Program Design #9: Convenience / Making Adjustments

Training does not have to be as complicated as the picture above, but you will have likely have to make to adjustments at times.

Has this ever happened to you:

You walk into the gym with your plan in hand. You are first going to do “X” followed by “Y” then “Z”. Supersets are planned carefully. You proceed to your first planned exercise and lo and behold, there’s someone there. And not just any someone, it’s that girl who posts to Instagram during her workout and never takes less than 20 minutes on a machine!

Ugh.

No worries, you head to your second planned exercise and now its that guy who hits on you every time you are at the gym.

What do you do?

Use the previously outlined program design principles (see related articles below) to make substitutions.

For example, you may have planned to bench press. But maybe all of the bench presses are being used. Thinking about the principles from the Program Design Series, bench press is a compound movement usually done with heavier weight for 5 to 8 reps and it is in the horizontal plane. Substituting for pectoral flys for sets of 15 would not be your first choice.

Why is that? Because pectoral flys are an isolation movement and the rep range is completely different. Nor would dumbbell shoulder raises be the best substitution because they are more a shoulder movement performed in the vertical plane. Machine Chest Press could work, as could Dumbbell Flat Bench Press. However, don’t write off the pectoral flys, because sometimes the gym is CRAZY busy. In those scenarios, just do what you can. Some exercise is always better than NO exercise.

One more example, you planned to do squats. But there is no rack available. Two good substitutions would be leg press or goblet squats. These are both compound leg movements with an emphasis on the quadriceps. (And a good thing about goblet squats is that you can ALWAYS do them since all they require is a dumbbell.) High rep back extensions would not be your first choice to replace the squats because these are a single joint exercise primarily targeting the glutes and hamstrings. But again, some exercise is better than none, so do what you can.

What if you are crunched for time?

Let’s say you had planned to 4 sets of 3 different leg exercises for example. But you have an obligation that limits your workout time available. Do you just give up and skip your workout? Nonsense. You can still get in an effective workout. If you want the variety, then consider still doing all 3 exercises but only performing 2 sets, thus cutting your workout in half. What if you really need the practice on a certain exercise? Then focus on that particular exercise and skip the other two. You muscles still receive a stimulus and you get the practice you need, all while saving time.

Another scenario; let’s say your workout called for Barbell Squats, Leg Curls and Leg Extensions. However, you are a bit under the weather. Not sick enough to skip the workout, but you definitely don’t want to be in the gym too long. Barbell Squats and Leg Extensions both hit the quadriceps pretty good, but barbell squats have a bit more “bang for your buck” since they also are working your core and glutes. So let’s eliminate the leg extensions.

However, you’d still like to save even more time, so let’s substitute Goblet Squats for the Barbell Squats. Then we carry the dumbbell over to the Leg Curl machine and perform a superset. Suddenly, a long daunting workout just became 1 superset of Goblet Squats and Leg Curls.

I hope that was helpful. Contact me with questions if you need help making adjustments to your situation!