Walk the fine line

There has been a lot of bashing on the so-called "cookie cutter programs," which basically mean that you read a fitness magazine and copy the exact same program. On the other end are "individualized programs" which are tailored specifically to your needs, which often times means that it's a cookie cutter program, since the people issuing them can't really tell you how they individualize it other than "well I ask for training age and goals." Training age and goals? That means that I don't give you the first program I run into a magazine, but instead read if it's for beginners and strength. Now, there are some young(in professional years) coaches that really individualize and create one-of-a-kind unique programs for each client. That takes a huge amount of effort and often times does not work all that well. It is a good learning experience though.

Now let's camp in the middle - training templates.

Know thyself

People wonder what exercises they should do. They also wonder what program(concept of training to choose). They wonder what mobility drills are best for them or even if mobility should be approached one way or another. And there are always at least two camps- machines vs free weights, volume vs intensity, muscle activation vs movement patterns, etc.

Well here is my suggestion - let's camp in the middle.

Tweak vs Change

 You will not program jump and hop on the latest trend – your program should be flexible enough to adjust/tweak to include new ideas while maintaining the core principles and integrity of the program.

Jim Wendler

Now how great is that! Let's review the process of change and the process of tweak in this post, and we'll have some anchors in the next one.

Sports and cybersports

Anyone that knows my past(that does not bind me) is aware that I used to play a lot of computer games. Frankly I spent my entire 5 years of high-school behind a computer monitor playing. Now the real question is not "what did I loose or fail to gain in that time?" It would be lame to ponder over things that are long gone and cannot be changed. The question is "what did I lean and how do I use it?"

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater

 Ian King once said that people overreact in the short term and under-react in the long term.
Alwyn Cosgrove


The above quote is taken from his interview on T-nation.com. Things that I believe have been overlooked after the initial(sometimes 50 year long) hype are steady-slow cardio, static stretching, isometrics and crunches. There are more probably but these come to mind right away. I believe that the FMS and foam rolling/SMR are going to be the ones of the future.

nRM and percentages

In program design and particularly in powerlifting, percentages are widely used for prescribing loads to be lifted. Most find that these programs are not very useful and the tables used are not accurate. I have three ways to go about solving the percentage mystery.

Muscular strength deficit

Here are a couple of types of strength:

-eccentric strength - how much weight you can lower under control.

-concentric strength - how much strength you can lift.

-reactive/reversal strength - how good you are at reversing direction.