DoubleDbol’s BodyBlog

I’m writing this in regard to program design. When designing your personal program or as a personal trainer designing a program for a client there is one thing to keep in mind. No one program is designed to fit everyone. A personal program is just that, a "personal" program. What works for one might not work for another. Learning what might work for you could take time and trial and error. Though a program needs to be designed around a clients specific needs there is one thing that all programs need to consist of. This is the 4 pillars of human movement. Without these being incorporated into your workouts you won’t develop your muscles properly and they will not reach their full potential. These pillars are: 1. Locomotion (walking, running, Walking lunges) 2. Level Change (Squats, stair climbing, step-ups) 3. Push and Pull (Seated Row, Bench Press) 4. Rotation (Wood Chops, Twist with medicine ball) Every aspect of human movement can be placed into one of these catagories. The examples given are just to get an idea. Locomotion is basically just moving. Level Change is basically just movements that allow your center of gravity to be raised or lowered in the vertical direction. Push and Pull is what is definately the most popular one in gyms. Most of the movements that we perform in a gym, especially machine work is a push and pull. Now for rotation, the main reason I wanted to write this is because of this one. This one is the most neglected in a gym, even by personal trainers. Eighty Percent of the muscles in our body are designed for rotation, think about it, how many bodyparts can you rotate? In order for certain muscles to develop properly they need to be rotated under resistance just like push and pull. Now when designing a personal program make sure to include these into your split. And as always if there are any questions don’t hesitate to send me a message. Good luck.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.