Programming for Strength and Conditioning

Programming for strength and conditioning is a misunderstood process. Go to any gym and I can almost guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will get one of the following responses…

The first is the most common and it pertains to bodybuilding. You’ll get a programme that involves splitting the week up into muscle groups and it will almost always include a large range of machines and isolation exercises. Then you’ll be given a cardio training regime that likely includes 30-60 minutes of continuous jogging on a treadmill or the same length of time on one of the pre-programmed workouts on the cross-trainer. Sound familiar?

The second attempt at programming for strength and conditioning is the so-called “functional” training movement. The trainer will pull out their strangest and most unique exercises in an effort to look like more of an expert than they really are without really accomplishing anything at all except marginally improved balance.

Explanation

Programming for strength and conditioning need not use either approach. What we offer here is effective and minimalist and covers all bases. Function and actual physical ability is the first priority, a beach body is secondary and is achieved through an intelligent approach to proper functional training.

First of all I must explain that this approach to programming for strength and conditioning is simply just a very brief guide to give you an idea of our thought processes. It is not a rigid template and is not something we hold onto in all circumstances. It is merely a way of explaining some core principles.

What we do is not altogether different from athletic strength and conditioning programmes conducted for Olympic athletes. This is a simplification of how we do it. Keep in mind that there are many different goals one could strive for in their training, from marathon runner to sprinter to weight loss. This is explained in a way that can be used for anything.

PROGRAMMING FOR STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING STRUCTURE

Frequency, Intensity and Volume

Frequency is kept high, in that training sessions are regular and days off are only few. There are numerous reasons for this, but I won’t go into them all here.

Intensity is kept to whatever is appropriate for the task at hand. Having said that, I like to favour the higher side. For most tasks training at maximum intensity for the required duration will generally produce the favourable result. It is intensity that determines the end-state.

Volume is kept to the minimum required. I have said before that I favour quality over quantity. 10 sets of squats are not required if the required adaptation can be achieved with five. All volume does, if it is too high, is stress the central nervous system and hinder long term progression and recovery.

Structure in a Nutshell

• Major compound movements for strength. Primal movement patterns, as in those that are naturally required for the human form.
• Appropriate energy system utilisation with a focus toward high intensity. Think of it this way, Kenyan distance runners are the best in the world because they train faster than others.
• Specificity and proper thought processes used in programming. If someone wants to lose weight then maximum caloric expenditure in the allowable timeframe is used. If someone needs to throw a javelin as far as humanly possible then each phase of the overall movement leading to a throw is trained precisely and all auxiliary requirements catered for.
• A segmented approach to structuring exercise days. Most sports or other activities require several types of training overall. For instance, a sprinter requires strength sessions, power sessions, track sessions etc. Someone losing weight needs to build lean body mass, develop aerobic fitness and maximise the use of the anaerobic energy systems. A bodybuilder needs maximum strength development as well as appropriate volume sets. A decathlete…..well, they need all sorts of training. I train for multiple sports, so I structure my strength and conditioning programme into four distinct days within a cycle. I have a maximum strength day, a sprint day (including plyometrics), an Olympic lifting session and a metcon day. Each of these sessions, for whatever purpose, needs to be structured to fit together without hindering other aspects.
• Periodisation is used in order to predict results over a long period of time. Various methods are used depending on the goal. But the difference in what we do is that the athlete maintains a fairly high level of performance and is never far away from peaking, generally less than a month at all times.
• Broadness and preventive training measures. This refers to covering all bases outside of the fitness goal without hindering it. A shot putter will develop a level of cardiovascular fitness and may engage in a very small amount of high intensity intervals, even though this falls outside of their training goal. Additionally, we programme in preventive measures for injury. A perfect example is hamstring strength training in order to prevent hamstring tears during high speed running and directional changes. Our approach here has been shown to increase overall performance.

To conclude let me just say that what we do is not some magic method that comes from the latest in functional training wizardry. It is simply a smart way to structure strength and conditioning programmes in order to achieve the task at hand, prevent injury and get to the end-state

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