Do your exercises like you?
No matter your goals in the gym, having the “right exercise” in your program is critical to getting the results you’re chasing.
Whether the goal is to get stronger, build muscle, get leaner, or perform better, we need to choose exercises that LIKE YOU.
What does “exercises that like you” mean?
An exercise that likes you is an exercise that:
Feels good
Allow for perfect technique.
You can take them to failure.
Delivers the specific outcome you want
Complements the rest of your program
You enjoy it
How do I select exercises that like me?
We could write a book on exercise selection, but one thing you can do right now is to understand how to progress or regress your exercises.
Does this sound familiar?
Jane wants to grow a bunda > she sees someone with a bunda doing squats and a post saying squats are great for building peachy bundas > she goes to the gym and attempts to squat > she looks a little like a baby giraffe and leaves the gym with a sore back > after a few weeks she sees no progress in her glutes and dreads going to the gym because she feels awkward and has back pain.
Does this exercise like Jane?
It’s doesn’t feel good
She can’t complete the technique
Her back hurts well before her legs are close to failure
The glutes are getting very little work
The back pain means her other training is affected
She doesn’t enjoy the exercise
What is the solution … Drum roll
Introducing the STCfit progression model.
It looks like this
Now, bear with me. I know it looks complicated, and that’s because this is literally what we teach personal trainers.
Let’s go back to Jane.
She kind of sucks at squats, right? If learning to squat is important to her, we could look at things to help her learn to squat better—things like pauses, tempo or box squats.
If she just wants the bunda and doesn’t care how she gets it, we could work down the model to find an exercise that will like her.
We could modify the exercise - maybe we could use a Safety Bar.
If that didn’t work
We could move the load. A KB Front rack squat would work better, but that will probably be limited by how much weight she can hold and not how much her legs can lift. It is great for skill but could be better for peach gains.
So instead,
We remove a layer of input by removing the upper body demands, and we do a split squat.
HOLD THE PHONE, WE FOUND IT!
While doing this exercise, Jane:
Felt her glutes right away
Was able to execute the exercise perfectly
Loaded it up and trained right up to 1 rep away from not being able to stand up
The next day, she noticed her glutes and not back pain
She was ALSO able to complete a 45-degree back extension and dumbbell RDL that week
Despite no one really loving split squats… she loved the outcomes it delivered
The Split Squat likes Jane.
What should I do with this information, Ben?
“Progression and regression” is a model that can be applied to every exercise.
If your current program has an exercise that you’re not able to push, are finding uncomfortable, or is just not doing the job it should… try working your way down the line of regressions till you find something you can really send.
Of course, if you need help, find me @benscottSTC on Instagram and bump me a DM.
