In my previous articles for this Web site, I have covered a good number of exercises. I've also suggested a number of circuits that incorporate those exercises in various ways. This time, I want to show you how to build your own program. To do that, let's look at some important principles and concepts that will help you with your exercise programming.

Train, Don't Drain!

While most people in and out of the exercise profession tend to focus on the muscular aspects of exercise, few recognize or respect the neurological aspects. Frankly, the neurological aspects of exercise are much more important than the muscles themselves, for it is the nervous system that activates and coordinates them.

The significance of the neural basis of exercise is best illustrated by watching incredible feats of power and strength demonstrated by gymnasts or martial artists. Bruce Lee, for example, was amazingly powerful for a man of only about 132 pounds. The secret behind this strength was his well-developed nervous system that could access a greater percentage of its available muscle fibers.

With that in mind, it is extremely important to be aware of the neurological demands of an exercise. For example, if you have tried any of the Big Bang (BB) exercise routines I've shared thus far, or have attempted to make up your own BB workout based on the concepts I've presented elsewhere, you've found how taxing these workouts are. BB exercises are neurologically demanding so it is essential that you don't put more of them in one workout than your nervous system can handle. This fact is crucial.

The high-energy demands of BB exercises mean your chances of training with poor form increase much faster than with conventional bodybuilding or machine-based exercises. So being conscious of the neurological load of an exercise means that you are better able to avoid degeneration of form and therefore to avoid injury as well.

Poor Form Hurts Too

One more reason it is so important to understand the neurological basis of strength is that your body learns to move by performing the exercise. This is particularly the case with neurologically demanding exercises like those in my BB workouts, so it is essential you don't put more BB exercises in one workout than your nervous system can handle. This fact is crucial to implementing your workout.

Exercises that place high energy demands on your nervous system like my those in my BB regimen increase your chances of training with poor form much faster than with conventional bodybuilding or machine-based exercises. This becomes even more important when you understand the nervous system always remembers the most recent traumatic incident you experience. In fact, your nervous system will learn the most from the last repetition and is very likely to forget the previous 10-12.

Failure to end your workout before form deteriorates will result in faulty programming. This is where the saying "training to failure equals training to fail" comes from. By training to the point your form fails, you not only risk injury, but you train your body to remember the improper form.

If you plan on adding my BB exercises, I recommend using one of the following formulas:

• For beginners (less than one year of consistent strength training), I suggest only using one BB exercise at the beginning of a workout.

• Intermediate level lifters (more than a year but less than two years of consistent weight training) may tolerate two BB exercises.

• Those who have three or more years of consistent conditioning may be able to tolerate as many as three BB exercises in one workout.

Always Sequence Exercises in Descending Complexity

This rule is designed to protect you from the unnecessary loss of form. In essence, you should always order your workout in such a way that the most challenging exercises are done highest in the order of execution. This does not mean, however, everyone will have the same ordering of exercises for their workout. What may be a tough exercise for a rower may be an easy exercise for a dancer. One's own motor skills will dictate the best order.

This is another principle that is generally lost on fitness professionals today. Since the late 1950s, there has been a huge influence on resistance training by exercise equipment manufacturers. Their fixed axis machinery lets you get away with murder because the number of muscles being used and the necessity of balancing your own body and the load being lifted is no longer an issue. Thus, the neurological complexity/demand of the exercises is dramatically reduced.

Have a Definitive Training Goal

There is an old saying that goes like this; "a (wo)man with a plan will always do better than a (wo)man without a plan." Or, as business expert Brian Tracy says, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there!" The same thing is true about exercise! Having a goal is not only important as a motivator, it will also help you to shape your workout.

For example, let's suppose your goal is to lose body fat. As I have described in many of my previous articles, exercise is not going to be effective as a fat-loss tool if the energy being used to exercise the body should be diverted inward to both run and heal vital systems such as the hormonal, digestive, eliminative, thermoregulatory, nervous and immune systems, etc.

If you have followed the assessment protocol in my book How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, you will know how much of an exercise stressor your body can handle and can prescribe exercise stressors accordingly. If you are healthy and have a total score of under 150 in my book, you can safely apply the Undulating Intensity Principle.

My clinical experience has demonstrated that some people respond better to high-density (volume) training, while others respond better to high-intensity training. For example, in Building Strength by Pushing the Big Bang Way, I suggested doing as many sets as you can in 15 minutes. This is an example of high-density training.

Frequently, my partner Aaron Wilson and I will get 15 sets in those 15 minutes, which is very high-density training. While this type of training will really jack up most people's metabolism, it may not be intense enough (depending on how heavy the weights are) to stimulate growth and development of fast twitch muscle fibers. For example, my training partner Aaron actually grows and gets stronger on high-density workouts, while I respond more favorably to high-intensity workouts, meaning heavier loads and more sets per exercise with longer rest periods.

Everyone is Different

Keeping this concept in mind, to get the best results burning fat, experiment with the number of high-density workouts relative to high-intensity workouts you perform. For example, I respond best to six high-intensity workouts followed by two or three high-density workouts, while Aaron is about the inverse of that.

An additional caveat for those of you wanting to burn fat is to remember that how your metabolism responds after a workout is very much hormonally driven. Research in strength training now shows that short intense workouts of 30-40 minutes are far more effective at stimulating natural growth hormone and testosterone release than the typical long torturous workouts many people do in the gym today.

Many of my clients are surprised at the results when they stop talking to their friends in the gym, time their rest periods with a stopwatch and get serious!

On the hand, if your goal is to get stronger, your workout should be shaped by different principles. For improved strength, you should not let any set last longer than 60 seconds. For example, if you do a set of squats, from the time you start the set to the time you rack the bar should be no longer than 60 seconds. Going longer will develop endurance, not strength! You will also need to increase the number of sets of the key exercises that make you strong in your pattern(s) of choice.

For example, you can't be strong at everything unless you are a genetic freak. Therefore, if you want to have a big squat, do lots of squatting. If you want a big bench press, you better do lots of bench pressing.

Finally, my clinical observations reflect that most people can only train hard for two to three weeks before the body produces a stress response. The stress response is marked by elevated stress hormone (glucocorticoids) levels. After some experimentation with your body, you will find every third or fourth week should be what I call a "volume week." During these times, the intensity stays the same, but the volume is cut in half as a form of active rest. This can dramatically increase strength gains!

Work Hard, Rest Hard

Many people diligently trying to lose fat or build muscle over-train. The result is excess production of stress hormones, which are catabolic (tissue-destructive). Whenever excessive stress hormones are produced, you are likely to lose as much or more muscles as fat. This is a disaster since muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in the body and is vital to keep your fat-burning metabolism elevated.

Always remember this simple rule: If you can't improve your performance by 1-3 percent each time you come to the gym, you are not rested and should stretch, meditate or get a massage. In other words, do some relaxing instead of training.

When you mix weight training with other methods of exercise, such as aerobic classes, biking, spin bike classes or martial arts, you must again apply the most to least complex rule and prioritize what is most important to you. The body can only handle so much volume. This is especially true with my BB workouts.

For example, if you are a tennis player, I suggest you play on Saturday or Sunday, perform a BB workout either the evening of the day you play tennis or on the next day, and take two days off. This is an example of the work hard/rest hard principle because you couple your stressors and keep your rest days as pure rest. Most people do other forms of exercise on what should be rest days. Then, they can't figure out why they are always tired!

If your favorite activity is leisurely, like hiking, you may be able to tolerate a BB workout on Saturday and then hiking on Sunday, because, even though you may be fatigued from your BB workout, you can customize the duration, intensity and complexity of your hike to suit your unique physical abilities and readiness.

Moreover, when it comes to designing your own program, you need to look at your goal structure and be realistic about your time commitment. The BB routines I've shared here are perfect for a busy executive athlete type who needs to workout and eat at lunch. In this instance, we used just two exercises and went at it for 15 minutes like hungry dogs! Typically, most people can only handle three or four workouts like these during a seven-day period.

If you want to extend a BB workout, you can add a third BB exercise in your sequence. However, it is a good idea to keep your total sets down to 12 when the complexity rises to the level of three BB exercises. Failure to follow this suggestion can easily result in an injury or an over-training response.

Finally, the most important thing to remember when designing your own exercise schedule is that the under-trained athlete will always out-perform the over-trained athlete! When you are out of gas, you are out of gas! It is a lot easier and safer to come to the conclusion that you can handle more than it is to find you've over-trained and are now injured as a result.

Or, worse yet, you've exhausted your adrenal glands and are now chronically sick in the name of fitness! Sadly, I see this almost every day in my practice.

Now that you understand some of the most important basics of how to design your own exercise program, you are ready to have fun achieving your goals. While I've outlined a few key principles of exercise program design here, those of you who want to delve into the next level will be well served to study my correspondence courses entitled, Program Design and Advanced Program Design. For those of you wanting more variety in your training, I suggest a number of programs below.

Have fun!

Some suggested reading/viewing for more Big Bang exercises and programming tips:

1. How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy (Book)
2. The Golf Biomechanic's Manual (Book)
3. Swiss Ball Exercises For Better Abs, Buns and Backs (Video)
4. Swiss Ball Exercises For Athletes (Video Set)
5. Advanced Swiss Ball For Rehabilitation (Video Set)
6. Gym Instructor Series (Video Set)
7. Scientific Core Conditioning (Video Set/Correspondence Course)
8. Scientific Back Training (Video Set/Correspondence Course)
9. Paul Chek's Medicine Ball Workout (Video)
10. Program Design (Video Series/Correspondence Course)
    

Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner and certified Neuromuscular Therapist, is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in Vista, Calif. He is also sought-after consultant to sporting organizations, his services have benefited numerous professional sports teams, athletes and individuals seeking optimal health worldwide.

Paul has produced more than 60 videos, 17 correspondence courses and is the author of several books, audio programs and articles. For more information on Paul's popular "You Are What You Eat" audio/workbook program, or for any of his other health/exercise courses, videos and books, call 800/552-8789, 800/552-8789 (New Zealand or Australia), 44 (0)1273-856-860 (Great Britain) or visit online at the CHEK Institute Web site. Please feel free to request a catalog of CHEK Institute products.

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Building Strength by Pushing the Big Bang Way

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