Intro

Exercise. It is a topic that many people discuss, but few understand. Go to any fitness website and you can easily find hundreds of articles discussing the latest, greatest program to give you toned abs, buff arms, or a tight rear. There is a particularly abundant amount of “experts” who will tell you that their way is the best way (or the only way) to obtain a certain result. Bodybuilders will want you to train like a bodybuilder, powerlifters will want you to train like a powerlifter, marathon runners will want you to train like a marathon runner. The issue is not that these individuals do not have advanced knowledge in their respective fields; the issue is that these trainers do not properly communicate the mechanisms by which their programming works. As such, the general population is not able to effectively program exercise themselves, nor do they understand the long-term health implications of said programming. The goal of this series of posts is to arm the average individual with enough knowledge to effectively program workouts for themselves resulting in long term success in whatever area of performance they choose.

Like with all topics, you must start with the most basic principles in order to get to the more advanced. Therefore, this article will deal with the 3 most basic principles in regards to exercise programming. Later, we will delve into your body’s energy systems, metabolic damage, hormone responses to bad programming, excess stress, training methodologies, and recovery protocols. Now let’s begin to talk about programming.
Basic programming for almost any kind of exercise program, including weightlifting, running, sprinting, gymnastics, and swimming all utilize three basic variables: Intensity, Frequency, and Volume.

Intensity

With the popularization of programs like Cross-fit and other HIIT programs, the concept of intensity as it pertains to exercise has been misunderstood by many individuals. To most people, intensity merely means how “hard” one is working out. The prevailing perception is that the more tired you are at the end of a workout the higher the “intensity” was.

Ex. John: “Man that workout was so intense, I puked all over the floor!”

While this understanding of intensity can be correct, in most circumstances it is incorrect.

Intensity: The percentage of effort (energy expenditure) applied to an exercise within a certain energy system.

So, given the above definition, depending on what type of workout you are participating in, the intensity variable can change. In weight training, intensity is the percentage of weight you can lift for one repetition. An example of a high intensity weightlifting workout: 10 sets of 3 reps, done at 87.5% of your one rep max, with 2 min. of rest in between each set. As you can see, this workout probably won’t raise your heart rate particularly high, and there are large rest intervals between each working set. However due to the amount of weight being lifted, it is considered a “high intensity workout”. Now an example from a marathon training program: 1 hour of running at 70% max heart rate. Now in this example, intensity is measured in heart rate, because, in most cases it is the most accurate marker of aerobic conditioning. This workout would be considered low to moderate intensity.
When programming intensity is the easiest variable to manipulate, to increase intensity, you simply add more weight, or pick up the pace of your run, walk or swim. However, just because intensity is easiest to regulate, does not mean that it easiest to program. Regardless of your fitness goals, changes in intensity are required to keep making progress, break through plateaus and remain injury free. In addition, a certain intensity must be maintained to get stronger or faster. Typically, in programming, as intensity increases, total volume typically decreases. This is important because of several over-training related symptoms which we will discuss in greater length in later articles. However, for now, know that by lowering intensity, one can achieve more total volume in their workout. Yet, there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to the intersection of volume and intensity. If your intensity is too low, it can result in negligible strength, endurance or hypertrophy. A low intensity program can have more total volume than a higher intensity one, yet deliver inferior results. In most cases, the point of diminishing returns is around 60% intensity, this applies to running, swimming, and resistance training. (There are exceptions to this, but they are rare and specialized.) Which brings us to the first two rules of programming:

Rule #1: Intensity during the main portion of the exercise should be kept above 60%
Rule #2: The closer you get to 100% the more your central nervous system is taxed.

Volume

Often posted online, is a simple chart showing target rep ranges for strength, power, hypertrophy, and endurance. It typically looks something like this:

Strength: 1-5 Reps
Muscle Building: 6-12 Reps
Endurance: 12+ Reps

However, this is a bit of a misnomer as it doesn’t address frequency, volume, or intensity. It isn’t altogether wrong, but there are more variables that go into programming, such as speed, neuro-muscular adaptation, number of sets, fatigue, cumulative volume, and rest intervals. However, the greatest predictor of muscle building potential is volume:

Volume: The total amount of work done within a specified period of time, expressed in total distance or weight.

As a side note: two completely different programs, might result in equal amounts of muscle building potential, however intensity, frequency and advanced factors will determine what other areas are improved.
Example:
John does 5 sets of 5 reps with 225 pounds on the back squat. This is 75% of his 1RM (300lbs)
His total workout volume is 5,625lbs.

Tim does 10 sets of 2 reps with 270lbs
His total workout volume is 5,400lbs

In these examples, there is less than a repetitions difference between each of these individual’s total volume. Research has shown their strength potential is going to be very similar, but that Tim will be better at working with heavy weight, than John will. His tendons and nerves will adapt better to heavier weight than John will. Yet, John will likely experience more form breakdown at higher weights, than will Tim. John will have slightly better endurance, when it comes to higher rep work. Therefore, weekly and monthly training volume, will determine much of your muscle building potential. Other training variables will determine other improvements such as strength, endurance, work capacity etc.
Volume should be the most consistently improving variable in your training, volume should creep up gradually, and there will be periods of purposeful decrease in volume called deloading. Which brings us to our next set of rules:

Rule #3: Volume should be as consistent as possible week to week, except for deload periods.
Rule #4: Never take a jump of more than 15% in volume per month, as this will increase your injury potential.

Frequency

Frequency is the least misunderstood, but possibly the most feared variable in regards to basic programming.

Frequency: The number of instances you perform an exercise within a specified period of time, typically a week.

Simply put, frequency determines the volume and intensity that each workout requires. A person who trains five times per week, does not require the volume per workout that someone who trains twice per week requires. Higher frequency training allows for each training session to be less taxing, yet achieve the same (or more) volume and intensity each week, resulting in similar cumulative fatigue. However, given theoretically smaller workloads per workout, you can end up with much higher cumulative volume, than lower frequency workouts. Example:
John does 4 squat workouts a week, each workout he does 3 sets of 3 reps at 88% intensity. The result is 36 reps at 88% intensity.
Dan does 1 squat workout a week, he does 7 sets of 3 reps at 85%. The result is 21 reps at 85% intensity.
John ends up doing approx. 44% more volume throughout the week than Dan does assuming they have similar one rep maxes. Increasing frequency vastly increases your potential improvement. However, many people fear more frequent workouts because of a few reasons:

1. They feel that each workout must be as difficult as one they would normally do.
2. They are afraid of injury to joints and ligaments
3. They don’t have sufficient time.

In regards to 1, this is sheer programming error, and can easily be corrected to accommodate higher frequency training. In regards to 2. Some people are indeed more susceptible to joint and ligament issues, and higher frequency training can aggravate old injuries. However, with proper deloading periods and intensity adjustments this too can be mitigated. The most valid argument is number 3. oftentimes people simply don’t have enough time to do high frequency workouts. Particularly when trying to achieve multiple goals at the same time. For example, an individual who is both attempting to maintain strength in the gym and train for a marathon, should not utilize a high frequency program.
Which leads me to our last set of rules for this post:

Rule #5: Frequency needs to determine each workouts volume.
Rule #6: Higher frequency allows for slightly higher intensity per workout. Lower frequency requires lower intensity but higher volume.

Conclusion

Next post, we will be discussing progressive overload as it pertains to these simple variables as well as a few more complex ones. Until then, here are six rules of programming discussed in this post.

Rule #1: Intensity during the main portion of the exercise should be kept above 60%
Rule #2: The closer you get to 100% the more your central nervous system is taxed.
Rule #3: Volume should be as consistent as possible week to week, except for deload periods.
Rule #4: Never take a jump of more than 15% in volume per month, as this will increase your injury potential.
Rule #5: Frequency needs to determine each workouts volume.
Rule #6: Higher frequency allows for slightly higher intensity per workout. Lower frequency requires lower intensity but higher volume.