Flexible Programming: Have a Backup Plan

I consider flexibility to be one of the most important components of a good program. I have heard so many people say that they are not motivated to train and although I really don’t understand that mindset, I can tell you that not having a backup plan is probably a big factor driving that statement. People tend to get off track on rigid programs because it’s all or nothing. My recommendation is to have a backup plan for every part of your program to include both scheduling and the actual training sessions. Figure out what you WANT to do and also what you NEED to do and you’ll have a program with a good backup plan.

Sometimes this is good enough

 I think of it as plan A, plan B, and plan C: plan A is the bare minimum to achieve my goal, plan B is extra work to support that goal, and plan C is reserved for my crazy/stupid side. Most people write out their programming with the best intentions and they leave no stone unturned. They load up their schedule with lots of lifting and then they fill in every nook and cranny with supplemental and conditioning work. When in reality just a few things will get the job done and keep the progress coming. I have no problem with ambitious programming as long as you understand the bare minimum requirements to make progress and are willing to drill everything down when you need to.

The first thing to consider when writing your program is when you will train. Most folks will specify certain days, MWF for example. This might be necessary based on your life schedule, but I think approaching it more like “I’ll train every 2-3 days” makes more sense if you can swing it. Maybe you’ll hit it every other day like clockwork and blaze through a cycle in 4 weeks. On the other hand, if everything goes to crap, what’s the worst thing that will happen? Maybe you’ll end up stretching that cycle out for another week or two. You’re a lifer and you’ll be lifting for 30-40 more years, is it really going to make a difference?  No it won’t…but that built in flexibility will go a long way to keeping you on track.

I also recommend having a full plan on training days, while being prepared to call an audible. This is not a license to be a pussy, but the minimum goal should be to just get in and do your core movement’s working sets. You can have all kinds of crap lined up; extra singles, multiple back off sets, 2-3 assistance movements, post training conditioning, etc. But if all you can manage on this day are 3-5 heavy squat sets, just do that and leave, happy that you got your main work in and that you moved forward. Plus, there is something kind of primal and barbaric about a guy that just rolls in to the gym, squats heavy and walks out. If I see a guy do that, I’m not thinking anything negative at all, just “that guy has his shit together”.

Here’s a sample squat session so you’ll see what I’m talking about:

Plan A:

Squat – (Whatever I have programmed) right now it would be a warm up then my work sets (6 sets of 2)

If I get to the gym and feel like crap or have limited time, I’ll do this & bail and be totally cool with it. This is the bare minimum work that I need to make progress and it earns me the right to move on to the next session.

Plan B:

Squat – Work sets (6 sets of 2)

Squat – Back off sets (1^st work set weight X3X10)

Good mornings – 5x10

Weighted abdominal work: 5 sets

This represents a full session and an average day. There is nothing special going on here…just getting the work in to support my squat.

Plan C:

Plan C is reserved for just getting stupid in the gym and tends to result in a massive training hangover. So it’s plan B, plus whatever else I decide to do: maxing out, tons of back off sets, repping to failure, running around the gym getting a ridiculous pump, stuff like that. Plan C is good old fashioned poor judgment and tons of fun.

I really think that building flexibility into your program is super important. Having a backup plan will keep you motivated to plug away and move forward even in the shittiest of conditions. Sometimes things can get rigid, a peaking cycle for example…there’s really not much that you can do about it so just suck it up and go to work for a couple of months. For your meat and potatoes training though, I strongly recommend that you build as much flexibility into it as you can.

 "Just don’t use it as an excuse to be a pussy"

My Training Philosophy

My general philosophy is that I need to be as strong as possible, while maintaining an above average level of athletic ability. In other words, strength is the priority but I still need to be able to climb, jump, run, and generally put in some hard work when called upon. It’s kind of my mission statement if you will. In my mind, if I can squat 500lbs but I can’t climb a fence or chase down a thief, I’ve failed. So my training boils down to the basics; lift smart hard and heavy, condition, and prepare and recover hard.

It’s a strange concept in my gym, but personal appearance is absolutely the last thing I think about when it comes to training. I’ve been living in the Philippines for about 3 years, and the reality is that I’m thousands of miles away from any personal support system, and I have a family to protect. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is a dangerous place; in fact I feel quite safe. But in the end if I do have a problem, it will boil down to me, and me alone, to take care of it. Appearance based training simply won’t get the job done; vascularity, huge bicep peaks and washboard abs are a waste of energy for me. Being able to throw someone around like a ragdoll on the other hand, well…that’s probably pretty useful.

Here’s my approach to training:

1. Lift smart, hard and heavy: This one has multiple points.

First…..Focus on compound movements: Now I’m not all or nothing here, but this makes up probably 95% of my weight training. For example, I do believe some direct arm work is necessary for injury prevention and bigger arms can support more weight, so straight bar curls make sense from a strength and durability standpoint. Having said that, these are the staples:

• Back squats and squat variations
• Deadlifts and deadlift variations
• Bench and bench variations
• Overhead pressing
• Rows
• Chins
• Dips
• Shrugs

I’m open to new things but I’m not really big on variety here. This is the kind of basic stuff that really strong guys have been doing for ages. It worked for all of the guys that came before me and as it turns out, it works for me too. Who would have guessed?

I’m also a big believer in keeping things simple and using the lift to build the lift whenever possible. Squat assistance…how about pause squats? Deadlift assistance…how about speed pulls? Obviously I need to venture out and try different stuff sometimes, but I’ll look to a variation of the main lift first.

Second…..Have a logical and reasonable progression plan and strive to keep getting stronger. There’s not much to say about this since getting stronger is the whole point.

Third…..Condensed training. Now I don’t mean this like the short sessions advocated in muscle mags where they tell you to keep your sessions under 1 hour or you’ll end up in some dangerous catabolic state. What I mean is that I focus on one or a few things at a time. On squat day I may schedule 1-2 assistance movements at most after squatting, but the squat is the event of the day and the other shit doesn’t really matter. I don’t try to save energy for what follows. If I roll in and squat for an hour and totally knock my dick in the dirt, I’ll leave and be perfectly happy with the session. Less really is more sometimes…think quality not quantity. That goes for knocking your dick in the dirt too…not always a great idea.

2. Conditioning: I really don’t foresee needing to run more than a mile or so in an emergency situation. If I’m stuck at home with a broken down car and need to get to my family in town, at most I’d have to run about 1 mile to the highway and catch one of the dozens of tricycles heading in that direction. If for some reason I had to run the whole thing, it’s only about 6 miles and I could get it done. I’ve been running since I was a kid and I’ve done triathlons. It would hurt, but I know I could sack up and get it done in a pinch. And really, this is the most off the wall extreme emergency stuff I could think of. So steady state stuff really is a very low priority for me. In fact, from a survival standpoint, it’s hard to think of many situations where extreme endurance would trump strength or speed.

Having said that, I still run a couple of miles per week because it’s a way to do my sprints without looking like a douche, but everything else is weighted endurance stuff:

• Carrying and throwing stones
• Pushing cars
• Tire flipping
• Weighted sled dragging
• Sand bag work

Like I said before, I’m not big on variety. I just grab bag something and hit it hard.
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3. Prepare hard and recover hard: These could be separated into two points but they also go hand in hand because it is an ongoing process. I don’t look at going into a weight or conditioning session as a workout, I look at it as an event and I prepare for it just like I would a race or a game. Now I’m not saying I’m going to go balls to the wall and knock my dick in the dirt every session; what I mean is I prepare to perform…hydrate, eat, mobility work, stretching, psych, etc. No fasted cardio at 5 a.m. to try to optimize my fat-burning and that sort of bullshit…I’m talking about preparing to dominate the session.

Recovery is just as important as everything else. Recovery is the focus during the training down time, to prepare for the next event. Obviously eating and sleeping…but also, stretching, mobility work, icing stuff, massages, contrast showers, etc.

That’s it. It’s not exactly magical groundbreaking stuff…just lift, condition, rest, repeat.

"Also, if you’re looking at yourself in the mirror between sets…you have failed as a man"