Oct 27 / John Hardy MSc

Personal Training Imposter Syndrome - Skeletons, Blocks and Other FASTER Stuff

Each time you write a programme, you do not need to go through every step, especially the research. This is due to the fact that some of the research you will approach would be repetitive.

Building a brand and a name for yourself requires some consistency which is tough when building something personalised, we do not want to end up going back to the old programmes of the 1990's leisure centres. I remember the programming draw, where the difference between programmes would be are you a man or a woman! In those days men had biceps and calfs, and women had adductors and abductors, and everyone did 12 reps 2 sets.

Exercise programmes that we build with FASTER would be built using Skeletons, which is a rough outline of how a programme might play out. For example if you were about to sit your level 2 Gym Instructor exam, then there is a skeleton / structure that is generally accepted.

- Cardio

- Dynamic Stretch

- Cardio

- Legs

- Back

- Chest

- Shoulders

- Functional

- Arms

- Core / Body Weight

- Cardio

- Static Stretch

In this skeleton, each block, as in each bullet point, tells you roughly what to add to make it a workout. It is feasible that this skeleton could be laid out in numerous ways and for multiple clients without ever being duplicated.

Skeletons can come from anywhere, and in our courses, we show how to deconstruct workouts to find the skeleton behind them and the individual blocks used. These can then be replicated or refined to help you form your programme.

Blocks are a mixture of exercise, intensity, system, and rest time and have been an excellent way for me to build programmes on the spot. I have also been able to tap into some programming magic I have witnessed during my years in the industry.

My favourite block is a version of a giant set, so four consecutive exercises, but in this block the idea is to have two strengths followed by two similar power exercises. I took this from a band and ball workout for your chest taught by Juan Carlos Santana, from Institute of Human Performance in Florida.

Strength 20 reps
Strength 20 reps
Power 20 reps
Power 20 reps

An example of this workout would be the following for legs, where I would be doing 3 sets, each set being a different plane of motion. If you wonder why, it is because its for me and I am not training for anything. I would do 20 reps of each exercise.

· Squat

· Lunge

· Alternate Split Squat Jump (sometimes called lunge jumps)

· Squat Jumps

My skeleton when using th above blocks would be –

· Lower Body

· Upper Body Push

· Upper Body Pull

· Upper Body Lift

· Upper Body Pull Down

In the real world though, I would mix blocks instead of using just the one. Although the blocks are called upper and lower body, most of the exercises I choose are whole body.

You maybe wondering where I stand on the following, and so I have created a list and where I stand based on the research I have read up to now. It will give you an idea of why I built FASTER education, as I hope these blog posts have.

Warm-ups	In my programmes the beginning of the workout where the client does what they need to do so that they are ready to workout. My goal is psychologically readying my client to workout. I am yet to find evidence of the warm-ups ability to improve performance (I know about potentiation; not sure the start of the workout is the best place for it). I cannot find evidence on the warm-up preventing injuries.
Cool Downs	Similar to the warm-up, this is the end section of my workout, that is left to the client to do the things that make them feel like the workout is complete. I cannot find research that suggests it improves recovery.
Form	Lets say cuing isn’t form, predetermined ways of solving a movement problem is form and sometimes appropriate, how you make that happen is motor skills driven, not just a bunch of repeated instructions.
Stretching	You aren’t stretching, you are feeling a resistance to the lengthening of tissue, which is a Central Nervous System response, if you want more length in your muscles then the process requires laying down new contractile units, which is hypertrophy. It can feel nice to get to functional end range and stay there for a while though.
Mobility	See stretching, and form, it’s the skill of movement.
Hypertrophy	If you read the research on stimulating muscle growth, rather than the guess work the biggest people in the gym passed down through the years, you might be surprised, and you might stop with the German Volume Training.
Weight loss	What’s this got to do with training? I tell you what, it can help lower set-point, it can help your body become healthier so it can cope with the stress of changing body composition. The calories in and calories out model maybe floored to a certain extent though. If so, it is the exercise where the floor appears, calories out being pushed up is a bad strategy, calories down is a better strategy if managed well.

Personal Training Imposter Syndrome - Skeletons, Blocks and Other FASTER Stuff

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