Fitness Training Expert aims to provide top quality fitness training advice, exercise information and educational resources for all fitness enthusiasts.  Expert fitness advice SEARCH THIS SITE FACEBOOK BRIDGEFIT ARTICLES   Personal training program design principles When creating a training program for a personal training client there are a range of different factors to consider which make the program truly personal. The clients goals, health status, training history and movement ability must be considered. A personal trainer should also give thought to the structure of the program itself, including exercise selection, sequencing of exercises and long term planning. This article aims to give a little insight into how I apply some of these principles to assist people in Tewkesbury with their fitness goals. They are not presented in any particular order and are by no means comprehensive. 1) Identify the clients goals This is paramount. The client must have an idea of what they want to achieve from a personal training program, at times however their goal may not be realistic. Sometimes they need to be guided along a path to select a relevant and achievable goal, or perhaps their goal needs broken up into smaller chunks. For example someone looking to run their first half marathon may initially have goals of completing smaller distance runs. They may even have strength and mobility related goals which will assist them also. 2) Know where the client is currently There are many tools available to a personal trainer for assessing their clients. It is important that some form of exercise or movement based observation is performed initially. This may give reason to refer to other specialists (if pain is presented for example), or give knowledge on how to regress or progress an exercise. If someone can not yet squat properly due to poor mobility and stability or the need for further motor learning it does not yet make sense to get them performing a barbell back squat. Other performance related assessments and fitness tests can be done, with data compared against “norms” for their sport. This gives a measurable way to chart progress and identify any plateaus further along the line. 3) Stretch tight/ over facilitated muscles first There is little benefit in trying to strengthen a weak muscle if the opposing muscles are tight. A process known as reciprocal inhibition occurs whereby a tight muscle decreases neural drive (relaxing/weakening) to its opposing muscle. By stretching the tight muscle we can attempt to reverse this effect somewhat so that we can get maximum benefit from our strengthening exercises. 4) Movement based/dynamic warm up Depending on the information which presents itself in the initial consultations a client may be ready for a dynamic warm up. This is advantageous after static stretching for reducing some of the potential strength loss which may occur, and quite simply it gets the body moving in a manner which adds to the total volume of work done in a training session. I always aim to progress people to dynamic warm ups, some clients dynamic warm up methods look like other clients training programs. I have been heavily influenced by JC Santana in my approach to dynamic warm ups including movement in all planes of motion, and if you have been to one of my circuit classes you will realise the intensity of these warm ups rapidly escalates and becomes a workout in itself! 5) Consider isolated activation exercises for lazy muscles and integrative coaching methods Sometimes clients are not sure how to get a muscle firing to wake it up. A personal trainer should be able to select an appropriate exercise to isolate a muscle with the aim being to teach the client what the sensation feels like when that muscle is doing its job. There are many personal trainers who do not believe in isolating muscles, it is seen as “non functional” or perhaps more to the point “non fashionable”. What one must consider though is the need not just to train someone but to coach them also. Part of coaching very often involves breaking a skill down into smaller chunks. That’s why I may use a glute bridge to wake the glutes up, sometimes then working on movement control at the hip region from a kneeling or seated position, and then finally integrating these isolated patterns into a true functional exercise like a Deadlift or high step. Note that I have refrained from using the term “weak” in favour of “lazy”. Feel free to ask me why. 6) Selection of exercises for each movement pattern must be specific to goal/life activities/sports performance Get one client to go and visit 30 personal trainers and you will get 30 different programs for that one person! They may follow similar principles of program design (reps, sets etc specific to the goal) but they may use different exercises to get there. That is fine, that is the beauty of an industry full of creative people. However sometimes trainers can get a little too creative. Squatting on the floor to increase leg strength has application for many of life’s activities and sports. Standing on a Swiss ball and squatting just makes you look daft when you fall off. Incline bench press with a shoulder width grip has application for many pushing/punching sports. A single arm cable press, resistance band press, even dumbbell press lying on a Swiss ball also have applications. However holding dumbbells punching whilst standing on a vibration platform with one leg does not!   7) Specify length of time on this programme An exercise program will not last forever! Fortunately good personal trainers communicate this to their clients, often at times making changes on the fly (daily or weekly) as required. Planning of the goals will allow a trainer to make the optimum use of the timings for different stages of a program. 8) Specify a set range, rep range, rest period and tempo Depending on the goals a different manipulation of the above parameters will either take you towards the goal or far away from it. For example 5 sets of 25 reps with 30 second rest periods will not develop maximum strength. Whether one is in a general conditioning, strength training, hypertrophy, power or a power endurance training phase how the sets, reps, rest and tempo are manipulated can affect the results of the workout. The body will adapt to a given stimulus in a relatively short period of time, specifying a progressive resistance training program through the manipulation of these parameters allows a personal trainer to set goals, progression methods and also factor in lighter training sessions. By doing the planning the time the workout takes can be calculated, no client wants to be doing a program which lasts 10 minutes when you have told them it will take an hour! Conversely nobody should spend 2 hours in the gym on a 45 minute program! 9) Is the tempo reasonable for the speed at which they need to perform movement in sport, or are they ready for a certain tempo? Is the tempo relevant to the goal? By controlling the tempo of an exercise I can control the workout even when I am not with the client. Through specifying the tempo I can control the speed at which the whole movement occurs, right down to isometric pauses for those who require this. Lowering a weight rapidly will take advantage of more elastic energy as contributed through the stretch shortening cycle. On the opposite end of the spectrum controlling the eccentric tempo and including a pause at the end allows for more of a muscular contribution to lifting the load. Both methods have a place; it just depends on how ready the client is! I have now settled on the 4 digit representation of tempo. Each digit represents a different count in seconds for each stage of the muscle contraction e.g. 4210. This represents the following stages of muscle contraction- (4) eccentric, (2) isometric pause, (1) concentric, (0) isometric pause. 10) Be realistic with your own abilities and most importantly be honest By this I mean that personal trainers should know when to seek the advice of others. Some personal trainers have specialisms and know a lot about a little, others know a little about everything and there are some that know lots about everything. In knowing your own abilities it is worth knowing the abilities of other personal trainers or specialists who one may refer clients too. I have done a movement screen of potential clients and realised they need extensive physiotherapy and I have had others referred to me who really need professional cardiac rehabilitation in a supervised environment. I am not afraid to find another solution other than myself for an individuals needs. This is being honest. 11) Surround yourself with energetic positive people I am highly fortunate to work with a colleague who is highly passionate about fitness, someone whose energy is infectious whether leading an exercise class or personal training on a one to one level. If I want some new ideas or some critique of my coaching methods I know my colleague will be assist. Everyone can learn from anyone! This all benefits the personal training clients! 12) Learn at every opportunity and practice what you preach Opportunities to learn are plentiful. Learning however is most meaningful when applying the principles in the real world. Some clients are up for experimenting with new exercises and methods, other times it is down to oneself to test things out. Many people in the health and fitness profession continue to embrace the concept of lifelong learning. It is a highly influential profession where lives can be changed as a result of what we learn. What I learn today makes me a better person tomorrow. Related Personal Training Program Articles