming and hawing over every decision. .
Here's the best way to stay organized: Break each separate movement pattern (upper push, upper pull, lower push, lower pull ) into 3 sub-categories; Primary, Secondary, and Auxiliary.
These three buckets will help you organize them in your brain and they will keep your program balanced and your athletes feeling fresh and injury-free.
Here are the 3 main categories for upper and lower body movements.
Primary: Multi-joint, free-weight movements. High loads and large ranges of motion. High CNS demand. Big bang for your buck movements. Used for strength building and “building the engine”.
Secondary: Multi-joint with moderate loads. Can be free-weight or machine. Builds strength and hypertrophy.
Auxiliary: Isolation movements, hypertrophy, stability, corrective. Low-moderate loads and low demand on CNS. “Icing on the cake”
Upper Push Movement Category Example
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PRIMARY |
Bench Press, DB Bench Press, BB Overhead Press, Push Press |
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SECONDARY |
Pushup Variations, Landmine Press, KB Press, Dips, DB Bench variations |
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AUXILIARY |
Shoulder Raises, Rear Delt, Pullapart, Tricep Variations, Chest fly |
Upper Pull Movement Category Example
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PRIMARY |
DB / BB Row, Pullups, Pulldowns |
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SECONDARY |
Cable / TRX Rows, Pulldown variations, Batwing Rows |
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AUXILIARY |
DB Pullovers, Medball Slams, Bicep Variations, Face Pulls, Straight Arm Pulldown |
Lower Push Movement Category Example
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PRIMARY |
Squats (Front, Back, Safety Squat), Split Squat (DB, BB, Rear Foot elevated) |
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SECONDARY |
Goblet Squat, 2 KB Squat, Single Leg Squat, Lunges, Step-ups |
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AUXILIARY |
Leg Extensions, Lateral Lunges, Lunge variations with sandbags/mace/slides |
Lower Pull Movement Category Example
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PRIMARY |
Deadlift (Trap Bar, BB, RDL), Single Leg RDL Variations |
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SECONDARY |
Knee Dominant Pulls (Nordic Leg Curls, Ball Leg Curls, Slider/TRX Leg Curls), Single Leg Good Mornings |
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AUXILIARY |
Back Extension, Cable Pullthroughs, BB Glute Bridge & Single Leg Glute Bridge |
*Rule of thumb: Only select 1-2 movements per category, per workout (especially primary movements).
Ex. For a day with upper pushing, don't do:
BB Bench
BB Overhead Press
DB Push Press
It's too much of a good thing; like eating steak, chicken, and salmon for dinner. They're all primary movements with heavy loads & high complexity, which is challenging on the body and central nervous system. It's an easy recipe for an injury or excessive soreness.
Instead, go with:
BB Bench (primary)
TRX Pushup (secondary)
DB Lateral Raise (auxiliary)
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Tip: Selecting primary lower body movements I see a lot of noobs that program primary, bilateral movements nearly every workout (BB deadlifts, front squats, RDL's, back squats, etc). Respect these movements and the stress they put on the body. Make sure to mix in primary unilateral lower body movements (split squats & single leg rdl's) as well. |
Programming Power
Power movements like plyos, medball throws, Olympic lifts, etc are in a category by themselves. They're full-body and don't fall into a particular pattern of lower/upper pushing & pulling.
Instead, consider the level of the athlete and your familiarity with coaching the movements when selecting movements. Choose 1 or 2, power-based movements per training session.
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STEP 5: SETS & REPS
Ready for this?
Moderate sets, moderate reps, medium-ish weight = Power
More sets, fewer reps, heavier weight = Strength
Fewer sets, more reps, medium weight = Hypertrophy
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Ok, I won't leave you completely hanging. Here's more specificity, pulled from the Black Book of Training Secrets by Christian Thibaudeau
Here's an easy way to match the sets/reps on the charts above with the movement selections in your program:
Power Movements ? Power sets/reps scheme
Primary Movements ? Strength sets/reps scheme
Secondary & Auxiliary Movements? Hypertrophy sets/reps scheme
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Progressing Sets & Reps Week-to-Week Our bodies are amazing. They're great at adapting in order to survive. It's why we get sore the first time we do a workout but not as much the second or third time. As coaches, it's our job to hunt out new ways to add stress to keep the body adapting. So why not just do a different, random workout each time? Because we also need practice to get good at something, especially primary movements with high loads and complexity. This is why a phase/block of training usually has the same exercises each week. Instead of changing the exercise, one simple way to progress each week over a 3-6 week phase would be to add 5lbs or add 1 rep. Michael Boyle details this idea in his article 5-6-7-8-9 for Kids. |
This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are entire textbooks dedicated to yearly planning for volume and intensities of sets and reps. This isn't the time or place to go down that rabbit hole. For now, your job is to make sure every program has balanced doses of: power to increase wattage, primary strength to build an engine, and secondary hypertrophy to build body armor and stability. You will be in a good place if you select the proper movements for each category (power, primary, secondary, auxiliary) and then align the sets & reps with that category.
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STEP 6: MAKE IT OFFICIAL
The finish line is in sight! All that's left is to transfer your program from paper to a computer. You can use a spreadsheet or any digital platform like Bridge Athletic or Train Heroic. This step gives you a second look at the program and allows you to make any final edits before publishing.
As you are reviewing your program, ask yourself these questions:
- Are the movement patterns balanced across the week?
- Is power, primary strength, and secondary/auxiliary work included in each workout?
- Do the sets/reps align with the movement selection?
- Will each workout fit with the gym flow and the time allotted for each workout
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6 Steps to Writing a Program
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I hope this guide helps you write some damn good programs. I can guarantee it will help me answer the number one question I get from my interns each and every semester.
Want to learn more about programming? Check out these resources:
The Black Book of Training Secrets
Practical Programming for Strength Training
Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods