The Perfect Program

As an exercise science major, a majority of my classes were focused on program design and exercise selection.

How could you maximize perform outcomes by controlling the variables you could control. I loved it.

We learned about what exercises paired with each and other and which pairings to avoid, how to order exercises, proper rest period timing and building macro and microcycles. Using that knowledge and a little bit of creativity, you can create a training program. It was really clear to me; if you weren’t strictly following a perfectly designed training program, you were just wasting time in the gym.

At the time I was playing hockey and I trained to get better on the ice. One summer, I became obsessed with having the perfect program, it killed all of my progress.

If I missed a day or two, I would throw away a whole week to start fresh on Monday. Eventually, this led to program hopping - I’m not making progress on this plan, I’ll create a new one! And the cycle would start over. Eventually I stopped trying at all.

Of course, it wasn’t the plan’s fault. It was my inability to stick with it. Or rather, my inability to get back on the horse. To just keep going with pretty good rather than thinking I needed perfection.

That summer was crazy. I was working full time as an ice truck driver, taking a college class, interning at a gym and training for the upcoming hockey season.

Trying to be perfect halted any progress I could have made. Instead of starting the program over and over again, I should have just kept going, even with some missed days. Sure, the plan wouldn’t be perfect or ideal, but the benefits of doing something far outweigh what you get with nothing.

Justin Miner