First things first, this is a training program that might not suit you (due to your mobility or health history)., it’s not the only way to get started and it might differ from what you’ve heard so far from your friends or other professionals around you. This program will include the base exercises I believe every trainee should begin with, it is based on the article Functional Training written some time ago, and on my personal experience and priorities regarding movement and body preparations for future training.
No matter what your goal is, or how far you want to go, at this stage we will focus on building movement patterns and basic strength, so that we have a strong and reliable core base to begin with. The program presented here would help with building that base, which can later be used to build a more complicated movement that could get us closer to your goal. Everything starts at the beginning. Training is a process, there are no shortcuts., and if you’ve heard of any, research them before using them, as they might not be legal or healthy to use.
NOTE IF INJURED do not undertake this program without consulting a professional first (Or contact me if you are not sure). To see real results you should also consult a nutritionist. A nutritionist can develop a program specific to you that would include advice on calorie deficit and surplus etc. according to your goals, and would get you closer achieving your goals in a healthy manner.
Squat
First exercise for us to get started with, is a squat. Squatting is a great way for us to build our leg strength along with our core strength and upper body stability. While performing a squat, I would like to make sure that we maintain a straight back posture, having our shoulder blades together throughout the whole motion.
Our pelvis leads the way, we are imagining a chair that is behind us, and we reach it when initiating the motion. Our knees should be taken into consideration, I do not want your knees to collapse inwards or have a rotation outwards while performing the motion, maintain a straight line throughout the motion.
What if that is too hard? Let’s regress a bit, instead of imagining a chair, let us actually bring a chair and sit on it, maintaining the same highlights of the squat, but having a little rest while we sit. As time goes and it becomes easier for you, we can change the sit, with touch and go, the aim is to feel the chair while we go down, and as soon as it is felt we go up to standing. After mastering the movement, we can proceed to a regular Squat.
What if that is too easy? In case the Squats are not enough for you, and you can perform over 15 without breaking a sweat, we can do one of 2 things, we can either progress to performing a Goblet Squat, holding any type of weight in front of our chest while maintaining a neutral shoulder positioning, shoulder blades kept tight, and perform the Squat with that extra weight. Should you lack weights to work with, we can hold the “sitting” position mid air while Squatting for a period of 3-5 seconds and back to standing position.
Here’s a video showing all the movements, starting Squat, the regression option of Sit & Stand, and the progression options of Goblet Squat and Pause Squat:
Pushup
This is a very common exercise, you can see it everywhere, and is sometimes being overlooked or treated poorly. Yes, you read correctly, an exercise can be treated poorly, it can be performed in a variety of ways, and hand stances, which, by the way, are mostly correct. Sometimes we see a pushup being performed incorrectly. Body posture is very important, as is wrist positioning and elbow movement. If you are not strong enough yet, it is okay to do a half rep pushup. You can build up to a push up and reach full motion once you have mastered the half rep correctly, with good form and body position.
While inspecting a pushup, I would look at the wrist positioning compared to the body, some people place their palms under the shoulder, or under the neck, align your wrist with the chest, right below the shoulder. A pushup is similar to performing a Bench Press or Chest Press at the gym, when inspecting the shoulder movement pattern. Keep your pelvis aligned with the body, not above or below it. Use your core to to do so while ensuring correct movement.
What should I do if it is too hard? We have two ways of engaging the Pushup if we wish to regress the difficulty level. First would be to place your knees on the ground and reduce the body weight that is being used. Secondly, we can place our hands on a higher platform, note that while doing so, the chest needs to align in between the wrists while going downwards, a common mistake I see when looking at this type of Pushup is bringing the head down towards the platform instead of the chest.
What should I do if it is too easy? We can progress in two ways, first would be to remain low for a couple of seconds, like with the Squats, and pause our movement close to the floor for 3-5 seconds. The second approach would be to place our legs on a higher platform, make sure to bring the chest towards the ground and not the head to maintain a correct motion.
Here’s a video showing all the movements, starting Pushup, the regression options of Knee Pushup and Incline Pushup, and the progression options of Pause Pushup and Decline Pushup:
Band Resistance Row
If you do not own a Tera Band, invest in one. If you don’t have one starting off, it’s not an issue, I would demonstrate the motion while using a towel as well. The row exercise is our pulling motion and will work both our target muscle (our back – Latissimus Dorsi) and the stability of the spine.
Legs stance can be either a Squatting position – legs are next to each other, or a Lunging position – one leg back and one leg to the front. Personally would prefer the Squatting stance as it is better for stability, but I might consider using the Lunging stance in some cases. Put the band on a hook, a door knob or have someone else hold it for you, about pelvis line, hold the band with both your hands and pull your arms to the side of your hip bones, keeping your elbows tight and close to the body, and do not drive yourself towards the band or the anchor point.
Too hard for me! The easiest way to regress would be to walk towards the anchor and release some tension for the band, however, should you find the movement puzzling, you can enter prone position (facing down) on a mattress, grab a towel and place your hand above the head on the ground, and pull the towel with both hands towards your chest, keeping your elbows pulled behind, chest stretched, or just engage the motion with no towel to practice the motion.
Too easy for me! Easiest approach to get a harder practice would be to walk away from the anchor to increase band tension, or grab both ends of the band with one hand and have some asymmetrical workout (you can read more on Symmetrical and Asymmetrical training through here). You can also combine the two to have harder on both ends. Should you not have a band, you can try and engage Bent Over Rows using a bag or a weight, however, please proceed with care, as it requires other technique related elements, maintain a straight back posture, keep your pelvic back, bend your knees and pull your weight towards your hip bones.
Here’s a video showing all the movements, starting with Band Resistance Row along with easing or hardening controlled with distance from anchor, the regression options of Prone Towel Row and Prone Row Motion, and the progression options of Single Hand Band Resistance Row and Bent Over Row:
Shoulder Press
Many variations for this exercise, from the Military Press or Over Head Press using Barbells and Dumbbells or even Tera Bands and Pilates Balls, you can also find extended variations such as the Arnold Press. But prior to all these and advancing with weight, first you need to have full control with the Shoulder Press, you can either use Tera Bands (hope you took my advice and bought one or two), or you can use water bottles and Dumbbells.
Starting position for the movement would be when my hands, holding my resistance are aligned with my ears, shoulders are relaxed and chest is stretched out, from there I would push through and create an Isosceles triangle above my head to have both the weight (should I be using those) or hand (if using bands) meet. Throughout the whole way I would keep my shoulders relaxed, and have a controlled motion all the way.
Easing or making the exercise hard, should be done with the resistance you are engaging, you can change the resistance or use a single hand.
Here’s a video showing all the movements, starting with Shoulder Press, I used water bottles for the examples, and how to perform a Single Hand Shoulder Press:
Plank
To wrap up this program, we will be engaging the Plank. Elbows are placed under the shoulder, using out forearms as anchors on the ground, pelvic and shoulder align and create a parallel line with the surface we’re Planking on, legs are straight back and we hold the position. Really important that you breath while doing a Plank, as we would not want to have extra tension build up in your body, as soon as you are exiting the posture described, you should stop for that set, rest and perform again. A Plank should not be engaged in for too long, so I would recommend build up to a minute keeping your body static.
1 second is way too much for me… If you can’t hold the posture, don’t panic, place your kneed under your pelvic, and straighten the arms, keep a staright back and lift one of your hand above the ground for a few seconds, afterwards, place it back and lift the other hand instead for the same amount of time. Place your hand back and move on to lift one knee from the ground and replace it with the other knee. Go around switching anchors as much as you can while maintaining a straight posture.
60 seconds? That’s it? If you find Planking easy, I would ask you to engage a motion of back and forth with your entire body, starting with your toes and pushing through to your shoulders, this should be done slowly and controlled, as soon as you go to fast, the exercise looses it’s intention.
Here’s a video showing all sorts of Planks described, starting with regular Plank, the regression option of Limb Raise from Bird-Dog Stance, and the progression option of Moving Plank:
There are many types of starting programs, the fact that they may differ from this program does not mean they are wrong. All exercises performed can be changed to align with your experience and need, and to help you with achieving your goal. I would personally recommend starting with 15×3 (reps X set) for the first 2 months before starting to change and progress, as I would want your body to learn how to perform this as best as it can. If you feel that 15 is too easy, and you’re already trying the hard version, feel free to add weight, as long as the technique stays the same. The recommended amount is doing once every other day tops! You have to give your body rest, and working out with this program every day won’t give extra benefit, it would probably cause discomfort over time. Feel free to contact me through here for further questions.