In part 1 we got collected a bunch of information about what the individual is actually going to be capable of due to lifestyle factors and training history, etc, etc.

Now we need to actually see them lifting.

If your viewing them in person its much better, as some simple cues maybe able to fix most of the issues you see straight away. Now if the person is a beginner as in has no idea how to execute lifts or their form is horrendous and its beyond a few simple cues to fix, then they don’t need a training program….. They need coaching! A program is not a magic manuscript that will magically transform your strength, a program is just a strategic way to manage fatigue from volume and intensity when the person is competent enough to execute the lifts in a very efficient manner.
If its an online client I’m writing a program for, I have them video the top 3-4 weights, not just the top set. This is so I can analyse their form breakdown and determine whether or not this is going to be purely a technical issue or they have some sort of muscular imbalance/weakness, and not just the main lifts, I like to see some footage of a few basic aux lifts as well, the execution of these can give a good indicator of why there may be muscular imbalances.

Also you can get an idea of what type of athlete the person is, if they are under-doing – will stop their max/max rep sets short, and you can clearly see by the bar speed and lack of strain how much more weight/reps were left. Over-doing they will be too emotionally invested in the lift or they will strain their fucking balls out with 26 seconds of pant shitting strain and the form breakdown will be at an all time high. Or they will get it spot on, a small amount of form breakdown, slowing in bar speed but still able to drive it through to the end and finish the lift.

For example – if they have triple ply knee & elbow sleeves, 4 pairs of wrist wraps, 7 belts on to hit their top set of squats and their pre-lift routine is get punched in the face by 9 dudes after having watched some 8mm snuff film and drinking a litre of ammonia, then they are way emotionally invested in attempting a training lift..

Identifying the type of person and how they lift is going to determine how you manipulate the intensity. If the athlete is an over-doer and just did 26 seconds of ass splitting strain or ridiculously high emotional state and you use that number as his/hers 100% to base the programme percentages off, when in reality they were probably @110% then the accumulative fatigue at the end or mid training cycle will be extremely high and basically negate any supercompensation.

As for the under doer his/her percentages would need to come up a little as under training will also negate supercompensation. As for the seasoned athlete the numbers would be sufficient. So there could be 3 totally different outcomes from the one program just by not addressing how legit the testing weights are.

Identifying if it’s a technical issue or a muscular weakness will determine the exercise selection and or frequency of certain movements.

Technical – then more volume and frequency will need to be done on the lift or lifts that are suffering, this gives the athlete plenty of opportunities to correct the problem.

Muscular imbalance – then there may be a greater focus on lift variations i.e. pauses, different bars, stances/grips, chains/bands/boxes/boards, etc. or maybe a greater proportion of energy devoted to more volume/frequency on given bodybuilding/isolation movements to remedy the weakness.

Stay tuned for part 3…..