Is My Workout Program Good?
Q: Is my workout program good? Can you review it for me? That’s right, I didn’t value your knowledge enough to hire you to make a program for me but I somehow value it enough to ask you to go over EVERY SINGLE THING in the one that I paid another trainer for. So yeah, what’s your opinion on this possible dumb shit that they have me doing? Please see the attached file.
A: You’re forgetting something. See, in addition to suddenly trusting my expertise to determine the merits of your workout program when you didn’t trust my expertise to create a program for you, you also want me to review part, if not all, of it for completely free. Yeah, don’t forget that either!
Well, here’s the thing about that…
Instead of purchasing a workout program from me as a standalone service or as part of my personal training and online coaching offerings, you bought one from somebody else. That transaction makes you their client. Generally, when it comes to the clients of other trainers asking me shit about an exercise or nutrition matter that concerns what they were instructed to do, I mind my business and don’t offer free advice in evaluation of what the person they’ve paid is having them do. I know, I don’t exactly come across as a professional but it’s a professional courtesy!
Anyone who pays for a service from another trainer and wants my analysis and critique of it to determine if they were smart or stupid with their money won’t be given that assistance. The only time that’s not how things go is when a review is procured as a service, which is provided by me under the area of consultation. In that event where money is exchanged for me to give my opinion about a trainer’s guidance, then the transaction makes the payor my client and I’m obligated to do my job to provide the information they’re paying me for.
Basically, I won’t second-guess another trainer unless it’s something I’m getting paid to do. As for any other type of review that’s specific to a situation but doesn’t call into question the instruction of a trainer, then payment can secure an assessment beyond the relaying of generic advice that would otherwise be given for free for more general things. This is all to say that if you want me to actually look at your workout program in its entirety to see if it’s good or not, then you’re going to have to set up a consultation, buddy! That being the case that my bank account isn’t a few dollars richer from you hitting my Cash App or Venmo, what you’ll get here is said generic advice in the form of questions you should ask yourself in evaluation of the quality of any workout program, whether it be one that’s paid for, found for free online, or a creation of yours.
QUESTIONS1Not all of the questions will apply but the more “yeses” there are to those that do, the better structured the program is.:
• Do you have access to all of the equipment required to perform each exercise?
• Do the exercises account for any physical limitations you may have?
• As a whole, are the exercises aligned with your overall goal of improving your performance or appearance?
• Individually, are the exercises aligned with your goal of improving your strength, endurance, or stamina on a certain activity or muscle size in a specific area?
• Depending on your goal, is there a balance of exercises for the front and back of the body?
• Depending on your goal, is there a balance of exercises for the upper and lower half of the body?
• Depending on your goal, are there more compound movements than isolation exercises?
• Depending on your goal, are there more isolation movements than compound exercises?
• Depending on your goal, is there a balance of bilateral and single-armed or single-legged exercises?
• Depending on your goal, do the exercises involve more free weights than cables, machines, and body weight?
• Depending on your goal, do the exercises involve more cables than machines, free weights, and body weight?
• Depending on your goal, do the exercises involve more machines than cables, free weights, and body weight?
• Depending on your goal, do the exercises involve more body weight than cables, machines, and free weights?
• Are target muscles worked from multiple angles?
• Are the exercises in the appropriate rep range for your goal?
• Do the exercises remain constant from week to week?
• Are there changes to the load, sets, reps, or length of rest periods to increase the difficulty of exercises?
• Are there scheduled rest days, active recovery days, or deloads?
Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?
Glossary: exercise, exercise equipment, fitness, goal,muscle, nutrition, personal trainer, program, rest day, workout
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