Training Recommendations for the Beginner

With it being somewhat recently after the New Year, there will undoubtedly be many people looking to start up a "fitness" routine. Many of them will turn to the myriad of "boot camp" style classes that are offered by gyms and personal trainers, and to be quite frank, pretty much all of them suck. But with that in mind, I've put together this post that might spur some enterprising individual to actually do something productive with these folks, beyond simply running them into the ground. Invariably, many people also start running because they think that's how you "get in shape." Well, again, I wanted to address those populations, because you don't need to run, and in fact most people shouldn't. But I digress.

Because most “boot camps” and hell, personal training in general, is utter garbage, I wanted to put something out there for people who:

1.       Want to run (because they think that’s how you “get in shape”), and

2.       Want to get tired (because they think that’s how you “get in shape”)

While also fulfilling my need for seeing things constructed and performed properly. Admittedly, I can’t make sure that things are done correctly without actually having my eyes on the people performing the activity; but I can at least hopefully structure things in a semi-coherent manner that allows for rational introduction and progression. As well, because most people really shouldn’t be running because their form is terrible and they carry too much weight, this is a method of trying to begin to correct that while getting them fit enough to train and keeping runs short enough for them to maintain some semblance of good running form throughout.

Let me reiterate – correct technique, of whatever you are doing is paramount. If you are simply going to rush through it all in an effort to get as tired as possible, just fucking forget it.

What I did was mesh concepts from two of the greatest sprint coaches in history – Charlie Francis and Dan Pfaff. These ideas were utilized with runners themselves – track and field sprinters to be exact. It might seem counterintuitive, since most people are, or want to be, distance runners, but the concepts herein are and were utilized by sprinters, particularly early in their preparation. They have (obviously) been modified, but thematically remain the same.

On a more “macro” level, it is based on Dan’s 3 day rollover concept. Essentially, when tapering, he needs 3 things:

1.       Explosive emphasis

2.       Elastic & metabolic emphasis

3.       Endurance emphasis

These 3 days can be repeated, with varying volumes, intensities, and densities, dependent upon the athlete and their schedule, recovery ability, and so forth.

I’ve taken this same idea and applied it to the general population of people looking to be “fit.” The 3 necessary days are:

1.       Explosive emphasis

2.       Endurance emphasis

3.       Strength emphasis

There are certain themes, particularly the warmup, that stay interwoven and relatively constant throughout the three, but at its heart, this is what it looks like. Again, based on availability, recovery ability, access, and so forth, you may utilize this for 3 days per week or up to 6. It can be stretched and rotated across weeks. Find what works for you and go with it.

I’ve also tried to give plenty of latitude and variety as it relates to exercise selection, dependent upon what you have available. If all you have is a patch of grass and no equipment, that is fine. If you have access to medicine balls, even better. For the strength emphasis, it will likely be helpful if you have access to external loading in the form of DBs, KBs, and/or barbells, but if you do not, that is OK, too.

I will also make a quick note that I’m not going to outline every teaching progression or exercise progression for each. There are a myriad of options and this is more a theoretical framework than anything. Now, without further ado:

Warmup

Nobody likes to warm up, and generally speaking, most warmups aren’t particularly useful the way they’re done anyway. A bit of light jogging, some arm circles and talking is insufficient to prepare one to train, particularly those who may be out of shape and/or looking to get into running from zero base. It should also be noted that the warmup is actually simply an extension of the training session itself, at a lower intensity, graduating to match the intensity of the work that is to come.

You can get a lot of high quality work and practice in during this warmup time. Particularly for those who are not adept at fundamental movement patterns like hip hinging and squatting, or lack mobility in ankles, hips, or shoulders, this time can be used to integrate movements that address these issues before moving on to more demanding versions.

There are a few ways of structuring the warmup. One is to use, more or less, the same warmup every time, regardless of which session you are performing. Some mobility work, some technique practice for your strength movements, some running drills, and you’re off. Another way would be to construct different warmups dependent on the type of day you’re doing. So, for instance, if it is a strength day and you won’t be running, perhaps you scrap the running drills (I would say you should probably leave them in, but depending on your surroundings, time restraints, and so forth, you may decide otherwise), and focus more on mobility/stability and lower-intensity technique practice. Maybe on a power or endurance day, where there will be minimal upper body work, you may choose to eschew much of the upper body work – however, I would argue that more frequent exposure, even at low levels, to mobility and stability work, is of high importance for most general population folks, as they don’t move enough in general.

Regardless, pick out a warm-up scheme that fits your needs and desires, and go with it.

The days

Explosive emphasis

As the name implies, this day is about speed and power. Now, the biggest issue you will run into is that people want to constantly be busy, and feel extremely tired at the end, which is kind of antithetical to speed and power training. However, you may be able to (sort of) accomplish this by interjecting non-competing mobility or calisthenic work in between the higher-intensity stuff. What you may also find is that, if they are actually attempting to be explosive, this will be quite fatiguing, beyond the neuromuscular fatigue that they should also experience. They are not accustomed to giving this amount of effort, and doing so brings about a level of exhaustion they will no doubt be unprepared for.

Selection of exercises will be dependent on equipment, space, and so forth, but generally speaking, jumps, repeat jumps (a look at Dan Pfaff’s plyometric progressions is a good idea here!), medicine ball throws, and short sprints (for those who are ready!!) are good choices. Some sort of explosive pushups may be utilized as well, though most likely anyone taking part in a “boot camp” are unlikely to be prepared for that.

Strength emphasis

Much like speed and power, simply trying to get as tired as possible is a bit antithetical to the acquisition of strength, though many people who have not been taking part in a training regimen will not require high resistances to get stronger. Therefore, training under fatigue is not the end of the world, but there still must be focus placed on correct technique, which can be difficult when under fatigued conditions. Again, things like mobility drills or “corrective” exercises placed between the bigger, or main, work, may be useful for slowing down the work rate and keep work quality a bit higher.

If you have access to external resistance, such as free weights and bands, they can be used on this day. But again, do so with the actual abilities of the trainees in mind.

Endurance emphasis

This is the day everyone is waiting for. The day to make them tired. These days should cause the most peripheral fatigue, but still should not be exhaustive! If they’re puking, they’re pushing too hard. The means and methods on this day will be things like tempo runs, extensive med ball rebound circuits, low-intensity body weight work (depending on current strength levels), and so on.

Multi-directional movements, such as shuffles, carioca, lateral runs, and so forth, at lower intensities, are fantastic options as well, particularly as they do help develop musculature many people do not use or have not developed.

I would also note that many different running drills (sprint drills would be included in that mix, though many people will not do them well) could be performed on this day, since most people have horrendous running technique which will need addressed.

So that’s pretty much it. I left it intentionally vague, as it can be taken any number of ways and massaged to fit a lot of different situations. But the overall themes and concepts are what matter, and organizing them in this way may be useful for people looking to (safely) get into exercising consistently.