Build the Program Around the Lifter: Tom Sheppard’s Individualized Training

A program can look great on paper and still be wrong for the person running it.

You can have the right exercises, percentages, and progression model. If the plan does not account for what the lifter needs, what they can do, and what they can recover from, you have more work to do.

Tom Sheppard has been a head coach for us at elitefts for the last several years, and he is a great asset to the team. His new book, Individualized Training: A System for Designing Strength and Hypertrophy Programs, is now available through Human Kinetics.

“Over the past few years, as I’ve gotten to know Tom, I’ve seen that he cares about people and his clients more than anybody I’ve ever met. When people ask me who they should turn to for coaching and advice, he is always at the top of my list.”

Dave Tate

The subject deserves more than a book announcement. It gets at a question every coach and lifter should be able to answer: Why does this person need this work?

Start With the Person Doing the Training

Before you pick a split, get clear on the goal. Getting ready for a meet and building muscle are different jobs. A lifter trying to improve a specific lift may need a different emphasis from someone whose main goal is adding size.

Then look at the circumstances. How many days can this person consistently train? What equipment do they have? What have they already tried? What happened when they tried it?

Those answers are part of the program. A five-day plan does not become useful because it looks more complete when the lifter can only make three days. Start with a schedule they can follow, then decide how to organize the work.

Write down the goal in plain language. If you cannot explain what you are trying to improve, you are going to have a hard time deciding what belongs in the plan.

Look at How the Lifter Is Built and How They Move

Two people can perform the same exercise and have very different things limiting them. Their limb lengths, torso proportions, technique, and training history all matter.

In the elitefts video below, Tom walks through programming decisions with Jared Simmons. The discussion connects body proportions to exercise selection, weak points, and the purpose of the work. The comparison of their squat positions makes the lesson easy to see: the same general movement does not look or load every lifter exactly the same way.

Use proportions as a starting point for questions, then check them against the actual lifting. Where does the rep break down? Can the lifter hold the intended position? Does the accessory movement address something you observed, or is it there because somebody else likes it?

You still have to coach the rep in front of you. A measurement does not tell you everything about a lifter, and a resemblance to somebody strong does not give you their training needs.

Watch Tom Connect Assessment to Programming

Stop Copying Programs: How to Program for YOUR Body Proportions is part of Tom’s REBUILT case-study series on the elitefts YouTube channel. The chapter marked 46:20, Train by Body Proportions, is a useful place to focus on this lesson.

Watch for the reason behind each choice. Take that way of thinking back to your own training. Jared’s exact exercise selection and loading belong to his case; they are not a prescription for everybody watching.

More From Tom’s REBUILT Case Studies

Jared’s case is one example. These two conversations show how the questions change when Tom is working with a different person and a different set of priorities. Watch for the reasoning behind the choices, not a routine to copy.

Dave Tate: Look Beyond the Training Session

In From Heart Issues to Peak Power | Dave Tate’s Comeback, the introduction to REBUILT, I sit down with Tom and Alex Kikel to discuss the factors outside the gym that affect preparation and recovery. The coaching lesson is to look at the whole situation before assuming another change to sets and reps is the answer.

This episode includes discussion of individual health issues, supplements, and experimental substances. It is a case discussion, not a treatment plan. Do not copy medical or drug protocols; discuss health concerns and treatment decisions with a licensed clinician.

Naomi Sheppard: Build the Peak Around the Athlete

In How to Peak for a Powerlifting Meet: A World Record Holder’s Case Study, episode 3 of REBUILT, Tom and Naomi compare two very different competition preparations. They discuss training frequency, recovery, off-season work, and progressive range of motion. The useful question is why the approach changed to fit Naomi’s circumstances.

The creator’s chapter at 1:01:19, The Core Philosophy: Why Unconventional Training Works, brings that reasoning together.

These are examples of individual decisions, not universal loading or recovery rules. Take the questions back to your own plan, and work with a qualified coach to decide what fits.

Give Every Exercise a Job

Ask what an exercise is supposed to accomplish before arguing about whether it is a good exercise.

Are you practicing the competition movement? Building a muscle that needs more work? Improving your ability to hold a position? Adding training you can recover from without interfering with the priority lift?

The answer changes how you perform and evaluate the exercise. More weight may be useful for one task. For another, adding weight while losing the position defeats the reason you put the movement in the program.

Pick something you can check. Record the load and reps, but also record whether the work met its purpose. If the goal was more consistent technique, did you maintain it? If the goal was progressing an accessory lift, are you comparing the same range of motion and execution?

“Having Dave AND Tom Sheppard there really helped tie in how important the connection of technique, pure strength, mechanics all tie in to one another.”

Excerpt from an anonymous TYAO post-event survey response, February 2023.

Make Adjustments You Can Learn From

When training stalls, changing everything at once makes it harder to understand what happened. You may get a different result, but you will have little idea which change mattered.

Review what the lifter actually did before rewriting what they were supposed to do. Look at consistency, execution, workload, and recovery. Then choose an adjustment that addresses the problem you found.

That could mean changing an exercise. It could mean doing less work, organizing it differently, or giving the current plan enough consistent practice to evaluate it. The point is to have a reason you can explain and a result you can review.

This is also where listening matters. A coach needs feedback from the person running the plan. Ask questions they can answer clearly, and make it easy for them to tell you when something is not working.

“Hands on technique emphasis with Dave and Tom. Plenty of thoughtful time to pick their brilliant brains.”

Anonymous TYAO post-event survey response, August 2024.

Put It Into Your Next Training Session

You do not have to rebuild your entire program today. Start with these four questions:

1. What is the priority? Name the result you are training for.
2. What is limiting it? Use your training log and actual reps rather than guessing from somebody else’s program.
3. What job does each exercise do? Be able to explain the reason for the movement and how you want it performed.
4. What will tell you it is helping? Keep the comparison consistent and record the result.

If you are working with a coach, bring those questions to the conversation. You should leave with a better understanding of the work, not just another list of things to do.

“At first, before I knew Tom, I was kind of disappointed I didn't get to be with big boss man Dave! But I would love to be grouped up with Tom again anyday.”

Anonymous TYAO post-event survey response, August 2024.

These are individual comments from past TYAO attendees. They describe coaching experiences, not reviews of Tom’s new book or promises of a particular result.

Tom’s New Book: Individualized Training

What the Book Covers

Individualized Training: A System for Designing Strength and Hypertrophy Programs is a 368-page guide to assessing a lifter, designing a resistance-training program, and putting that plan into practice. It is written for strength and conditioning professionals, sport coaches, and lifters who design their own strength or hypertrophy training.

The publisher describes an assessment process for building an athlete profile around the individual’s abilities, needs, and goals. That profile helps guide the programming decisions. Rather than handing everyone the same sample routine, the book explains how to choose and apply training tools for the person and the outcome.

It addresses the reasoning behind program design: which principles matter, why they matter, when to use them, who they suit, and how to put them to work. The goal is to make informed choices about the split, loading, methods, exercises, and progression instead of adding every available tool to the plan.

Description summarized from Human Kinetics’ official book listing.

Table of Contents

1. The Importance of Individualization
2. Physiology of Hypertrophy and Strength
3. Athlete Assessment
4. Training Splits
5. Loading Zones
6. Training Methods
7. Exercise Selection
8. Progression Models
9. Deloading and Managing Neurological Stress
10. Specialization Training

Available Formats

• Paperback: 368 pages. ISBN 9781718239968.
• Ebook (EPUB): digital edition. ISBN 9781718239975.

Use the format links above for current pricing, regional availability, and ordering details from Human Kinetics.

That is the connection to the lessons above. Learn the principles, understand who you are working with, and make decisions you can explain. A useful resource should help you ask better questions and apply what you learn under the bar.

Get Individualized Training from Human Kinetics.

Tom has given a lot to our team and the lifters who come through our doors. I am glad to see his work available in this format.

Keep learning. Pay attention to the person doing the work. Then put what you learn to use.

Live. Learn. Pass On.
Dave Tate