Physique programming considerations, pt. 2
Fine-tuning a client’s volume, exercise selection, exercise order, tempo and other variables can be tricky, but here’s some insight as to how we do it.
Having understood overload, rep ranges and proximity to failure, here are a few more factors to consider when programming for your clients who are interested in physique-based results.
Training volume/frequency considerations
There is no definitive answer to how much volume is the right amount. There isn’t much research in the area, and what there is can be contradictory. Because of this, it’s best to tread with caution.
To simplify things, you can set volume based on training age, as well as primary and secondary muscle groups.
The 13 muscle groups can be split into 2 sub-categories.
Primary: Muscle groups that need direct work to stimulate their fibres
Chest
Back
Quads
Hamstrings
Biceps
Triceps
Lateral delts
Calves
Secondary: Muscle groups that get indirect stimulation from primary muscle group work
Glutes
Rear delts
Front delts
Traps
Abs
Allocating volume
Roughly 8-10 sets per week for the primary muscle groups is a great place to start, so that makes 64-80 sets per week (for a beginner).
But we also need those secondary muscle groups to develop their physiques, right?
Add them in either on top of the volume allocation if they can recover from the additional effort, or swap out volume from some of the primary muscle groups - dependent on some factors such as their goal outcome (for their physique).
When it comes to intermediate clients, we’ve found they can take roughly 25% more volume. Advanced athletes, add another 25%. With a more advanced trainee, you can incorporate all the necessary muscle groups (primary and secondary).
Remember, this is just a framework.
At all times, your clients must be recovering from the work prescribed, and increasing in performance over a program.
When it comes to frequency, we recommend the 10 set rule. If the session has more than 10 sets of the same muscle group, distribute the rest of the work in another session later in the week.
Rest intervals
Allowing for longer rest periods (two minutes or more), with moderate to heavy loads (8-12RM) is supported by most data. Longer rest periods allow for greater loads, which increases volume load.
In saying that, shorter rest periods may be beneficial for smaller movements or isolation exercises performed in the higher rep ranges (15-20).
Here’s a practical application:
Compound movements
1-5 reps: 3-5 minutes
6-12 reps: 2 -3 minutes
13-30+ reps: 2-3 minutes
Large muscle groups
1-5 reps: 3-5 minutes
6-12 reps: 2 -3 minutes
13-30+ reps: 2-3 minutes
Isolation movements
1-5 reps: NA unless using rep modifiers
6-12 reps: 2 minutes
13-30+ reps: 30-120 seconds
Exercise selection
Varying exercises/movements, machines and resistance profiles (cable, free weight, banded, etc.) is the best way to fully stimulate muscles. Each exercise involves specific actions from joints and muscles, to move and contract forcefully when performing repetitions.
Exercise selection is an important element when it comes to applying work to a muscle group.
Choices should be tailored to specific clients, as people differ in their movement, meaning how one loads and accesses tension in specific muscles can differ.
Skill levels will also differ.
Is your client able to complete the movement with a high level of skill and precision? This may sway your exercise selection toward or away from guided movements like machines.
Finally, some movements are highly fatiguing. It's important to consider the balance between high recovery-demanding movements and low recovery-demanding movements when putting a program together.
Exercise order
It makes a lot of sense to place the bigger, multi-jointed movements at the start of the session, then transition to the smaller movements as fatigue starts to accumulate.
However, this should not be the only way we look at exercise order for program design.
You will also want to consider how well you want your client to perform their movements. Movements performed earlier are more likely to be performed well, before fatigue sets in.
Because hypertrophy training is more stimulus-based than movement-based, we can also use the initial movements in a program to potentially correct any movement dysfunctions whilst stimulating the target muscles.
An example of this could be lat pullovers to drive thoracic extension as well as stimulating the lengthened position of the lat.
It might be more beneficial to order exercises based on how important they are to the individual’s strengths/weaknesses.
Tempo
Traditionally, tempo (the time and pace taken to execute a repetition) is broken into three distinct phases of a rep: the eccentric phase, the static lengthened phase and the concentric phase. For example, 4-1-1.
It has been widely preached in bodybuilding folklore, that more time equals more tension, which equates to greater hypertrophy.
This may not be entirely true.
In this setting, tension is referred to when the muscles of the body remain semi-contracted, for an extended period of time.
One key element to this relationship is the load required to maintain that muscle tension. If the weight is too light, motor unit recruitment is not maximal.
Type II fibres contract fast and forcefully, and are responsive to high levels of tension. If the time of the rep is too long, that means the load is extremely low and stimulation of these fibres is insufficient.
Rep timing may have a threshold. Some studies have shown rep speeds up to 8 seconds have produced similar hypertrophy to self-selected rep schemes, providing you are working to sufficient proximity to failure.
There has also been data that shows rep speeds over 8 seconds are not as effective for hypertrophy, most likely due to insufficient stimulation of high threshold motor units.
