Fitness Program Design

by Gabe Rinaldi MA, FIT General Manager 

Fitness Program Design

In the fitness and strength and conditioning industry program design refers to the structure of the short-term and long-term training plan. This month I am going to share my general thoughts on program design. This might give you some insight into some of the factors your trainer considers when deciding what you should be doing in the gym.

The most important factor to consider is the purpose of training. Most people who exercise do so for one or more of the following reasons:

Increase fitness to the highest level possible
Reduce the risk of disease / become as healthy as possible
Lose fat
Gain muscle
Improve sport performance
Rehabilitate an injury
Reduce the risk of a future injury (prehabilitation)

Let’s take a closer look at each of these reasons someone decides to exercise.

Become as fit as possible

First we must define fitness. I think the best definition of fitness comes from CrossFit; i.e., your fitness is determined by your competence in each of the 10 recognized fitness qualities; i.e., cardiovascular / respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. By this definition an elite marathon runner might have exceptional endurance and stamina, but have horrible performance on the other fitness qualities and would therefore not be considered fit. The CrossFit approach to developing fitness is to use constantly varied high intensity functional exercises prescribed in a random fashion to optimize all 10 qualities. Functional activities are typically full body or multi-joint movement patterns that are useful in life. High intensity in this philosophy refers to heavy weights or doing as much work in the shortest amount of time possible (high average power output). The constantly varied part of the equation refers to a lack of structure for sets, reps, exercises, order of exercises, routines, etc. This broad and constantly varied stimulus better prepares one for the many unforeseeable challenges in life. The random part of this philosophy is that the program intentionally lacks structure. Structure tends to favor certain fitness qualities or patterns. Proper nutritional intake, recovery, sleep, and minimized stress are all essential. Someone new to this training should probably start with about 3 days per week and then build to 5 to 6 days per week. Extremely fit individuals can build up to even higher levels, but this takes years of adaptation.

Reduce the risk of disease / become as healthy as possible

I believe this goes hand and hand with becoming as fit as possible so long as we follow the definition of fitness given above. We must also consider the starting point for the client. In terms of health we want to move towards the CrossFit training philosophy, but it may take some time. Elite athletes are not what I would consider as healthy as possible, but most elite athletes train with specific qualities in mind at the exclusion of others. This is required for sport, but not health. Proper nutritional intake, recovery, sleep, and minimized stress are all essential to optimal health.

Lose fat

Proper nutrition is critical here. Your training in the gym can be absolutely perfect, but if you are eating poorly, then you won’t reach your goal of losing fat. Proper nutrition is a topic for another article, but quite simply eat lean meats (assuming you’re not a vegetarian), a variety of veggies, some fruit, nuts, good quality oils, and cook as much of your food as possible. Eat the proper amount of Calories for you (enough to get the required nutrients and have energy to live and train effectively, but lose fat slowly and consistently) and you will be well on your way to your goal. In terms of training a mixture of anaerobic (without going into lots of specifics this is basically higher intensity shorter duration stuff) and aerobic (lower intensity) exercise should be done, but an emphasis should be placed on the anaerobic stuff and interval training. The exercises performed should be multi-joint functional movements that will improve health, fitness, and performance as well. Some example exercises for fat loss are squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, wall ball, slam ball, pull-ups etc. A variety of rep and set schemes should be performed. Training 3 times per week is a happy medium for many people, but the more frequently someone can train the easier it is to lose fat. Remember, there is such a thing as too much training.



Gain muscle

Once again nutrition is critical if your goal is to gain muscle. In order for your body to lay down new muscle tissue you must be eating more than your body needs to maintain your current weight. This means that it is tough to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time (unless you’re completely new to training or taking performance enhancing drugs). Assuming you have your nutrition in order, then you should train with multiple sets and exercises for each muscle group. Different people respond better to different rep schemes, but in general bodybuilders train at lighter weights than strength athletes. A typical rep scheme might be somewhere between 8 and 12 reps, but there could be value in going higher or lower occasionally. The muscles should be given a few days to recover and therefore most bodybuilders will split up their workout plan by training different body parts on different days. This approach may yield a routine where the person trains 4-6 days per week.

Improve sport performance

The type of training to improve sport performance depends on the sport. For example, a sport like mixed-martial arts requires the fighter to be equally well rounded at nearly all the 10 fitness qualities listed above. A 100-meter sprinter does not need to be good at all 10 fitness qualities. In fact, if a 100-meter sprinter trained for endurance then they would negatively impact fitness qualities that are important for their event such as speed and power. As such, the exact method of training for sport performance depends on the athlete’s development and their needs based on the sport. In most cases a long-term annual plan is developed and the training program is written to peak at certain times of the year. This planned variation is called periodization and is an attempt to optimize everything that needs to be optimized at certain points in time (for example, right before the championships). A simple model of periodization could be working on hypertrophy (muscle size) for 3 months in the off season, then strength in the pre-season, and moving towards power as the season starts. In most cases athletes will use techniques such as Olympic-style weightlifting, plyometrics, sprint drills, powerlifting methods etc. to train in a functional manner. Athletes tend to train frequently because their goals require a highly refined neural muscular system and this is best accomplished when skills and movements are trained often. Most athletes will train 4-7 days per week.

Rehabilitate an injury

The type of training done to rehabilitate an injury depends on the exact injury. Typically many of the movements are done to isolate the injury site and seek to restore optimal function. As the rehab program progresses movements become more dynamic and athletic until the individual returns to pre-injury status or hopefully even better. Unfortunately in some cases people never return to their pre-injury status, but the body is a remarkable machine and is able to compensate in many ways so an individual can in many cases still enjoy physical activity.

Reduce the risk of a future injury (prehabilitation)

This refers to training in an attempt to decrease the likelihood of sustaining an injury in the future. The exact type of training will depend on the person and their lifestyle or sport. Generally speaking the training should develop strength and stability in every joint in the body while at the same time optimizing mobility. Movement patterns should be chosen that train the nervous system to properly control the body in a variety of situations encountered in life and sport. Injuries often occur during rapid deceleration of the body or when things don’t go exactly as planned. These movements can be trained with proper technique in a controlled environment and then the intensity can be raised as proficiency develops. When training occurs in this fashion, then injuries can be minimized. Unfortunately we can never guarantee someone won’t get hurt, but proper training certainly helps.

Final Thoughts

This is just a very general representation of some of the things we consider as trainers working with a wide variety of clients. Every trainer might have a slightly different concept of program design, but at FIT we tend to use a large variety of functional movements and we seek to improve technique, increase intensity, develop work capacity, optimize lifestyle, and reduce the risk of injury with all of our clients. The exact implementation of this is left up to each trainer and their client. Please ask your trainer (or me) for more information if you want clarification on this topic.