In last week’s article I discussed using a non-linear, or undulating program for training young athletes and gave an overall picture of program design. Non-linear periodization, however, could easily be implemented by anyone that desires schedule flexibility and the retention of training outcomes versus peaking at a single moment in time. I use a variation of non-linear periodization since I am no longer bound by a sports competition schedule and seek a variety of fitness outcomes including muscular strength, muscular endurance, and the retention of muscle mass.

In this article I would like to dive a bit deeper into the training variables that are involved in program design to achieve various training outcomes. Think of program design as a recipe and training variables as the ingredients. If I mix a specific amount of flour, sugar, etc. I’ll bake a cake for example. If I mix different amounts of flour, sugar, and other ingredients, I might end up with a cookie instead. What we end up with is not random but the result of incorporating just the right amounts of certain ingredients.

Exercise is much the same in this regard. Certain “ingredients” need to be mixed properly in just the right amounts. I was teaching my teenage sons the basics of program design recently, and I said that there are two main points that they needed to understand.

First, that your body responds specifically to the stresses you place upon it. This means that, regardless of your intentions, if you design a training program that is conducive to building muscle mass it will not be focused on building power, for example. You will gain muscle. To use the baking analogy again, if you mix up the recipe for a cake, even though you might want cookies, you end up with a cake. Another way to look at this is that you wouldn’t practice for a basketball game by primarily playing soccer. So, the lesson is to know your training variables and how to organize them for the results you want.

Second, understand the stress cycle or General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). This was actually popularized by Dr. Hans Selye in Montreal in the 1950’s. During his experiments with lab rats, Dr. Selye noticed that the rats repeatedly went through specific stages when exposed to stress. He later named these stages Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion. This same thinking can be applied to the physiological adaptions people go through during sports and/or fitness training. Simply put, we are exposed to a stress, which would be exercise, then our bodies adapt to that stress specifically by gaining strength, endurance, or whatever the program is designed to do. This adaption takes place during rest, or an active recovery. If we time the next stress properly, we can achieve another adaptation. If we wait too long, we lose our progress. If we don’t wait long enough or the initial stress is too great, we overwhelm our systems and adaptation/progress will fail to occur. So, the lesson here is to know the proper stress/recovery ratio for yourself or with whom you are working. This can be a bit of an art form.

While program design is both an art and a science and might sound complicated, the implementation of a training or exercise program can be made fairly simple. Basically, you get what you train for. Define your goals. Then build a program using the ratios of training variables that best suit your needs.

So what are these mystery “ingredients”? All of us have the same training variables available to us: Intensity, Density, Volume. The fitness industry has oversimplified them over the years in an effort to make them easier to understand and has sometimes used the FITT model (Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type) but I feel that this is a disservice and does not properly allow for true program design specificity.
Training variables-

Intensity – Can be defined as how hard one is exercising. For strength training it is usually measured by weight. For cardio-vascular training, heart rate is typically used as the measure.

Density – This is, unfortunately, seldom used or measured and is a critical component in training. It can be defined as how much work is performed in a given time. Typically, a person would measure their training density by timing their rest breaks. Though more complicated formulas exist. For example, 100-meter sprints with a 1-minute break are denser than sprints with a 2-minute break. All of this can be quantified and measured.

Volume – Volume is the total work performed. It is most commonly measured in sets and repetitions in strength training, though more advanced programs could use total tonnage in a given workout or time period. For activities such as running or cycling, mileage could be used. Like intensity and density, more complicated methods for measurement are available.

In the next article in this series, I will give examples of program design and how to get the most out of your exercise/training program. Like I said, it is up to us to manipulate the available training variables to produce the outcomes that best serve our needs. Simply put, you get what you train for!