Designing a Weight Training Program for home (BASIC)

Start Somewhere, Start Now

• Don’t wait around for someone to tell you WHICH exercises to do, or HOW MANY reps to do, or HOW MUCH weight to use
  
• Making something a sustainable part of your lifestyle involves acting on intrinsic motivations: do the exercises you LIKE to do, do the number of reps you CAN do, and lift the amount of weight that FEELS good for you
  
  • The Gym: the benefit of machines is that they guide your exercise selection (you don’t have a choice), while at the same time allowing you the freedom to choose which machines you want, and explore which exercises and muscles you ENJOY training
    
  • Classes: make note of exercises you enjoyed in class.  Maybe they are a good fit for your own home program
    
  • From Scratch: look for a program online and give it a try at home - if you like it, keep it, or make minor adjustments to make it a ‘best fit’
    

Training Specificity

• Some sources indicate the human body has over 800 muscles, while some indicate there are 700 named muscles, of which only 300 may be of practical relevance to specialists who deal directly with anatomy
  
• Some strength athletes exclusively train Bench Press, Deadlift, and Squat, with maybe some accessory sled dragging, shoulder shrugs, crunches, and cardio thrown in
  
• These athletes tend to be the ‘strongest’ in the world (think powerlifters, strongmen, and olympic weightlifters)
  
• The more complex an athlete’s routine, the further down the strength ladder they tend to be, but the higher on the athletic ladder they are - this is representative of the ‘specificity of training’
  
• If you train a specific thing, you get better at it: practicing piano makes you a better piano player, but just because both a piano and a guitar make music doesn’t mean playing piano makes you a better guitar player
  
  • Complementary Carryover: However, becoming a better musician gives you an ear for music and dexterity for picking up other instruments
    
  • In training, all exercises can be complementary.  However, excelling at an exercise requires training that movement specifically
    

Cover Your Bases

• Identify all the muscle areas you want to develop; identify exercises you want to get better at
  
• Consult a resource that has organized exercises by muscle group
  
• Choose 1 exercises for each muscle group YOU want to develop
  
• Make time for practicing exercises/movements YOU want to get better at (i.e. sports, yoga poses, supplementary activity)
  
• Perform 1-2 sets of each exercise to a level of fatigue YOU are satisfied with
  
• Log your session, make a note of anything relevant (e.g. “I felt really weak today”, “I could hardly finish the second set of these”, “My back feels funny on these”, “I don’t think I do these right”, “This felt too easy/hard, increase/decrease the weight next session”, “This was awkward with my home set up - find an alternative”, etc.)
  
  
• Follow the principle of progressive overload