2 Key Strategies for Creating Effective Strength and Conditioning Programs

Written on June 14, 2011 at 8:38 am, by Eric Cressey

One of the questions I’m asked the most frequently is “How did you learn how to write strength and conditioning programs?”

Unfortunately, while it’s a tremendously common question posed to me, I haven’t yet determined a quick and easy response that would work for everyone.  While this may make it seem like I haven’t learned anything in this regard, the truth is that I get more and more effective and efficient with creating programs every single day.  What’s my secret?  Well, I actually have two of them.

1. I NEVER reinvent the wheel.

Our philosophies are constantly evolving, and I’m always working to integrate new concepts into our programming to improve outcomes for our clients.  These ideas may come from things I’ve read, seminars I’ve attended, other programs I’ve observed, or – most importantly – feedback our athletes have given us.  I absolutely, positively, NEVER overhaul a program, though.  Why?

If you change everything, you learn nothing – because you can never appreciate what modification it was that worked (or didn’t work).

2. I build on previous successes, rather than starting from scratch with every new client.

I absolutely loved the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath.  I read this book back in early 2007, and I still refer back to it all the time.

One of the key points that the Heaths make in this book is that an idea will always be more readily accepted if it is incorporated into an individual’s existing schema.  As an example, if I give you the letters TICDGFASOH and then ask you to list all the letters I included to me 20 minutes later without writing them down, most of you won’t be able to accomplish the task correctly.

However, if I reordered those letters as CATDOGFISH, you’d accomplish the task easily.  You know the words DOG, CAT, and FISH – so it would fit into your existing schema.  This applies to strength and conditioning programs, too.

When I attend a seminar, whenever a new technique is introduced, I try to immediately apply it in my notes and in my brain to an existing client of mine.  How can that subtle modification make this individual’s program better?

And, when I evaluate a client for the first time, I ask myself how this client is similar to a previous client of mine.  I’ll look back to that old client’s program to see what we used to get results – and then I’ll tinker accordingly based in the new client’s more specific individual needs.  I absolutely NEVER open up a blank Microsoft Excel template and write something from scratch, as it’s always easiest to tinker with what’s worked in the past.

What does this mean for the up-and-coming strength and conditioning program author?

Get out to as many seminars as possible.  Visit other coaches and observe their programs.  Read books and watch DVDs to learn about how others incorporate different strategies and strength exercises in their weight training programs.  Your goal is to expand your existing schema as much as possible and – in the beginning – create the strength and conditioning programs that will end up becoming the foundation for all future programs.  After the first few months, you are simply “tinkering,” not overhauling.  Never reinvent the wheel, and always build on previous successes.

Want to see how a comprehensive program is set up? Check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

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Stuff You Should Read: 3/2/10

Written on March 2, 2010 at 10:13 am, by Eric Cressey

Here are a few recommendations for this week:

East Coast Muscle – Recently, Men’s Health Fitness Editor Adam Bornstein traveled all along the East Coast to check out several training facilities – one of which was Cressey Performance.  This blog post details his experiences and features a picture of one dead sexy guy named Cressey lifting heavy stuff.

Five Resistance Training Myths in the Running World – This is one of my most popular articles of all-time, and with the number of crazy endurance folks getting ready for the Boston Marathon in 10-degree weather, it seemed like a fitting time to bring this piece to the forefront once again.

Made to Stick – Someone mentioned this in conversation the other day, and it reminded me that it was one of my favorite books of the past five years.  It’s a great read – whether you’re a teacher, trainer, parent, or any of a number of other things!

Made To Stick

Written on January 8, 2008 at 7:20 pm, by Eric Cressey

UK Trip Follow-up

I’m back in the US after a great trip to the UK.  A huge thanks go out to Dave Fleming and Nick Grantham for all their hard work in organizing the weekend event in Birmingham and to playing such great hosts to me over the course of my visit.  Likewise, I want to extend my thanks to Scott White and Daniele Selmi for pulling together an outstanding seminar in Oxford, showing me around town, and all the hospitality.  And, above all, I want to thank everyone who came out to the seminars.  I really appreciate your continued support and hope that you enjoyed the seminar as much as I enjoyed interacting with you. I look forward to visiting again soon!

Keep an eye out for some pictures and more thoughts on the trip as soon as I’m caught up on work and sleep.

All Kinds of Writing

It’s been a wild week in terms of publications for me.  You can check out an article I had published locally (Required Reading for Parents of Young Athletes), nationally (Men’s Fitness May Issue – on newsstands April 1), and on the internet (Seven Simple Analogies).  Next week, I’ll be publishing in different solar systems, and in early May, I’ll be going back in time to chisel an article into the wall of a cave in Ancient Egypt…

A Great Read

One of the few perks of long flights is that they give you a chance to get a ton of reading done.  On this trip, I read Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath.  My good friend Joel Marion recommended the book to me, and he was right on the money; there is a tremendous amount of useful information in there for people in a wide variety of professions.  It doesn’t have anything to do with fitness, but who cares?  You’ll never get dumber from reading a great book full of excellent insights.  Check it out:  Made to Stick.

It’s hard to believe that we made it to 50 newsletters, huh?  There are plenty more to come, so stay tuned!

All the Best,

EC