"Can you help me with a good program for...?"
"Is ABC a good program...?"
Ring-a-bell? They do to me. I get asked them almost everyday. Feeling cheeky I could reply, "Possibly", "Sure", and "Maybe", respectively. Those who know me recognise my wry grin.
They're interesting questions for two reasons. Firstly, no-one really wants a 'bad' or 'mediocre' program, do they? They want a "good" program. Secondly, what is a program?
What a program is depends upon your perspective, experience and, importantly, your expectations.
To some a program is having a weekly routine; to others, its a chapter or page from a magazine, a journal, a blog, a website or a book; to some, it's a series of sessions repeated on a weekly (or thereabouts) basis; to many, it's a series of sessions that require them to go further, or faster, or run hills etc; some even consider it getting a tweet or email or SMS from their coach that outlines the daily session/s to complete; a few would consider it going out and training according to how they feel.
None of these 'definitions' or 'types' of programs are necessarily right or wrong. It depends upon how you look at them, and what you were expecting. It depends upon your context, and how you go about framing your view of a program. (I return to 'context' and 'framing' another day).
To me a program has a number of fundamental or basic elements.
Firstly, a program is a journey. This journey is all of planned, reflective (is revised over time), reactive (or flexible, catering for 'stuff that happens'), respectful (individualised or customised), and robust (includes a range of elements).
A program is not a routine or schedule to be blindly followed or adhered to...it is a living, ongoing entity.
Secondly, like a journey your program has three parts: (1) a destination - your finish point, where you want to end-up, your aim or ultimate outcome; (2) it takes stock of your current position - where you're at, what your'e currently doing, and what you think you need to do; and, (3) it also considers your past - where you've been, what you've done, what worked and what didn't, and what you've learnt.
A program is not a schedule of sessions that you're given, or have been taken from a source, that aren't adapted to you and your context.
Thirdly, a program must be planned. This planning gives you direction. It respects where you've been, has considered where you're at, and points you in the direction of your destination. It provides guidelines. It highlights complementary elements to assist you in 'staying on track'. It highlights progressions and milestones in a descriptive and, sometimes, quantitative sense.
Each of these are based upon the demands of your event, and your capacity to progress to meeting these demands.
A program is not a serious of random sessions; it is not a routine of sessions completed a little further and/or faster each week; it is not a compilation of daily or weekly emails or posts or tweets or SMSs.
Finally, a program is based upon fundamental principles of training: individuality, specificity, adherence, progression, overload, recovery, variety - all based upon science, knowledge and 'known stuff', yet applied, combined, mixed, brewed or created with the deft wisdom of an artist.
Programs come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with various degrees of professionalism, effectiveness, and price-tag$.
An "effective" program for you, ultimately, is based around you and your progress toward the goal/s you wish to achieve. Where you start, how you get there, and how you manage the road-blocks, detours, road-works and accidents along the way - the journey - is the special aspect of your program. It is the "good" in a good program.
A program is your journey.
How does your current program stack up?
Alarm bells?
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