Program recap
This program should have introduced the importance of progressive overload and consistency. Training isn’t about a wide range of exercises early on. It is about developing a foundation through exercises that develop your major muscle groups effectively, and performing these exercises regularly enough that you begin your next workout after you have recovered (typically 48hours).
You were also introduced to three exercise principles, some of which should be applied to all of the exercises you perform from now on.
Full range of motion (ROM): strength is only developed throughout the range you perform the exercise in (joint-angle specificity)
Controlled negatives/eccentrics: we won’t always control the lowering tempo in intermediate/advanced programs. Performing the exercise is hard enough, let alone counting to 3 or 5 at the same time!
Packed shoulders: develop scapula control (retraction and depression) which should be used prior (or held throughout) all pulling exercises.
Chin-up test
Testing is an important part of programming used to monitor progress objectively. Because we don’t max out in every exercise, and when we do perform exercises using an AMRAP protocol, we may carry some pre-fatigue from exercises performed earlier in the workout that use the same muscle groups.
We want to perform tests without any fatigue, to give us an accurate indicator of our top-level performance. While we do want to perform the absolute maximum number of repetitions, it is on condition that technique is performed strictly. Go to dead hang between reps and make sure your chin goes over the bar, otherwise it doesn’t count!
Start position
End position
Fails.
| Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced | Badass | |
| # of chins | <5 | 6-15 | 15-25 | 25+ |
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