In Part 1 of Your Ultimate Guide to Strength Training, you learned what strength training is, it’s benefits, ways to strength train & common terminology.
In Part 2, you learned some common myths about strength training & why they aren’t true!
In Part 3, you’ll learn how to put together your own strength training program!
In the 4th and final part, I’ll lay out sample training programs for you!
The BEST Strength Training Program
It seems like everybody is always on the search for the best workout routine or the best exercise for whatever body part or the best diet. But the truth is, there is no “best” strength training program, because it differs for each person. The best strength training program depends on what you need.
But there are some criteria that can help you determine if a program is best for you.
The best training program is the one that you’re going to do – At the end of the day, the program you choose can be written but the most knowledgable coach for a world class athlete. But if you’re not actually going to do it, then it’s obviously not the best one for you. Choose a program that you can stick to & that you want to do. Which leads us to the next criteria.
The best training program is the one that will be fun for you, motivate you to actually do it & encourage you to put forth your best effort. You will only succeed at what you consistently work hard at. And this goes for your training program as well. If you dread your workouts, aren’t motivated to try or push yourself, you won’t get the benefit out of your program, no matter how great it is on paper.
The best training program is the one that challenges you & pushes you to do your best. Yes, your workout program should be one that you’ll actually do & enjoy doing. But it has to challenge you in order for you to see progress. In order to get stronger & build muscle, you have to push yourself more & more each week – weights have to feel heavy & you must push yourself to near failure in sets. Without this stimulus, your body won’t have any need to adapt. And adaptation is what will lead to change.
The best training program is the one that is specifically written you as an individual. While you can make progress on random workouts you find, that progress will likely stall at a certain point. In order for you to continue making progress, your training program should take into account your goals, training status, injury history, time investment, preferences & literally everything about you. This is important so you can achieve your goals, stay injury free & just all in all be able to stick to your program.
So the “best” training program doesn’t exist. What may be the best program for one person doesn’t mean it’s the best one for you. What makes something the “best” is it being specifically for you as an individual.
After you’ve determined the program that will work best for you based on your goals, skill level, injury history & preferences, there are guidelines you should follow to ensure your program is well-designed, effective & efficient!
Strength Training Programming Guideline #1
Balance Opposing Movements
The first guideline you should follow when designing your strength training program is to train all your body’s movement patterns in a balanced manner. Your body’s basic movement patterns are squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge & carry. These are the movements your body performs every single day for every activity you do. To get stronger for daily life, base the majority of your strength training program around these movements.
Here the movements & examples of exercises that train them:
In addition to including all 6 movements in your program, you should also train them in a balanced manner. Specifically, you should perform the same number of exercises & the same volume (sets & reps) for opposing movements.
Opposing movement patterns are:
- upper body vertical push & upper body vertical pull
- upper body horizontal push & upper body horizontal pull
- squat/lower body push/quad dominant & hinge/lower body pull/hip or hamstring dominant
Train these movements in a 1:1 ratio. For example, for every upper body vertical push (shoulder press) you would also include an upper body vertical pull (pullup or lat pulldown).
Training these movement patterns in this balanced manner help you avoid strength & muscle imbalances, which could eventually lead to injury. For example, if you train upper body push more than upper body pull, your shoulders & chest will become stronger than your back and this can lead to shoulder pain & injury.
Bottom Line
- Include all 6 movement patterns in your strength training program
- Train opposing movement patterns in an equal ratio over the week (same number of exercises & same volume)
Strength Training Programming Guideline #2
Train Mostly Compound Movements
The second guideline you should follow is to make sure total body, compound movements make up the majority of your training program, as opposed to isolation exercises.
Here are examples of upper & lower body compound & isolation exercises:
Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at the same time. Isolation exercises target one specific muscle group.
There’s nothing wrong with including isolation exercises in your training program. In fact, they can be quite important & do play a role in a well-designed program. But they shouldn’t make up the majority of your program.
It’s more effective & efficient to focus your efforts on strengthening compound exercises.
- They engage multiple muscle groups at the same time, which means you can generally lift more weight or train at a higher intensity in these exercises. This will lead to more consistent progression in your strength over time.
- Compound exercises also have a bigger training stimulus than isolation exercises. Because of this, they can lead to more & bigger changes in your physique & strength levels.
- These exercises are also the one that strengthen your body’s basic movement patterns, which means they have a huge carryover into your daily life. The result is a long-term foundation of strength.
Isolation exercises should also be included in your training program in an intelligent way.
- You can use isolation exercises to train specific muscle groups with a higher volume. For example, if you want to train your glutes with some extra volume but your legs are already tired from doing squats earlier in the workout – you can perform an isolation exercise for the glutes (hip thrust/glute bridge) to get that extra volume in without wearing your legs out even further.
- They can also be used to directly train smaller muscle groups (for example, your triceps) without adding volume to larger muscle groups (for example, your chest & shoulders).
Bottom Line
- The majority of your program should be made up of compound exercises to build strength, change your physique & get stronger for daily life.
- Include isolation exercises to train larger muscle groups with extra volume and to target & strengthen smaller muscle groups.
Strength Training Programming Guideline #3
Train Large Muscles, Compound Movements &
Free Weight Exercises First
The third guideline to follow when developing your training program is to train larger muscle groups before smaller ones, compound movements before isolation and free weight exercises before machine-based ones.
Larger muscle groups include your chest, back, quads & hamstrings. Smaller muscle groups include your biceps, triceps, calves & abs.
Compound exercises include the squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, chin ups & rows. Isolation exercises include bicep curls, tricep extensions, leg curls & leg extensions.
Free weight exercises include any barbell or dumbbell exercises versus their machine-based counterparts.
Exercises for larger muscle groups tend to be free weight, compound exercises. These exercises tend to be more technical, require more energy & effort, require your stabilizer muscles to work & are responsible for the majority of your strength gains. Because of this, these exercises are better done at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh, not at the end of your workout when you are fatigued.
Exercises for smaller muscle groups tend to be isolation exercises. These are generally less technical and require less energy & effort. So they can be done when you are fatigued from compound exercises since your larger muscle groups aren’t required to work.
Example #1
If you perform a tricep isolation exercise before the dumbbell bench press
⬇️
Your triceps are too tired to work to their full potential in the bench press
⬇️
❌ You won’t be able to handle as much weight in the bench press
❌ So it won’t be as effective
❌ You’ll introduce more potential for bad form
❌ And this could lead to injury
✅ Instead, perform the bench press before the tricep exercise to work your chest to it’s full potential & get the most benefit out of the bench press.
Example #2
You would perform a dumbbell row before a machine row in the same workout.
The dumbbell row is a free weight exercise that requires you to
- hold yourself in the correct position
- engage your core & stabilizer muscles
- focus & perform it with good form
The machine row is a machine-based exercise that
- does some of the work for you
- guides the movement
Bottom Line
- Perform exercises for larger muscles before those for smaller muscles
- Perform compound exercises before isolation exercises
- Perform free weight exercises before machine-based exercises
After going through the criteria of what makes the best strength training program, the first step in creating your program is to determine how many days per week you’ll be working out.
Anywhere from 2 to 5 times a week can work, however most people should train 3-4 times per week. For the general population, 2 times per week is less than optimal & 5 times per week is unnecessary. You should account for at least 1 full day of rest between workouts. And train each muscle group 2 times per week. These guidelines are the most effective & efficient way to train for the best results & allow for enough recovery.
However, most importantly, you should take into account a training frequency that works for your goals, training experience, schedule & preferences. This is what will ensure you’ll be consistent – and consistency is the #1 factor in you getting results!
After you’ve determined how many days per week you will work out, choose one of these strength training splits. Most people will get the best results from a 3-4 day/week training frequency.
The 3 days/week split can be:
- 3 full body days
- 1 lower, 1 upper push & 1 upper pull day
- 1 lower, 1 upper & 1 full body day
The 4 days/week split can be:
- 2 lower & 2 upper body days
- 1 lower, 1 upper & 2 full body days
- 2 total body push & 2 total body pull days
- 1 lower push, 1 upper push, 1 lower pull & 1 upper pull day
Below are examples of how to setup your workout schedule based on how many days per week you want to train!
How To Structure Your Workouts
A strength-training workout is made up of 4 phases.
The first phase is the dynamic warmup, which is focused on mobility & activation exercises to prime your body for your strength workouts. It is designed to mobilize joints & tissues, activate muscle groups, improve movement patterns, fire up your central nervous system, increase blood flow & your heart rate
The second phase is your main strength exercise(s). The first one or two exercises of the day will be your main compound strength movements. These are the most important exercises of the day. The purpose of these exercises are to build pure strength. Examples would be squat, deadlift, bench press and pull-up. Choose 1-2 exercises, as anything more will be too taxing on your body. Perform 3-4 warmup sets to work your way up to your working weight. Then perform sets in the 4-8 rep range. This will allow you to use heavy weight to build maximal strength.
The third phase is your accessory movements. The purpose of these exercises are to build strength & muscle size. Examples include lunges, romanian deadlifts, shoulder presses, rows, leg curls, lateral raises, pushups. Choose 2-4 compound & isolation exercises (begin with the compound exercises & move on to isolation after). Perform 2-3 warmup sets then 3-4 working sets in the 8-12 rep range. Use moderate weights to focus on muscle hypertrophy.
The fourth phase consists of posture, posterior chain, core & locomotion exercises. The purpose of these exercises is to strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, lower, mid & upper back, back of the shoulders , core & the “carry” movement pattern. Examples include rear delt flys, band pull throughs, any core exercises & farmers walks variations. Choose 1-3 exercises. Warmup sets aren’t necessary so get right into 2-4 working sets in the 12-20 rep range. Since you’re working in a higher, endurance focused rep range, keep these weights light, or use bodyweight or resistance bands.
The Warmup
The first phase of a strength workout is the warmup. It consists of focused mobility & activation exercises to prime your body for your workout. And it’s designed to mobilize joints & tissues, activate muscle groups, improve movement patterns, fire up your central nervous system & increase blood flow & your heart rate.
The warmup itself is made up of 3 phases.
The first phase is mobilization, in which you will release tension in & lengthen overactive & shortened muscle groups. Begin by foam rolling specific tight muscle groups (not the entire body). Spend about 30 seconds finding tight areas in the muscle. Then, you’ll move on to stretch those same muscle groups in a dynamic stretching fashion. Spend about 30 seconds moving in & out of stretches for your tight muscle groups.
The second phase of the warmup is activation, in which you’ll work on firing up underactive & lengthened muscles. Perform about 10 reps of an exercise to activate & find deeper ranges of motion in specific weak muscle groups. Then comes isolated muscle strengthening, where you’ll perform about 10 reps of an exercise to build strength in those muscles you’ve activated.
The third phase is integration, in which you’ll coordinate the mobility & activation that you’ve worked on in the first 2 phases. First, you’ll work on strengthening & priming your basic movement patterns (squat, hinge, push & pull). Perform 2 sets of 3-6 slow & controlled reps of the movement patterns your workout will focus on. Then you’ll move into explosiveness to get your muscles firing in coordination. Perform 2 sets of 2-5 reps.
The Main Exercises
The first 1 to 2 exercises of the day will be your main compound strength movements. These are the most important exercises of the day. Meaning, if you were running short on time & could only get part of your workout in, you would choose to complete these 1 or 2 exercises, which are the main focus of your workout.
These exercises will be full body, compound exercises, involving the use of multiple major muscle groups. The purpose of these exercises are to build pure strength. Choose 1 or 2 exercises that you can give your full effort to. Perform 3 to 4 warmup sets to work your way up to your working weight & prime your body for those heavy sets! Perform anywhere from 3 to 6 working sets at your working weight. Stay in the 1-6 rep range so you can use heavy weight to build maximal strength. This weight should be heavy to challenge you in this low rep range. Take 2 to 5 minutes rest between sets to fully recover.
Exercises to choose from include the following and all their variations:
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Bench Press
- Pull-up
- Overhead Press
The Accessory Exercises
After your main strength movements, you will move onto accessory work that is focused on hypertrophy (muscle building). The purpose of these exercises are to build strength & muscle size. These exercises can be a combination of compound & isolation exercises. Choose 2 to 4 exercises. Perform 1 to 3 warmup sets to work your way up to your working weight and then 3 to 5 working sets at your working weight. Stay in the 6 to 12 rep range and use a moderate weight that challenges you but allows you to complete all the prescribed reps in this range. Rest 45 to 120 seconds between sets.
Exercises to choose from include the following and all their variations:
- Squat
- Deadlift & RDL
- Lunge
- Bridge & Hip Thrust
- Chest Press
- Shoulder Press
- Row
- Pull-up
- Shoulder Raises
- Bicep & Tricep Exercises
The Finisher Exercises
The last exercises in your strength workout will be finisher exercises that focus on posture, posterior chain, core & locomotion. These exercises are generally isolation exercises with the purpose of improving the endurance of your posture, posterior chain & core muscles that respond well to higher rep ranges. Choose 1 to 3 exercises and get right into 2 to 4 working sets. There’s no need to perform warmup sets since these exercises come at the end of your workout. Work in the 12 to 20+ rep range and use a light weight, bodyweight or resistance bands to complete this high rep range and work on the endurance of the muscle groups. Take 30-75 seconds rest between sets.
Exercises to choose from include the following and all their variations:
- Posture – face pull, rear delt fly, band pull apart, external rotations
- Posterior Chain – hyperextension, reverse hyperextension, bridge variations, pull through
- Calf raises
- Core exercises
- Locomotion – farmers carry, suitcase carry, cross body carry, etc
Click here to read Part 4 – Sample Training Programs!