This process of figuring out what the problem is can be difficult, and many people are insistent with their views on training and the results they have or haven’t achieved. Most people fall into this category of denial. There are many possible reasons for your success or lack thereof.

As trainers we see them in the gym or hear the same dogma come out of their mouths. Something like, “I know what I am doing,’’ or, “I use the same circuit of machines 3 times per week starting with my arms.’’ Usually this is mentioned with the utmost confidence. As always their appearance never changes or if change occurs it’s usually undesirable.

I have 4 areas to evaluate which will help you stay on track to ensure productive results. Now if you are pleased with your progress, then this info may not be for you. The 4 areas to consider are listed in order of importance to use as a checklist.

AREAS TO CONSIDER

1. Goal Setting
2. Exercise Selection
3. Progression
4. Sleep

Goal Setting-
This term seems simple enough but is often used incorrectly. The key here is learning to set realistic goals that are attainable. By no means am I saying to stop daydreaming of becoming a professional surfer like Laird Hamilton. Just realize what is attainable and what is not.

I am only 5’10’’ so I know I probably do not have the best chance of playing in the NBA. Setting this as a goal would not be realistic. I realize there are exceptions to every rule, but I am not that for basketball.

Goals can be put into short and long-term categories. You should implement both kinds of goals associated with your fitness needs. A short-term goal is a goal with a more immediate outcome where a long-term goal is set and accomplished over a longer period of time.

An example of both would be: I want to lose 20 pounds and lose 2 pounds per week. The long-term goal is to lose 20 pounds and the short-term goal is to lose 2 pounds per week. Next would be to make the goal more concrete and set a timetable. I want to lose 2 pounds per week for 10 weeks equaling 20 pounds total.

Another area to mention is having a plan. You should have a plan written down prior to entering the gym. What does this have to do with goal setting? Without an initial plan there is not any way to measure your progress. Failure to have a pre-workout plan would be an easy way to ensure the goals you have set would not be met.

Exercise Selection-
This area is dependent on your individual goals. You want to make sure to choose exercises that are appropriate for your goals. Every exercise should have a purpose or cause and effect. You perform bicep curls to get larger or toned biceps depending on your goals.

The majority of your exercises should be compound exercises. Compound exercises are going to be the most beneficial for the majority of people. Compound exercises recruit a larger number of muscle fibers than other exercises.

This means incorporating larger total body lifts or exercises. The human body is part of a kinetic chain. The body functions together as a whole. If you think about running, for example, do you just isolate your calves or just your hamstrings? No, your calves work with every muscle in your leg: some stabilizing, some firing to initiate hip flexion and extension when running correctly.

Of course there is a time and place for isolation and isometric exercises. This is where having specific goals will be most beneficial.

Progression –
This term can be applied in all aspects of your fitness goals. Progression ensures that you are moving forward and not reaching or staying at a dreaded plateau.

The human body has the ability to adapt to most forms of stimuli. The first time you train with weights after a rest period you will most likely experience incredible soreness in the muscles that were used during that training session. The next time you repeat that particular training sessions your body adapts resulting in less soreness. With out progression you will eventually hit a point where you do not see any positive gains since your body has completely adapted to that particular stimulus.

With regards to resistance training progression can be used in many different varieties. You can progress by adding weight to your work sets or reps, even duration. Plus your exercises can progress from compound lifts to single joint lifts to isometric holds.

An easy way to ensure that you are progressing is to write everything down. Document your workout sessions, cardio sessions, and daily food intake. The more thorough you are the better. You can even include how you are feeling that day mentally and physically.

I usually jot down what is sore or bugging me. For example: left hamstring feels slightly strained. A small notebook will do just fine. You can pick up a “Fat Lil Notebook,’’ from your local grocery store.

Sleep –
One of the more overlooked areas for most people is sleep. During sleep the body recharges and recovers from the rigors of a normal day. Eight hours is the normal amount of sleep a person usually needs, but athletes may require 10 hours of sleep depending on the intensity of their training.

Most of my best REM sleep takes place before midnight. Since I get up at ‘o’ dark 30, the earlier I can get to bed the more refreshed I will feel in the morning. Find a way to quiet your thoughts or go to your happy place when you’re trying to fall asleep. This will help you decompress and fall asleep faster.

A couple of helpful tips are to remove all electronics from your bedroom, i.e. cell phones, televisions, and any other electronic devices. Also, try to go to bed and wake up at the same time in the evening and morning to establish a normal routine.

Wrap-Up

These four areas may seem simple enough but their impact should not be underestimated. If you have not seen any significant improvements towards your fitness goals, then you might look here first. Check to see if you’re implementing these strategies correctly. If you are, then you can cross them off your list of possible pitfalls.

Correct implementation can make the difference between you staying stagnant or you moving forward toward any fitness goals.

Now that you have an outline from Part 1 in place we can build your program from there. This series entails the flexibility and resistance training components.

The first component is flexibility. This consists of pre, during, and post workout sessions. Ideally you would foam roll every muscle group then perform a few active stretches or mobilization exercises. Also in between lifts is a great time for soft tissue stretches or active mobility movements as well. For example you perform a few hip flexor mobilizations between sets of deadlifts or squats.

Finally you have the everyday and post exercise stretches. These are usually held in a static position for 10 to 30 seconds. For the lower body a good focal area to start with would be the hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Stretches for the upper body pictured below are for the pecs., neck, and lats. Stretches for the hamstrings are pictured below after the lower body training day. For the hips hold the hip flexor and glute. mobs instead of rocking like in the vids.

Resistance training is the next component in the program. This is the component where most people become lost and end up becoming confused. If you learn to structure your program correctly, this won’t happen anymore. Most Americans love their machines and are convinced of the benefits gained. They don’t usually have a clue what muscle group the machine even recruits. This is a major problem from a planning standpoint and could possible lead to injuries. You should have a plan in place on what exercises you will be doing that day prior to entering the gym.

Figure out when and how often you will be doing your resistance training. Normally 2-3 days per week of resistance training will be efficient enough for optimal improvements. The duration of each session should take at most about an hour with warm-up and post exercise stretches included to complete.

My clients and I prefer trying to setting up our training schedules with a day off in between lifting sessions. For example you would train with weights Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Your body will thank you if you have 24 hrs to recover between training sessions. These off days would also be a good day to place your weekly cardio sessions.

I would also recommend breaking the days up into upper and lower body training. Lower body days will include abdominal/core exercises. Upper body will consist mostly of push and pulls. The program should be structured around compound exercises first then if you still have time or energy single joint exercises would be last. I have examples of all of the above mentioned exercises below.

This is where having definite goals will determine what sort of exercises to do. Whatever your goal may be the compound exercises are going to burn more calories, challenge your CNS (central nervous system), and release more of a hormonal response than the single joint lifts. The single joint isolation style of lifting is more comparable to the type of training a bodybuilder who implement.

What does this mean to you? Increases in bone and mineral density will occur after strenuous enough resistance training, primarily that is weight bearing. This helps prevent ostepeoris and ostepenia and helps aide in new bone formation in men and women.

Below is two example training days, one for upper body, and the other a lower body session.

Example training split.

Tues-Upper

Warm Up: Foam Roll, Mobilization exercises

A1. Closed Grip Flat Barbell Bench 4×8

A2. Chin Ups (assisted or with bands) 4×8

B1. Standing 1 Arm Dumbbell Military 3×15

B2. 1 Arm Dumbbell Row 3×10-12

C1. Standing Dumbbell Curls 2×15

C2. Triceps Press down 2×15

Static Stretching- consist mostly pectorals, shoulders, and lats

Rt doorway pec then left. Pull to rt then switch Lat stretch rt then left

Thursday- Lower

Warm Up: Foam Roll, Mobilization exercises

A1. Box Squats(medium depth) 4×8

A2. Glute Mobs 4×8 per side

B1. Kettle bell Swings or Pull Through 3×10

B2. Hip Flexor Mobs 3×6

C1. Dumbbell Walking Lunges 3×6-8 per leg

C2. Tall Kneeling Pallof Press 3×10 per side

Static Stretching- consist mostly hamstrings and hips

Stretch 45o(2/3)
Stretch out side (3/3)

Stretch middle(1/3)

The above training session should take longer than an hour to complete. For the most part if you are going back and forth from exercises (A1-set of 8 reps then A2 – set of 8 reps), 30-45 minutes should be all the time you need. You want to make sure to work up to your goal/target weight on your sets. A few lighter warm up sets of 5-8 reps will help prepare your body for the upcoming work sets. Plus it grooves correct motor patterns for more efficient muscle activation for the more challenging sets of weight and reps.

Each week you should try to increase your work set weight 2.5-5lbs, continue this until form is affected and or progress is stalling or stopped then take a week off or de-load. During the off week you can re-evaluate your current training program. Change exercises or determined new rep ranges and goals then continue as before.

The final installment provides guidelines for the cardiovascular component of your training program. Included is a recap of the 3 part series to ensure comprehension.

The first part outlines the general guidelines for designing an effective training program based on your individual needs. The goal is to equip the reader with a program that they can follow and is not too complicated to understand.

Part 1: Outline
Many people often are confused on what type of program they should try. Or they do not have a plan at all and wander like a zombie throughout the gym. So inevitably they become confused and perform exercises that are easy or resort to using machines.

The first step is to figure out what exercise level you are. It’s pretty easy if the only exercises you’ve done are with barbells and dumbbells for your arms. This means you are a beginner. If you have trained previously and used the equipment mentioned above, then you may be a novice. Either way the general goals will be the same but with different starting points.

Next you need to define the particular goals you would like to achieve from the program. A good idea would be to have both a short-term and long-term goal. Then you will need to figure out two important commitments: the amount of time you have to spend on training and your realistic time commitment.

A few major goals of your training program should be to establish correct range of motion. Range of motion can be defined as the natural path between two objects or between two joints. Besides increasing your range of motion, goals may include increasing strength, muscular balance and improving your cardiovascular endurance.

The training program should be structured into the following three components: Resistance Training, Flexibility, and Cardiovascular. There is no sequential order to the different components because they will overlap.

Part 2 will cover the Resistance Training and Flexibility components of your training program. You will be provided with guidelines and recommendations for both components. There will be a two-day sample of exercises including stretches with pictures and video demonstrations provided.

Here in the west, the most common sports injuries seem to be related to a weak lower back, pulled hamstrings, and knee issues. A lot of this has to do with a strength discrepancy between the quadriceps and hamstrings, very little attention paid to actually strengthening the spinal erectors and abdominal muscles, and poor hip mobility.

I hesitate to use the phrase “core training,” as I think the common notion of commercial gym core work leaves something to be desired. So to simplify: if you have chronic lower back pain, there’s probably a good chance that your core is weak.

You can do wonders to address these weaknesses by incorporating more big lifts (squat, deadlift), doing abdominal work that you can actually improve on (progressive resistance), and adding in daily soft-tissue work in the form of foam rolling and stretching.

Women looking for shapely glutes, tight midsections, and amazing legs should absolutely be incorporating some form of squats, deadlifts, lunges, reverse hyperextensions, glute bridges, good mornings, weighted decline crunches, and hanging leg raise variations, just to name a few. These are some of the hardest movements to perform—they burn the most calories, and build the most muscle. Consequently, they aren’t performed nearly as often as they should be. Don’t let this happen to you.

For men, certainly the above recommendations apply, but consider the need for total-body balance. The prime example of male symmetry was Steve Reeves, a Golden Era bodybuilder whose neck, upper arms, and calves all measured 18 inches. Are your calves as big as your upper arms? If not, you better start training them. You don’t want to be the guy accused of riding an ostrich.

A real world example of the benefits of posterior chain training is our very own Paul Hedrick, trainer and co-owner of Workshop Fitness. He can be seen performing lower back, glute, and hamstring exercises along with soft-tissue work on a daily basis. This will help him to achieve his goal of pulling 500 pounds, probably before the end of the year. Consider that Paul’s best lift was around 315 only two short years ago, and the only thing he changed in his programming was a renewed focus on strengthening the posterior chain.

Finally, if you need to ease into posterior chain training, take advantage of Workshop Fitness’s many resources. Push the Prowler, drag the sleg, start flipping tires. You don’t need to be inside a gym to get better, but you do need to want to do so. You will be rewarded with less chronic pain, better performance (in whatever you do), and a more beautiful, balanced physique.

Most people are concerned about how dangerous back squats can be – so you ask yourself, “What should I do?” Back squats are safe when performed correctly; however, if you are looking for an alternative to the norm, I’d recommend front squats. They are an effective alternative for people who may have different goals or injuries that may set them back from traditional squats. Holding the bar in front and across your shoulders may take some time to adjust to, but when executed properly, the exercise is extremely beneficial.

Hand Positioning

There are three different options for holding the bar:

1. The clean grip can be very hard on the wrists; however, holding the bar with this grip will help develop flexibility in your shoulders, wrists, and biceps allowing you to keep your elbows up.  The extra ROM, (Range of Motion) allows for a more comfortable front squat. The flexibility created in your biceps will also transfer to better technique for your power cleans. Plus holding heavier weights will also strengthen your overhead pressing movements. You might eventually try having just your index and middle fingers under the bar. The majority of the weight would be resting on your shoulders.
2. The second option for holding the bar would be similar to the clean grip but just with the aid of wrist wraps looped through the bar.  This method puts less pressure on the wrist and helps the lifter emphasize a high elbow placement.
3. The third option would be to place your arms under the bar and cross your hands over the barbell.  This technique usually is more comfortable especially with heavier weight.   Face the barbell using the different bevels on the bar to make sure you are lined up even and in the middle.  The lift will be more challenging if you are positioned too far left or right.

Roll back your shoulders; push your chest tall, basically just as if you are at the top of your dead lift.  Put your arms straight out and duck them under the bar; scoop it with your shoulders, then cross your arms over the bar to secure it. The barbell needs to be resting across your front deltoids. If you get the placement wrong the weight will be on your clavicle which causes the bar to feel as if it is moving around the whole time during the exercise, going from your neck to elbows. Another key is to keep your elbows raised or up for the entire time because this mainly keeps the bar secure.

Execution

Once you have the bar secure on your shoulders you are ready to initiate the squat.  Much of the rest is the same as a normal back squat.  Push your hips back first, chest tall (which should already be that way from the initial set-up), take a breath of air and slowly start your descent.  Once the hamstrings are parallel to the ground or the top of your hips below your knees, drive your chest straight up with your hips following pushing against your abs or belt.  Push out on your knees and drive through your heels.  Both will take pressure off your knees allowing your larger leg muscles to work instead.   This will also allow the lifter to lead the concentric movement with their chest and not hips.

Benefits

Other than the obvious, grip placement of the front squat differs from the back due to bar placement.  The front position transfers the load to the front making you stand upright or vertical.  This makes the lift more lower back friendly, mainly due to less weight being used.  There is also less spinal flexion due to the upright stance during the Front Squat.  Due to the bar placement you are forced to keep a tight back and maintain a neutral spine. If you do not, most often the weight drops to the elbows. This decreases your chances of bending your back making it safer on your lower back.

Front squats are great for increasing your abdominal strength.  In order to hold the bar tall in the vertical position throughout the entire lift, your abs or core are forced to work.  If you can front squat heavy then you most likely have some strong abs.  No bosu needed!

They also can be very taxing on your central nervous system due to the large recruitment of muscle fibers.  They will also test your mental fortitude.  Try a heavy twenty rep front squat then make sure you have a place to lie down after or a bucket.

Your flexibility and strength in your hip flexors will improve especially when able to squat to full depth.   This would help out all you desk jockeys out there.

As well as receiving all the other usual benefits from squatting, the quadriceps can greatly benefit as well from the upright stance. This places more tension on the quadriceps than the back squat.  Plus your back squats will feel much easier than before.

Dumping the Bar

The main safety concern is losing the bar or having the barbell slip forward off your shoulders during the squat.  This usually happens when using the crossover technique grip.  Don’t panic.  The bar just slides down your shoulder to your elbows then drops to your hands.  Just try to keep your hands crossed over the bar to help control the slip.  Elbows raised will help out with preventing the slipping of the bar as well.

Summary

• Front squats are safer than back squats due to the vertical positioning of the bar.  Plus a tougher exercise to load so less weight is used which results in less spinal flexion.
• Abdominals/Core becomes stronger; strong abs/core help maintain an upright position during front squats.
• Form usually is better on front squats.  If your form is incorrect, you can’t maintain an upright position with your back and will not be able to execute the lift effectively. If you don’t place the bar correctly, most likely you will drop it.
• The quadriceps are developed more from fronts squats.  Again the upright stance places more work or development in the quadriceps.  The bar is lined with the quadriceps unlike back squats where the bar is lined more with the gluts muscles.
• There is a strong carryover to other lifts.  Over head pressing and power cleans can benefit from a stronger front squat.  Both lifts’ starting positions are on your shoulders.  This also allows you to become comfortable with weight loaded across your shoulder.

I have followed the habits of successful powerlifters, bodybuilders, and various strength athletes for some time and have picked up a recovery tip or two along the way. And while I am a proponent of the often pricey creatine, fish oil, joint support formulas, protein powders, BCAAs, and many other supplements that help you heal faster, you can add this regimen to your recovery arsenal on the cheap—assuming you have decent running water. This is for everyone who wants soreness to disappear sooner, to have more energy, and to be ready for the next training session at 100%.

In other words, this can help YOU!

I’m not going to cite any references, because at this point in the game I’m basing what works on empirical and anecdotal evidence. If it works for someone else, and it works for me, I’m going to pass the information on.

It’s this easy:

2 minutes as hot as you can stand

1 minute as cold as you can stand

Repeat 2 to 3 times

This process allegedly increases and constricts blood flow, which in turn flushes lactic acid and increases nutrient transport. I don’t really care: It makes me feel great, I recover faster, and so will you.

Give this a try and let me know what you think.