Program Design For Beginners, Part 1: Exercise Selection.

How to create your own exercise program.

I have been asked countless times during my fitness career, “Hey Nolan, what’s a good exercise for X?”

I’ll usually give 2 or 3 good enough options for them, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I am in fact holding back when asked a question like that. As a fitness nerd, I always wished to go into the details and nuance behind exercise selection.

I don’t want to give decent exercise recommendations. I want to give fantastic exercise recommendations.

This is part 1 of a 4 part series to help you create your own exercise program. I want you to be confident that you have a plan that works, and that starts with the right exercise choices.

Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Part 1: Exercise selection (this article)

• Part 2: Sets, reps, duration, and intensity

• Part 3: Building a workout

• Part 4: Creating a full exercise plan

Despite what some might say, there is no single best exercise without context. A LOT of context. This article will help you put the thousands of possible exercise choices through a few filters to give you the best options that are relevant to your goals.

When choosing an exercise for myself or someone else, here’s what goes through my head:

1. Specificity. Does the exercise actually work on the muscle groups you want to work on?

2. Skill level. Do you have the skill to actually perform the exercise to the degree required to see a benefit?

3. Logistics. Is the exercise simple and easy enough for you to start performing?

4. Redundancy and fatigue. Do you really need the exercise if its purpose is fulfilled elsewhere? Are some of those muscle groups already fatigued?

5. Personal preference. Does the exercise pass the vibe check? Does it click and make sense for you?

At the end of the article, I’ll demonstrate an example by considering the goals of an exerciser (myself), running it through these filters, and it spitting out a list of good exercises.

For this article, I will be sticking to resistance training. While cardio will be considered in parts 2 through 4, there isn’t as much context required behind whether you are running, cycling, rowing, or stair master-ing unless you are training for a race.

The cardio magic is more in the intensity, work-to-rest ratios, duration, and weekly scheduling rather than what modality you choose.

Filter #1: Specificity

Specificity is another way of asking yourself if something is relevant to the goal. When it comes to exercise selection, this is mostly referring to whether the exercise is targeting the muscles and joints that you want it to.

If you want to strengthen your mid-back muscles, you need to know which exercises target your mid back. If you want strong quads, you need to know which exercises target the quads. The goal of hip mobility requires exercises that can put the hip through a large range of motion. You get the point.

You don’t need to have a biomechanics degree to do this either!!!

Here are the 2 options I recommend if you don’t know where to start:

1. Learn which muscle groups are used during foundational movements.

2. Know how to prompt AI correctly to get good answers.

It’s likely in your best interest to use both.

Option 1: Understanding foundational movements and the muscles used:

• Pressing movements

  • Pecs (chest), deltoids (shoulders), and triceps

  • Examples: Bench press, push up, overhead press

• Pulling movements

  • Lats, trapezius (in between and on top of your shoulder blades), biceps, and rear deltoids

  • Examples: Pull ups, rows, lat pull down

• Squat movements

  • Quads, glutes, adductors, and sometimes lower back

  • Examples: Squats, lunges, leg press

• Hinge movements

  • Hamstrings, glutes, lower back

  • Examples: Deadlifts, glute bridge, roman chair extension

• Core movements

  • Trains your abs and lower back

There are too many details to core training to put into 2 bullet points, so here’s an entire article on training your core! 😊

What is your core and how do you train it?

There are also some niche movements and isolation exercises that will target specific muscles, but understanding what muscles groups are used during some basic movements can get you very far in exercise selection.

In summary, option 1 is to learn. Learn basic anatomy and biomechanics. As the saying goes, give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.

But for the times when you just want someone to give you the damn fish…

Option 2: Knowing how to prompt AI for good answers.

The answers you get from AI are only as good as the questions you give it.

Go into ChatGPT and type “Can you give me some good back exercises?”

When I typed it in, I got a list of back exercises from different categories including large compound lifts, vertical pulling, horizontal pulling, and some accessory exercises, as well as the instructions to pick one from each category.

Cool! But we’re not done yet…

If you are new to lifting or limited on time, that might be a bit much.

Follow it up with something like this… “I have 40 minutes to fit in a full body workout. Which back exercises should I choose?”

You should now have a few good options, but remember that those are not the only options, and those exercises will have many alternatives that might be an even better choice for you.

This is a good start, but for obvious reasons, it’s missing that personal touch ✨

Filter #2: Skill level

Consider the skill level required for an exercise and whether that matters for your goals. For example, if I wanted to develop more power, I would choose to do some explosive jumps rather than a clean and jerk with a barbell. I have very little experience with clean and jerks and would not be able to perform them well enough. My force production would be severely limited by my lack of coordination and mobility required for such a lift.

Here’s another example… Think of a 65-year-old man or woman that is somewhat new to resistance training. They wish to improve their lower body strength. Here are 2 of many options:

1. Leg press

2. Walking lunges

One of those is in a machine that is highly adjustable. Not only can the weight be extremely light if necessary, but most leg press machines have adjustable seats so you can change the range of motion.

The other has a minimum load of whatever your bodyweight is and requires a decent amount of balance.

While a walking lunge might be something to work towards for this person, I would personally recommend they build their strength from the leg press instead. At their current skill level, the lunges would be better off as a balance exercise.

Consider your skill level during exercise selection. What kind of coordination, mobility, balance, and execution does the exercise require? Will that limit you to a degree in which you can’t perform the exercise to an appropriate level?

Filter #3: Logistics

Many people don’t consider the logistics of an exercise.

How hard is it to set up? Is the space required practical or available? Is the equipment accessible?

Barrier #1: Exercise setup.

One of the best examples of this is the barbell hip thrust, especially for stronger individuals. This is a GREAT glute exercise, but the setup can be a massive pain in the ass.

It’s not uncommon for people to be able to do a barbell hip thrust with 300-400 pounds. Hauling the barbell, plates, and bench to a specific area, and then finding the padding so the barbell doesn’t bruise your pelvis… yeah, no thanks.

I know people who LOVE this exercise and are very willing go through the extra work of setting it up and dealing with the pressure on the hips from the barbell. Others, not so much.

Barrier #2: Equipment availability

Some exercises require equipment that is difficult or impossible to get access to.

If you are busy and have to exercise at home most of the time, you may find it difficult to give yourself a challenge during specific exercises if you only have resistance bands and dumbbells that go up to 20 pounds.

The gym you go to may not have enough of some popular equipment. Every time you go to use it, it’s not available.

I personally use reverse lunges and pull ups as a staple in my exercise program, partially due to the reason that I can find the equipment for those exercises at nearly any gym.

All of this comes down to weighing the pros and cons of the difficulties and inconveniences you face before and after the exercise.

Filter #4: Redundancy and fatigue

Exercises that have different purposes can still have a lot of overlap, especially as you get fitter and need to increase the weight used.

For example, let’s say you want to do a pushing exercise and an ab exercise. We can take two example supersets and use filter #4 to determine the better option.

Option 1: Push ups and a plank. Push ups use the abs as a supporting muscle, and planks use the deltoids (shoulders) as a supporting muscle. These exercises have a good amount of overlap, so you might find that doing these in close proximity can decrease the quality of each exercise.

Option 2: Bench press and a weighted crunch. These exercises have significantly less overlap. You can let nearly all muscle groups from one exercise rest while you do the other exercise, ensuring you are more fresh by the time you go back to each exercise for the next set.

I would personally choose option 2.

Let’s look at another example. You want to target your glutes and hamstrings in one exercise and your lats and traps in another.

Option 1: Pull ups and a roman chair extension. These exercises have very little overlap and you likely won’t find any muscle groups that are heavily worked during both of the exercises.

*A roman chair extension is the exercise where your legs are locked in the pad and you lift your torso. Search the exercise if you don’t know this one.

Option 2: Pull ups and a Romanian deadlift. While you might intend to target seemingly different muscle groups, both the Romanian deadlift and a pull up require a lot of work from the lats and forearms for grip strength.

In this case, I would choose option 1.

You won’t always have things optimized for minimizing muscle group overlap, and that’s okay. It’s just 1 consideration that you should be thinking about during exercise selection. In my experience, upper traps, lower back, and grip strength related muscles seem to be the most common muscle groups that need to be considered for filter #4.

Filter #5: Personal preference

AKA “vibes”.

Some exercises just click with some people and feel awful for others. I don’t know why and how this happens, and I don’t need to. All I need to do is ask people “How did that feel for you? What did you feel?”

Those are the questions you need to ask yourself when performing an exercise.

Which exercise feels how you think it should feel?

Do you think it’s cool?

Can you envision it being fun and rewarding to be really good at that exercise?

Is it one of the few options that stops your knee from making that clicking sound that kinda hurts on all the other leg exercises?

Passing the vibe check is the perfect way to sum up filter #5.

Putting it all together!

Let’s run this through the 5 filters using my own exercise selection. One of my goals is to build lower body quad and glute strength. Partially because I think it’s cool, and partially because it supports my running and jumping performance.

Starting with hundreds and maybe thousands of options, let’s run this through the filters.

Filter #1: Specificity

Which exercises are specific to this? Well, a lot. Any squat, lunge, or lower body movement where the legs and hips extend simultaneously. In my case, this filter doesn’t do much to narrow it down.

Filter #2: Skill level

I’m a very experienced exerciser, but I still struggle with things like front squats, overhead squats, and pistol squats. The mobility and/or balance required prevents me from really pushing my legs the way I need to.

Still, plenty of options left.

Filter #3: Logistics

Here is where I can cross a LOT of things off. I am usually lifting in a garage gym or a small gym I work at. In either case, machines are very limited. Free weights will be the likely option.

Getting closer to finding my perfect exercise selection!!!

Filter #4: Redundancy and fatigue

Relative to the rest of my body, I don’t have very strong forearms or upper traps. They tend to fatigue quickly when holding heavy weights for too long, so holding dumbbells or kettlebells by my side should be avoided so my arms don’t give out before my legs do, because the goal of the exercise is to target my legs!

Also, pull ups are a large part of my program, so my arms and back are already doing work and getting tired.

Filter #5: Personal preference and vibe check

Out of the options I can think of, barbell reverse lunges and barbell Bulgarian split squats are frequently my go-to lower body strength exercises.

Barbell back squats can be a good option too, but they tend to put too much strain on my hips and back. I have a short torso relative to my leg length, so the movement ends up being performed with an aggressive forward lean.

Also, I like being different. So many people try to get as strong as they can in a squat. Not many people try to push the envelope in a reverse lunge or Bulgarian split squat.

And I think that’s cool!

Summary

This might seem like a lot, but much of this is intuitive. Perhaps you are already using filters #1 and #3, but should start thinking about the others.

You’ll need to use trial and error, too. On paper, you might come up with what seems like a fantastic exercise selection. Then, you go to try it and it’s just not working. And that is okay!

There are SO many exercises to try, and you should experiment with them. There is no feeling like trying a brand new exercise, or making a small tweak to a current one, and thinking, “Oh, I FEEL that one.”

I hope this article helped you. Stay tuned for part 2, and leave a comment or send me a message if anything stuck out!

- Coach Nolan