A Solid Training Program By Dan Edwards www.lucharilla.

com

"The ultimate knowledge is self-knowledge." Bruce Lee

Beginners and intermediates oftentimes stumble upon programs that other people create in the hopes that they find something that works. The problem with these programs is that they were created for the masses. Everything from the exercises, sets, and reps are all set in stone. Just cut and paste and press CTRL Print and youre off and running. I think what gets lost to a lot of trainees is that theres no real thought that goes into their training other than to try the next most attractive program. Sometimes that is a good thing because the more some trainees think the more OCD sets in. On the other hand, I wish trainees could use some deductive reasoning to figure out that just because a program looks good, doesnt necessarily mean its a good fit. The problem, it seems, is that theres a popular belief that programs are meant to be run as written before any changes can be made. If you are new to a certain style of training, or are just new to training period, then thats highly advisable. But for the more experienced trainee, you should be at the point to where you can discern what works from what doesnt and piece together your own training program. Where to go from here? As Ive always said, once you find a type of programming you like (and more importantly get results from), you need to stick to that type of framework and only make changes if/when appropriate in order to continue progressing. What I want to do with this article is to not come up with another general for the masses program for everyone to mindlessly run until it stalls. Instead, I want to provide is a program that offers options. Im going to introduce a very simple template that does not have anything set in stone. All anyone has to do is essentially fill in the blanks. Those blanks will be different for different people with different goals. All I offer is the framework to be successful.
UPPER A1) Bench Press Variation A2) Pull-ups Variation (optional) B1) Press Variation B2) Row Variation (horizontal) C1) Triceps Extensions D1) Traps / Neck Work D1) Deltoids D1) Biceps A) Squat Variation B) Deadlift / GM Variation C1) Hamstrings C2) Heavy Abs B1) Press Variation B2) Pull Variation (vertical) C1) Triceps Press LOWER UPPER A1) Incline / OHP Variation A2) Pull-ups Variation (optional)

This template represents a perfect starting point for almost anyone. You can take this template and go in numerous directions depending on your goals. If you believe your triceps are a weak point or if you want a stronger bench press, then I recommend you keep the triceps work. I prefer to break up my training into a triceps press (pin press, board press, reverse or closegrip bench, dips) and extensions (rolling DB extensions, cable work w/ various handles, skullcrushers). Here again, put in whatever you need based upon your weaknesses. Ill repeat

based on your weaknesses. All goals albeit strength, hypertrophy, or whatever can only be achieved by targeting your weaknesses. If your triceps are a strong point, guess what? Get rid of the triceps on one of those days and substitute something else for it. If it sounds really easy and simple, thats because it is. I will not blow smoke up anyones ass and mystify training or any of that hocus pocus. My goal is to cut right through the bullshit and offer you the ability to train yourselves. If a trainee prefers to use more volume, my first recommendation would be to consider adding more sets vs. more exercises to this template. Why? Simply put, you do not need four different angles of chest pressing or three more pulling variations for a complete workout. Thats bullshit. Take a look at the first upper day. If a trainee was to pour all of his or her heart and soul into beating the ever living shit out of those first 3 or 4 chest and back exercises, you would be completely covered in spades. Your choices should be the four most result producing exercises in your arsenal. Pour 100% intensity and effort into those core exercises over time and you will find a lot more success compared to holding a little something back to complete ten different variations of exercises that all work the same muscle! My take on that is to either get decent strength gains with ten exercises or insane strength gains with just the best ones. Use your head! Obviously, the first question people may have is why have two upper and only one lower? Generally speaking, trainees can recover at a much faster rate for their upper body versus lower. With that being said, that doesnt mean the option isnt open to add another lower day. Whats the theme here? All options are on the table. The template could certainly be altered to accommodate another lower day. A consideration could include something as simple as taking out the B exercise and moving it to the primary exercise on that fourth day. The first lower day could have a quad focus in regards to the accessory exercises and the newly created lower day (deadlift / GM) could be hamstring focused. Below is an example of just a few ideas that could work well. My goal is to provide some insight into the thought process and nothing more.
LOWER A) Squat Variation B1) Quads (hack, leg press, ect) B2) Heavy Abs C) Unilateral Work (split squat, front / rev. lunges, ect) D) Traps / Neck Work A) Deadlift / GM Variation B1) Hamstrings (Gluteham, curls, Pullthroughs, ect) B2) Heavy Abs C1) Traps / Neck Work D) GPP (sled drag, prowler push, hill sprint, ect) LOWER

Really, the customization involved is limitless. The only real consideration pertains to recovery. In keeping recovery in the back of your mind when programming a routine, you will ensure success on some level. If you have a very good rate of recovery, perhaps you would prefer to keep it a four day routine. Here are two very good four day schedules: Option A Upper Lower off Upper Lower off off Option B Lower off Upper off Lower off Upper Now lets say that you decided that you only want to train three days per week but love the idea of that fourth lower day added to the rotation. Theres quite a few ways to achieve this. Here again, Im just laying all options on the table here. No one way is superior to another because theres too many individual variables to account for. Option A The most recognizable out of the list and is HIGHLY productive. Everything gets worked hard once every five days. Upper 1 off Lower 1 off Upper 2 off off Lower 2

off Upper 1 (and so on.) Option B All you do is alternate between each lower workout every other week. So week one you have the squat workout and week two you would have the deadlift/GM workout. Upper 1 off Lower 1 (week 1, 3, 5, 7) and Lower 2 (week 2, 4, 6, 8) off Upper 2 off, off, and so on. One final idea I would like to present is for trainees that need to focus more on their lower body workouts than upper. Option A All you do here is switch around the three day template from two upper/one lower to the reverse which is two lower/one upper. Lower off Upper off Lower off, off, repeat At this point, you locked down a schedule (3 or 4 day) and rotation that you need in order to get to the next level. After you have done so, you reached into your bag of tricks and come up with the absolute best exercises that have worked for you in the past. Lets complete step one Figuring out what the absolute best exercises are for YOU. Here is the revised base template example with the exercises selected.
UPPER A1) Bench Press A2) Neutral Grip Chins B1) Paused DB Press B2) V-Bar Rows C1) Rolling DB Extensions D1) Neck Harness D1) Face Pulls D1) Hammer Curls A) Full Squats B) Deficit Deadlifts C1) Gluteham Raises C2) Spread-eagle Sit-ups B1) Standing DB Press B2) Pulldowns C1) JM Press LOWER A1) Incline Bench A2) Chins UPPER

Once you have your base template created and selected your exercises, the next consideration is your training volume. Here again, you have to factor in what has worked for you in the past, rate of recovery, and most importantly what you want to achieve from your program. If you like the 5 x 5 go ahead and work it in there. It doesnt have to always be the first exercise either. It can go anywhere. I really like the simplicity Jim Wendlers 5/3/1 so Ill work the percentages into my first exercise on one or all three days. Just keep in mind that everything needs to find a balance. For example, if you love intensification techniques such as rest pausing, you need to consider how that is going to affect the rest of your routine. Look at the second upper day for a moment. If I wanted to rest pause my incline bench, I would have to consider lowering my overall volume for the standing DB press and possibly the JMs on the second upper day.One will affect the other and vice versa. This is why I normally recommend that trainees run a new routine for a couple of weeks with normal intensity and volume before those additions being made. This template starts off with the heaviest compound exercises first as your primary strength component. No different than most other routines out there. How you utilize those exercises is up to you. You could keep a 5/3/1 for the main exercises and that would work great. Another approach to the 5/3/1 is to do the powerlifting template Jim laid out in his book. Instead of 3 x 5, 3 x 3, 3 x 5, 3, 1 as per his original book, you would start off with the 3 x 3 + a few singles, 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3, 1 + a few singles. I will not give out the percentages, but if you look around online you can find them pretty easily. Another interesting book that came out was the Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith. I like the idea behind it, but its just not my cup of tea. With that said, there are plenty of ways to work something like that into our program design. One thing that has always been the case with me is that my legs always responded to higher reps and volume. You may or may not be the same case. So what you could do for the squats is a couple of different things. You could keep the squats set at something like 5 x 10 and wave the percentages. Chad used 60% for 5 sets of 10 reps. For some trainees with poor conditioning, you could wave the percentages from 50% and do something like this. Week 1 5 x 10 @ 50% Week 2 5 x 10 @ 55% Week 3 5 x 10 @ 60% For trainees with a high level of conditioning, you could modify that and jump up 2.5% per week. Yet another effective addition to your template could be to keep the squats in line with the full Juggernaut Method while leaving your upper body presses set in 5/3/1 style. As you can see, anything can work provided you are smart with it. And by that I mean if you decide to squat 5 sets of 10 reps, you would have to scale back on the supplemental work that you do because it would be overkill, especially at the higher percentage. However, also consider that you are only working your legs once per week in some cases. All things must be considered.

So now we have the main exercises set in place. Here are some ideas on how to approach your supplemental and accessory exercises. Option A You could wave your volume from week to week. DB Press superset w/ Rows Week 1 3 x 10 Week 2 4 x 10 Week 3 5 x 10 From here you could hold that volume static and start adding weight until you cant make the required reps. Another very effective option is to do the reverse, each week increasing your intensity. Week 1 5 x 10 Week 2 4 x 10 Week 3 3 x 10 Option B The RPE (rate of perceived exertion) method of progression that I wrote about in detail HERE is another very effective option, especially for body weighted exercises such as dips and pull-ups. Week 1: Dips BW + 50 lbs x 8, 8, 8, 8 (RPE 7) too easy Week 2: Dips BW + 50 lbs x 12,12,12,12 (RPE 9) last rep tough, maybe 1 more in tank Week 3: Dips BW + 50 lbs x 13,13,13,11 (RPE 10) maximal effort Week 4: Dips BW + 65 lbs x 7, 7, 7, 7 (RPE 8) 2-4 reps left in tank Option C Just pick the number of sets and reps you want to do for each exercise and keep it static for as long as you can progress. Triceps extensions 4 x 12 * Stays the same for all weeks. Here is the revised II to our standard template.
UPPER A1) Bench Press 5/3/1 protocol A2) Neutral Grip Chins 3 x 8 B1) Paused DB Press 5 x 10 B2) V-Bar Rows 5 x 10 C1) Rolling DB Extensions 3 x 12 D1) Neck Harness 5 x 15 D1) Face Pulls 3 x 15 D1) Hammer Curls Triple drop set LOWER A) Full Squats 5 x 10 (cycling percentages) B) Deficit Deadlifts 3 x 6 C1) Gluteham Raises 5 x 6 C2) Spread-eagle Sit-ups 5 x 10 B1) Standing DB Press 3 x 10 B2) Pulldowns 3 x 12 C1) JM Press 5 x 6 UPPER A1) Incline Bench 5/3/1 protocol A2) Chins 3 x 5

The last step in creating your training program is to factor in your rest periods. You must keep track of your rest periods! As with everything else, this is highly individual. If your conditioning sucks, you may want to consider keeping longer rest periods. Honestly though, I would recommend challenging yourselves. If three minutes rest is just right for you, try dropping 15-30 seconds off your time. In regards to the supersets (which is also entirely up to you), be sure to read up on my antagonistic superset article HERE. Use that as your guide for rest periods. During the conditioning phase I put my clients through, I color code my templates based off of those prescriptions. Heres the final revision with rest periods factored in.
UPPER A1) Bench Press 5/3/1 protocol A2) Neutral Grip Chins 3 x 8 * 3-4 min rest B1) Paused DB Press 5 x 10 B2) V-Bar Rows 5 x 10 * 90 sec rest C1) Rolling DB Extensions 3 x 12 * 60 sec rest D1) Face Pulls 3 x 15 * 30 sec rest LOWER A) Full Squats 5 x 10 (cycling percentages) * 3-4 min rest B) Deficit Deadlifts 3 x 6 * 3 min rest C1) Gluteham Raises 5 x 6 C2) Spread-eagle Sit-ups 5 x 10 * 120 sec rest D1) Neck Harness 5 x 15 * 60 sec rest UPPER A1) Incline Bench 5/3/1 protocol A2) Chins 3 x 5 * 3-4 min rest B1) Standing DB Press 3 x 10 B2) Pulldowns 3 x 12 * 90 sec rest C1) JM Press 5 x 6 * 120 sec rest D1) Hammer Curls Triple drop set * n/a

If your goal is a conditioning focus, anything goes. Thats why I personally love this method of training. Using that same base template (revised III), now you write a GPP exercise at the end of the training day.
UPPER A1) Bench Press 5/3/1 protocol A2) Neutral Grip Chins 3 x 8 * 3-4 min rest B1) Paused DB Press 5 x 10 B2) V-Bar Rows 5 x 10 * 90 sec rest C1) Rolling DB Extensions 3 x 12 * 60 sec rest D1) Face Pulls 3 x 15 * 30 sec rest E) Barbell Circuit 3 trips * 120 sec rest LOWER A) Full Squats 5/3/1 protocol * 3-4 min rest B) Deficit Deadlifts 3 x 6 * 3 min rest C1) Gluteham Raises 5 x 6 C2) Spread-eagle Sit-ups 5 x 10 * 120 sec rest D1) Neck Harness 5 x 15 * 60 sec rest E) Prowler Push 6 trips (3 low/3 high) * 60 sec rest UPPER A1) Incline Bench 5/3/1 protocol A2) Chins 3 x 5 * 3-4 min rest B1) Standing DB Press 3 x 10 B2) Pulldowns 3 x 12 * 90 sec rest C1) JM Press 5 x 6 * 120 sec rest D1) Hammer Curls 2 x 15-20 * 60 sec rest E) Jump Rope (60 sec on / 15 off) 5 cycles

So there you have it. If you require more volume, your first thought should be to do more sets with what is already written down vs. adding more exercises. Scott wrote a very good post that you all should have read by now. You dont need three different rowing exercises to work your back thickness. Just pick the most effective one and go to WAR with it. If you still feel like you want more exercises, thats perfectly fine as well. Just add them in to the base template on top of whats already written down. If youre a trainee that prefers a chest/shoulders/tri and back/biceps/legs split (which is the other split I am very fond of), you should have no problems creating one if you apply what you have learned in this first installment. The one thing I will recommend when doing that split is to consider putting squats and deadlift LAST instead of first as per this upper/lower routine design. Trust me on that! I hope this article gets everyone thinking in very simple terms and approach programming your training with this step by step approach. Once you dial yourselves into the training program, stick with it for as long as humanly possible. Once things stall, look to making small sustainable changes to your routine to keep progression going. When I write routines for my trainees, this is how I approach things. I always start writing from scratch based largely off of their feedback and past successes and failures. I never write 4 workouts and say run it until it fails. Instead, I like to incorporate things such as wave loading the volume and percentages. In doing so requires that I write every routine in 4 week blocks where everything is mapped out. Four weeks is usually a good length of time to reevaluate and readjust. I start off writing a base template (step one) and following each step systematically. If you have questions about anything, please feel free to utilize our private Q&A. We chose to create a private Q&A instead of a forum so no one would feel stupid posting a question. We moderate all content and all responses have to go through an approval process by either Scott or I. So you can be certain that there will not be anyone other than our staff providing detailed quality answers to any questions you may have. www.lucharilla.com