General guidelines and principles
1. The body doesn’t know whether you're doing higher-faster-sports, Westside, HIT, swiss ball, kettlebell, or any other system. It only knows stimulation and recovery. Most training schemes do provide some stimulation, but no routine is perfect.
a. Exercises and routines are just "tools" to improve performance. No tool is more important then another as long as the job gets done. If your car breaks down, it doesn't matter if you use a rock, a crescent wrench, bailing wire, or an entire set of snap-on tools to fix it. The important thing is that it gets fixed. Raising performance works much the same way.
b. Most people probably tend to use too many "tools" in their training sessions. Improvement in mobility means that you move more freely and easily. Improvement in speed work means that you run faster in a straight line, and improvement in agility means you get better at moving while changing direction. Improvement in plyo work means you tend to get better at jumping while improvement in strength means that you get better at developing tension typically demonstrated by an ability to lift heavier loads. It doesn't necessarily take a boatload of tools to improve those qualities. The human organism’s ability to adapt to stimulation existed prior to the invention of all the high-tech training tools we have today. Stimulation for a caveman consisted of dealing with every day life (chasing prey, running away from predators, lifting rocks to build a hut, etc.). You could take a knowledgeable athlete in today’s world, put him on a deserted island, and if he knew what he were doing and had enough food, he could stimulate performance improvements without using a single modern day tool.
c. The ultimate goal should be to develop your knowledge of "stimulation" and "recovery" so that you can program your body like a computer and know what happens in advance. (For example, adjust this, adjust that, insert this, delete that, and here's what's going to happen.)
d. Most people overanalyze the various training minutia and don’t do enough actual training. When in doubt, pick three or four things and get really good at them.
e. If you’re combining strength training, speed, agility, and plyo into one workout, always do the faster stuff first (i.e. dynamic mobility followed by speed followed by plyo followed by weights).
f. If your workouts are separated into AM and PM sessions, then you have some leeway as to what you do first (strength and/or speed).
2. The volume of plyo, speed, and agility work should always be regulated based upon performance. As soon as performance or speed starts to decline on a main movement (assuming that you're taking full rest intervals, which you should), stop the workout. It's as simple as that.
a. Unless you're a sprinter, you should rarely ever run distances greater than approximately 50 yards for speed work.
b. One set of plyo, speed, or agility work should rarely exceed ten seconds in duration.
c. In the grand scheme of things, the choice of drills chosen for plyo and agility work is not that important. Plyo consists of unilateral and bilateral (one and two leg) hops, jumps, and bounds (they all do the same thing). Agility consists of moving forward, sideways, and backward and changing direction. A simple jump for height is one of the best plyo maneuvers. A basic change of direction drills will get the job done for agility. If you play any type of sport as frequently as two times per week, your needs for specific plyo and agility training are zero. Save the plyo and agility work for the off-season and pre-season.
d. With that being said, speed work should consist of sprints for zero to 50 yards. Plyo work should consist of hops, jumps, and bounds for less then ten seconds while agility work should consist of moving forward, sideways, and backward, with changes of direction for less then ten seconds per set. A workout with any of those qualities should be terminated when performance declines due to fatigue. So how difficult is it really to design and implement a plyo, speed, and agility workout? Not very difficult.
3. Monitoring volume strictly by "performance" for strength work is not such an issue because muscle growth stimulation is often a goal. It does require a certain level of fatigue, meaning the load that you can lift at the end of a session may not be the same as the load that you lifted at the beginning of a strength session (this is not true when targeting speed, agility, and plyo improvements). Two to five sets per strength movement is the norm.
a. An upper body strength workout would generally consist of some type of upper body push (bench press variation), some type of pull (row or pull-up), and some supplemental shoulder and "beach" (arm) work.
b. A lower body strength workout would generally consist of some type of squat or deadlift (squat, deadlift, lunge, split squat) along with some type of assistance movement for the glutes and hams.
c. For strength and power, sets of 3–5 reps are optimal. For hypertrophy, sets of 5–12 are ; typically optimal.
d. For strength development, heavy loads of 85–100 percent for sets of 1–5 reps are optimal. For power development, lighter loads of 10–60 percent are optimal.
e. As a general recommendation, each strength training workout you do may consist of one core strength or power movement for a set of 1–5 reps, one or two assistance movements for 5–12 reps, and maybe an abdominal movement for 2–4 sets of 10–20 reps.
f. The need for upper body "power" work using loads of 10–60 percent is virtually nonexistent for any athletes other then powerlifters. With regards to upper body work, an athlete should be lifting heavy, focusing on getting stronger and/or bigger.
g. Until an athlete has a base of lower body strength in place (1.5–2 X body weight squat and deadlift), specific lighter lower body "power" work in the weight room using loads of 10-60 percent is also largely useless. These people should concentrate on core movements with progressively heavier bar weights and an emphasis on getting stronger and/or bigger.
h. Most people will make excellent gains with two upper body workouts per week and either one or two lower body workouts per week. Beginners seem to progress fastest with three of each per week.
i. Ab work might consist of weighted crunches, standing pull-down abs, kneeling pull- down abs, decline leg raises, hanging leg raises, cable wood chops, Russian twists, dumbbell and cable side bends, or side bends lying sideways in a back extension device.
4. Generally speaking, it's beneficial for intermediate and advanced athletes to take a day of rest in between high intensive training elements. High intensive training elements include the speed, plyo, agility, and strength work. High intensive elements can be done more often for younger athletes (less than 16 years old), beginners (less then one year of training experience), and those who are just introducing the training of certain motor qualities into their routines (e.g. a powerlifter introducing speed and agility work).
a. With regards to strength work, it's usually beneficial to take an "unloading" week every 3–6 weeks. There are many ways of implementing this. The simplest way is to cut your volume in half and decrease the load to keep things very easy. During an unloading week, I generally prescribe something like three sets of three reps at 80 percent for strength work.
b. Providing you can benefit from specific "power" work, it can often be advantageous to alternate 2–4 weeks of heavy strength-oriented training (heavy squats and deadlifts for 3– 5 reps) with 2–4 weeks of explosive-oriented training (speed box squats with 50–60 percent, jump squats, etc.).
5. Skill work and conditioning can be done on alternate days.
6. It can often be advantageous to transition from a 4–8 week phase of higher volume and/or greater training frequency into a phase of lower/volume and/or frequency.
7. If you're training consistently yet not making consistent progress or you're regressing, chances are high that you're doing too much. If in doubt, reduce the volume and simplify your programming.
Basic workout templates
Raw beginner
Work towards basic strength goals such as pull-ups, dips, 50 bodyweight squats, one perfect single-leg squat, 25 full v-sits, and one minute isometric front and side bridge hold
Training should consist of mobility, movement efficiency, and strength. For strength purposes, three times per week get in the gym and focus on exercises such as body weight squats, lunges, single-leg squats onto a box, step-ups, supine rows, partner-assisted or gravitron pull-ups, partner-assisted or gravitron dips, wall sits, plank, glute bridges, and overhead broomstick squats. Also include some light form work on the box squat and deadlift.
Just pick 4–8 body weight-type movements for 2–4 sets each, use the body weight, and go after it. It's difficult to overtrain when using body weight as resistance. Perform mobility, speed, and agility movements prior to lifting or on opposite days.
Mobility might consist of deep walking lunges, alternate pull heel to butt walk, leg swings front to back, leg swings side to side, deep sumo squats, cross under lunges, bird dogs, and arm circles.
Plyo/speed/agility might consist of skips, karioka, lateral hops, agility (e.g. five yard backpedal into five yard lateral shuffle into 20 yard sprint), and sprints over distances from 10–100 yards.
Standard beginner template
This template will also work just fine for intermediate or advanced trainees. The format for mobility, speed, and plyo work would be the same as the raw beginner but now core lifts make up the strength program on a 2–3 times per week basis. A sample strength workout is as follows.
Session A:
clean or snatch
deadlift
bench press
ab movement
Session B:
squat
incline press
weighted chin
ab movement
*Alternate between session A and B.
Perform 2–5 sets of 2–5 reps never to failure using a step-type loading approach. Increase the weight for three consecutive workouts and then decrease it for one and build back up. For example:
Session 1 100 x 2 x 3 (3 sets of 2 reps); session 2 105 x 2 x 3; session 3 110 x 2 x 2
Session 1 105 x 2 x 3; session 2 110 x 2 x 3; session 3 115 x 2 x 2
Session 1 110 x 2 x 3; session 2 115 x 2 x 3; session 3 120 x 2 x 2
Another option based on the same basic theme:
Three whole body workouts per week based on five sets of five reps. Mobility and movement work done prior to lifting:
Monday - squat 5 x 5; pull-up 5 x 5; bench 5 x 5; glute ham 4 x 6 (sets of five are done with a weight; you could do 7–8 times)
Wednesday - deadlift 5 x 3; lunge 2 x 8; row 3 x 6; dumbbell bench 3 x 5
Friday - squat 5 x 5; pull-up 5 x 5; bench 5 x 5; glute ham/leg curl 4 x 6 (sets of five done working up to max five reps)
After 4–6 weeks, this phase would be alternated with phase E or F, below.
More templates
Option A
Monday and Thursday - mobility, straight ahead speed, upper body strength
Tuesday and Friday or Tuesday and Saturday - mobility, plyo, agility, lower body strength
Sample week:
Monday - mobility warm-up, form running (high knees, skips, various quick feet drills, etc.), 10 yard sprints x 10, 20 yard sprints x 6–8
Weights: heavy push (some type of bench) working up to three reps; heavy row or pull-up, same as bench; shoulder raise of some sort (front or side); beach work; crunching-type abdominal movement (loaded Swiss ball or kneeling crunch)
Tuesday - mobility warm-up, forward and lateral single leg on box jumps x two sets each leg lateral and forward, lateral barrier jump four sets x eight reps, some type of agility drill requiring lateral movement for somewhere around 4–8 reps
Weights: lower body, some type of squat or deadlift movement, typically alternate 2–4 weeks of a heavy compound movement like squats or deadlifts for 3–5 reps with 2–4 weeks of a lighter speed movement like speed box squats or jump squats for 4–6 sets of 3–8 reps. Follow that up with maybe some type of unilateral movement, generally Bulgarian split squats, during a heavy phase and step-ups during a lighter phase along with some type of posterior chain assistance such as glute hams, reverse hypers, pull thrus or whatever for 3–4 sets of 6–10 reps, and some type of ab movement
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Repeat the basic scheme from Monday's workout but perhaps do 3–4 sets of 8–10 reps on the pressing and row.
Friday or Saturday - Repeat the basic theme from Tuesday's workout, but drop the weights in the heavy compound movement or make the unilateral variation (lunge or split squat) the "core" movement. If in a power phase, just repeat the entire workout.
Option B
Just do two full body workouts per week with speed/plyo on alternate days. With each workout, attempt to drive the weights up.
Example:
Monday - speed/plyo (10s and 20s for 4–8 reps each)
Tuesday - squat 3-5 x 5; bench 3-5 x 5; pull-up 3-5 x 5; posterior chain 2-3 x 6-10; ab/pull-down abs 2-3 x 15-20
Try to drive the weight up each workout.
Wednesday - off/conditioning
Thursday - speed/plyo (20s and 40s for 4–6 reps each or stop at first sign of performance drop-off)
Friday - weights
Saturday - off/conditioning
Sunday - off
Repeat the same basic weight training workout. As soon as you can no longer increase the weights, take a week and just do 3 x 3 at 80 percent of your three rep max for each workout. Come back the next week and hit it hard.
Option C
Monday – upper body pull and lower body posterior chain (chin-ups, deadlifts)
Wednesday – upper body bench, row, beach
Friday – upper body/lower body overhead press, pull-up, front squat
Option D
Heavy/light
Basically a repeat of option A. Keep the exercises the same but make the second workout 10–20 percent lighter.
Option E
(This is one of my favorites to alternate with a higher frequency scheme.)
Monday - mobility, speed, plyo, or agility and heavy upper body workout
Tuesday - off (conditioning optional)
Wednesday - mobility, speed, plyo, or agility and heavy lower body workout
Thursday - off (skill and conditioning optional)
Friday or Saturday - mobility, speed, plyo, or agility and hypertrophy-oriented upper body workout (sets of 5–12)
Sunday - off
Monday - start over
Option F
This is another one of my favorites. Alternate the set-up every other day.
Monday - mobility/speed/UB (e.g. warm-up 20 yard sprints (stop when time declines), bench press variation 4 x 3, row variation 4 x 3, external rotation movement, optional beach work, ab movement)
Wednesday - mobility/plyo/agility LB (e.g. warm-up, depth jumps (stop when height declines), shuttle drill 3–6 reps not all out, box squat 4–6 x 3, glute ham 4 x 5–8, abs)
Friday - mobility/speed/UB (e.g. warm-up, 40 yard sprints (stop when time declines), dumbbell press variation 3–4 x 8–12 reps, pull-up or row variation 3–4 x 8–12, ext. rotation movement 2 x 12-15, beach work, abs)
Sunday - plyo/agility LB (e.g. warm-up, depth jumps 4 x 3, shuttle drill (stop when time declines), light box or jump squat 4–6 x 3–5, glute ham 4 x 5–8, abs)
Tuesday - Start over with Monday
Option G
This is another variant of option A above. Instead of doing movement work on both upper and lower body days, combine it all together and do it on lower body days prior to your lower body lifting.
Option H
Bulk up and get strong. This is for the intermediate to advanced level guy or gal who needs strength and size, pronto. This template plus a “no holds barred” attitude at the dinner table and the mindset of doing whatever it takes to get that scale weight up will get the job done. Movement work is optional.
The template is:
Monday - lower body (quad dominant)
Tuesday - upper body (chest dominant)
Thursday - lower body (hip and hamstring dominant)
Friday or Saturday - upper body (shoulder dominant)
A precise example of this template can be found at Designer Athletes.