During Part 1 of this series, I talked about how we start the exercise selection party with our intake testing. But, man, once you get the party started you ain’t gonna want it to stop. And to keep the party rolling, you need to know which strength exercises make the most sense for you right now — and then which ones make sense next when the time comes. You’ll need some knowledge and some tools to make those decisions. We have both of those things (that’s why people hire us to do the decision making for them.)
In Part 2, we’ll cover some tools we use to help determine whether or not an exercise fits for a person at a given time and situation. We’ll also look at simple ways to know when it’s time to progress or switch exercises.
Let’s party.
Beyond Form and Fidelity
In Part 1, I discussed our form and fidelity testing. We want to see 2 good sets of 8 reps before a new member progresses into the more complex and intense exercises in each strength progression. I’d like to tell you more about what happens after they pass those standards.
Before we get into that, here’s a quick refresher on our main strength progressions:
Hinge: Handcuff Hinge >> Kettlebell/Dumbbell RDL >> Kettlebell Deadlift >> Barbell RDL >> Rack Pull Deadlift >> Hex Bar Deadlift
Squat: Assisted Body Weight Squat >> Body Weight Squat >> Goblet Squat >> Zercher Squat >> Barbell Front Squat/Safety Bar Squat
Push: Modified Push-up >> Push-up >> Dumbbell Bench Press >> Incline Dumbbell Bench Press >> ½ Kneeling Single Arm Landmine Press >> ½ Kneeling Single Arm Kettlebell Press >> Standing Viking Press >> Standing Double Kettlebell Overhead Press
Horizontal Pull: Inverted Row >> Chest Supported Dumbbell Row >> 3-point Dumbbell Row >> Bent Over Dumbbell Row >> Bent Over Barbell Row
Vertical Pull: Inverted Row >> Inverted Row – Level II Chin-up >> Level I Chin-up >> Level II Chin-up >> Level III Chin-up >> Chin-ups/Pull-ups
Let’s use the squatting progression as an example.
Passing the goblet squat standard earns a person the privilege of moving on to zercher squats. Now, the question is, how long should that person stick with zerchers? At least one training phase, which is a four-week program. After that, it depends. Was the lady or gent consistent enough during those four to improve their squatting strength and skill? Do they enjoy zerchers and want to keep doing them? We want at least one training phase with an exercise so that a person has enough opportunity to gain strength and skill from doing it. All of our strength exercise progressions are set up as bridges to the next step. There’s no sense in moving on if someone hasn’t improved to the degree that it’s necessary. Progressing someone before they’re ready is setting them up for failure.
So, what do we want to see before someone progresses? Their form and skill improvement should demonstrate that they’ve generally improved with that movement pattern. For example, does their zercher performance indicate that they’ve improved enough as a squatter to handle front squats? Also, have they made at least a modest strength gain? If they haven’t gotten stronger, they still have a high ceiling with that movement. It’s best to stick with it until they get closer to that ceiling — at least in the beginning. We’ll talk more about how to know when to switch exercises after you’ve reached the top of the progression ladder in a later section.
To summarize, don’t progress until you’re ready. 🙂
That was a bit of an asshole summary, wasn’t it? Here’s a real one:
Progression through a movement pattern should only happen when someone has demonstrated skill and form gain and they’ve gained strength after consistently training that movement for at least one training phase, aka a four-week training program.
Now that we’re clear on that, we can discuss some more advanced decision making skills, tools, and questions.
We’ll start with a tool that you can apply to any exercise selection situation. That’s right, friend, it’s that good — even if I didn’t want to admit it when I first learned about it.
The Goal – Intent – Skill Exercise Selection Filter
One of my life objectives is to keep Chris Merritt from getting too big of a head. Someone has to keep this guy in check, ya know? So, when he called me about 10 years ago to tell me he came up with a great exercise selection tool to determine whether or not an exercise was a good fit for a person, I was very, well, let’s say non-expressive.
In an excited, I-just-had-a-eureka-moment tone of voice, Chris described the Goal – Intent – Skill filter he thought up.
And I said, in a monotone voice rivaled only by Ben Stein, “Oh. Cool, man.” That kept him in check. Nice try, Chris.
On the inside, however, I was like, “Yes, the silly little bastard’s done it again!” Chris thought up a brilliant tool for determining someone’s readiness for a given exercise. It works like this.
Ask first, what is the goal of the training phase or of the exercise.
Then, ask what is the specific intent that the person must express to achieve that goal.
Then, consider the person’s skill. Do they have the skill to match the intent and reach the goal? Let’s look at an example.
Goal <<>> Intent <<>> Skill
Say the goal is to express power as part of a max strength program. The intent is to express powerful hip extension that translates into stronger deadlifts and squats. We want to use kettlebell swings with a given person to express the intent and meet the goal. So, we have to ask, does this person have the skill to swing effectively enough to be powerful and meet the intent? If the answer is yes, party on. If the answer is no, we have to find an exercise that matches their skill level so that they may meet the intent which allows them to achieve the goal. (Oftentimes we use a loaded jumping variation to meet this goal when someone doesn’t have the kettlebell swing skill to meet the intent.)
You’ll notice that we walked across the filter in each direction to make the decision. What’s the goal? How does the intent of the exercise meet the goal? Does the person have the skill to express the intent? Yes, party on. No, find another exercise that matches the intent to meet the goal.
We used kettlebell swings and powerful hip extension as part of a maximal strength program in this example, but you could apply this to any kind of training goal and with any kind of exercise selection. And when you layer this on top of a solid exercise progression and regression system, you can really dial in exercise selection. I know because we do it all the time.
But how about when someone has reached the end of an exercise progression. How do we know when they should switch exercises? How can they know for themselves?
Onward to the answer.
When to Switch Exercises
Most people don’t need a lot of strength training exercise variety, especially when it comes to main strength movements like squats, deadlifts, presses, and pulls (rows/chin-ups/pull-ups). That’s not what social media influencers want you to know. And maybe it’s not what you want to hear because you think yousa fancy bitch. But the truth is, we need to develop skill with a handful of big strength exercises and train them consistently. The variation comes in how we load them by changing the sets and rep schemes to meet different goals.
If you’re changing exercises all the time you limit your skill development and your exercise proficiency. When you’re learning something new, you have no choice but to drop the intensity of your training. That means you can’t consistently train as hard. And that means you can’t make the progress you should. So, remember that you can’t get bored, and that most of those hard ons on social media don’t know what in the hell they’re doing. They’re just doing flashy shit to grab your attention. Okay, I’m done yelling from my front porch (but I won’t stop shaking my fist!).
Since you’re reading this, I’m your de facto coach. So, I’m going to tell you what to do. There are usually a couple or a few exercises at the tippy top of an exercise progression. Rotate between those exercises, changing every three to six months or after you achieve a goal with a given exercise. This works well for most people and most general training goals. However, if a person is training for specific circumstances, the situation likely requires more attention to be paid to a given movement. Another exception is if a movement compounds to have potentially negative effects over time. Let’s cover each of those scenarios.
We’ll say that you’re an uphill kind of athlete. Maybe you run mountain ultras or you have a long hiking trek you’re prepping for. Squatting, in most respects, benefits you more than deadlifting — especially once you’ve developed a healthy level of relative strength — because it has more carryover to uphill drive and downhill control. So, as you look at which exercises to select and put the most intensity into as you approach a more specific training phase or block, you’ll want to bias more toward squatting than deadlifting. In general training phases, however, deadlifts are likely the right choice to push or maintain your relative strength levels. This is just one specific example. This kind of examination is applied to any specific training scenario.
And what if you choose a movement that could have compounding negative effects if done for too long? Well, you switch before the stress compounds too much, duh. 🙂
We’ll use sumo deadlifts as an example. The extreme hip external rotation can wear on the hip joints, causing tendon, ligament, capsule, and muscle issues if the movement isn’t rotated out at regular intervals. If someone is best suited for sumo deadlfting to move the most weight, it’s best for them to switch to a rack pull or other deadlift movement every 8 to 12 weeks to prevent too much wear and tear on their hips.
Following these loose rules allows you to train at consistent intensity without causing yourself overuse issues so that you can make long-term progress. It’s important to remember that the stronger you get, the slower the progress. Sometimes you just need to stick with a movement for longer than your impatience wants you to.
Now, let’s talk about the exercises that make up the supporting cast — the assistance exercises.
Choosing Assistance Movements
Assistance movements (exercises) are secondary strength exercises that follow main lifts. They are often less intense or less complex versions of the main lift. For example, doing RDLs after doing hex bar deadlifts. Or they are unilateral exercises designed to balance training stress throughout the body and create stability. You choose them to assist whichever goal you’re pursuing.
In most cases, they are used to increase training volume with a given movement pattern to improve skill. That’s the deadlift example from the previous paragraph. They are also used to increase overall training volume to increase muscle mass. And in another general application, they are used to prevent overuse issues by balancing training. Rows are used to balance presses, hamstring dominant movements are used to balance quad dominant movements. You choose based on need (balance, skill improvement, muscle gain) and you run the movements through the goal <<>> intent <<>> skill filter to ensure that it’s a good choice.
Assistance movements are also used to develop specific strength. The uphill example applies here. We use lunge and squat variations to prep for uphill drive and downhill control using rep and set schemes that develop the raw materials to support those actions. In this case, the big movements charge up the engine and the assistance movements tune that puppy up.
Progress at The Right Time, Use the Right Tools to Decide on that Time
Exercise selection is something that takes a lot of time, attention, and experience to master. And it requires the right tools and the right understanding of how to apply those tools to achieve a goal. Progression and regression systems come first, then decision-making filters layer on top. Then you can apply the right exercises in the right context. But if you’re at a loss, the decision-making process simplifies to these two questions: Has my skill improved? Have I gotten stronger?
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