QuickStart PROGRAMMING

This will be an extremely simple program for beginners or those returning to working out after a long layoff.  This is to be followed for the first 6 months.

Goals:

• to learn proper exercise technique
• to build the “mind-muscle” connection
• to acclimate the body and mind to an exercise routine
• get used to achieving goals and observing improvements in oneself over time
• to condition connective tissue for increasing work
• to burn fat, build muscle, and increase conditioning
• to build “general physical preparedness”

Principles:

Beginners will work any given muscle group only once per week.  After this initial 6 months, you can increase working the targeted muscle group to 2 or 3 times per week.

Any working set should never be less than 8 reps, and never more than 20 reps.  If you’re not able to do at least 8 reps, it’s too heavy/hard.  If you’re doing more than 20 reps, it’s too light/easy.  You should feel fatigue and exertion in the muscle, however we are not training to failure; you should always feel like you could do at least 1-3 more reps when you finish your set.

You should probably take around 2 minutes rest between sets.  Use your intuition here.  If you’re not recovered, take longer.  If you lose focus, take shorter rests between sets.

For experienced trainees, the idea rep range per workout is around 30 reps to 60 reps per muscle per workout.  However for beginners here, we will generally only do 15 to 40 reps per muscle, per workout, only one workout per week per muscle group.

As you can see in the QuickStart videos above, you can increase or decrease work done by:

• adding more bands to those same anchor points
• adjusting the tension by changing the anchor points of bands to make those same bands stretch farther for the same exercise
• adding more bands to other additional anchor points in addition to the original placed bands
• increasing time under tension (TUT).  This means doing the reps slower, pausing at the bottom, etc.
• increasing reps per set (we’re limiting the total number of sets during this beginner phase)

In regards to focusing on increasing strength vs increasing endurance, keep in mind all resistance training will burn fat and increase muscle size by roughly the same amount.  This means that focusing on strength by going heavy for lower reps per set (8 reps), versus focusing on endurance by going lighter for more reps per set (20 reps), all equals out in regards to burning calories and increasing muscle size, so long as the overall volume (grand total reps) in the workout are equal.   This means you can choose the specific resistance and effort, so long as you stay within the overall parameters (once a week, 8-20 reps per set).

 

The Plan:

• choose a single exercise for (each of) the targeted muscle(s) you wish to improve, from the QuickStart videos above, the QuickStart Poster that came with your package, or from any exercise you see online
• experiment with band anchor points and tensions that feel comfortable (within reason) and to which you feel it in that targeted muscle when performing the exercise
• you will do only 2 total sets
  • first “warmup” set of at least 8 reps but less than 20 reps
  • final “burnout” set of as many reps as you can do, stopping before failure, and still staying below 20 reps
• continue with the same routine and variables for 3 weeks
  • this means you do not increase work or resistance or time-under-tension during any given 3-week-cycle; the only thing that changes is “perceived effort,” meaning the workouts will feel easier over the 3 weeks
• on the 4th week, switch to new exercise(s) for the targeted muscle group(s), and repeat the 3-week-cycle
  • 2 sets, the first “warmup” set between 8-20 reps and higher rep “burnout” set which should still be less than 20 reps
  • all variables stay the same for the 3 weeks, as you increase in strength, it will generally feel easier
  • switch again on the 4th week to new exercises
• if you return to an exercise you’ve done in a previous cycle, this time through you must progress by increasing one of the variables to start that 3-week-cycle:
  • tension (increasing band stretch, adding more bands, etc)
  • time-under-tension (do the reps slower)
  • volume / total reps (do more reps than you did in the previous cycle)

Example:

Targeting the Chest and Glutes:

• You choose Mondays for Chest and Thursdays for Glutes.
• You choose Incline Band Presses for Chest and Glute Bridges for Glutes for the first 3-week-cycle.
• Your goal of total reps for each is between 15 and 40 reps for the workout
• Your goal of reps per set is at least 8 reps and less than 20 reps
• For Chest (Incline Band Presses) you do 12 reps as the “warmup” set, rest for 2 minutes, then do 19 reps as the “burnout” set.  That equals a total of 31 reps.  The Chest workout is done for the week.
• For Glutes (Glute Bridges) you do 8 reps as the “warmup” set (holding each contraction at the top for 6 seconds each), rest for 3 minutes, then do 12 reps as the “burnout” set.  That equals a total of 20 reps.  The Glute workout is done for the week.
• You repeat those two workouts for the following two weeks, finishing the 3-week-cycle.
  • The tension, tempo, and total reps stay the same over the 3 weeks; the only thing that changes is that the workouts get easier
• For the next 3-week-cycle, choose two new exercises for Chest and Glutes.  Do two sets (Warmup and Burnout) for each muscle, for a total of 15-40 reps, once a week.
• If you ever start a new 3-week-cycle and return to exercises you’ve previously done — in this case Incline Band Presses & Glute Bridges — then you increase the work for this new cycle.  This means that you use more bands, increase the band resistance, increase the reps, or increase the TUT for those exercises for the new 3-week-cycle.  Thus you’ve progressed.

This pattern continues for the first 6 months, after which we move to advanced-beginner training.