Why Do You Need a Training Plan?

Why are you going to the gym?

Why those exercises?

Why that many sets and reps?

Why are you resting for two minutes?

Why haven't you included that exercise everyone on Instagram says you absolutely must do?

Why are you lifting weights?

Why are you doing cardio?

Then there's nutrition.

Why are you eating that?

How does it help your goal?

Do you need more protein?

Should you be eating fewer calories?

What happens when work gets busy and you only have 30 minutes to train?

Head = explode.

Training can become unnecessarily complicated very quickly.

A good plan helps simplify it.

What Is a Training Plan?

A training plan is simply a structured approach designed to move you from where you are now towards something you want to achieve.

That might be:

Getting stronger.

Building muscle.

Losing body fat.

Improving fitness.

Getting your first pull-up.

Preparing for an event.

Or simply:

Training consistently and feeling better.

Once we know the destination, we can start making decisions about how we're going to get there.

A Plan Gives Your Training Context

A single workout can be great.

You can sweat, work hard, lift some heavy things and leave feeling fantastic.

But a good programme asks a slightly different question:

What is this session supposed to contribute?

Perhaps we're progressively increasing your squat strength.

Maybe we're building enough pulling strength for your first pull-up.

Maybe today is deliberately easier because you trained hard two days ago.

Maybe we're repeating exactly the same exercise you did last week because getting better at something generally requires doing it more than once.

A plan connects individual workouts together.

Instead of every session being an isolated event, each one becomes part of a bigger process.

Your Exercises Should Have a Reason for Being There

This doesn't mean every exercise needs a seventeen-page scientific justification.

Sometimes we do an exercise because:

It's appropriate for your goal.

You're good at it.

You're currently bad at it and want to improve.

It allows us to train something effectively.

It fits the equipment available.

You enjoy it.

That last one matters more than people sometimes admit.

If two exercises can accomplish broadly similar things and you absolutely hate one of them, there's often no medal for choosing the miserable option.

A programme needs to work physiologically.

It also needs to be something you'll actually do.

Sets, Reps and Rest Aren't Random Either

Why 5 repetitions instead of 15?

Why three sets instead of eight?

Why rest three minutes instead of thirty seconds?

Because changing those variables changes the training stimulus.

The appropriate number of sets, repetitions, load and rest depends on what we're trying to accomplish, your training experience and what else you're doing.

There isn't one universally correct combination.

The programme provides the context.

A set of five heavy squats and twenty light squats are both squats.

They're not necessarily trying to achieve exactly the same thing.

You Don't Need Every “Essential” Exercise

There are very few exercises that everybody absolutely has to do.

I love deadlifts.

I love carries.

I spend a frankly unreasonable amount of time picking up stones.

That doesn't mean everybody I coach needs to train exactly like me.

My training isn't your training.

Exercise selection should reflect the person doing the programme.

Their goals.

Their experience.

Their preferences.

Their injury history.

Their available time.

Their equipment.

And sometimes simply what they're going to enjoy enough to keep doing.

The objective isn't to assemble a collection of exercises the internet has declared essential.

It's to build a programme that works for you.

A Plan Allows Us to Measure Progress

This is one of the biggest advantages of structured training.

If we know what you did previously, we can decide what happens next.

Perhaps you:

Add some weight.

Complete another repetition.

Perform another set.

Improve your technique.

Increase the range of motion.

Complete the same work in less time.

Or simply perform something that previously felt difficult with considerably more confidence.

Without some degree of structure and record keeping, it's much harder to know whether you're actually progressing.

A Plan Can Change

A programme isn't a contract signed in blood.

It's our best current idea of how we're going to achieve your goal.

Then reality gets involved.

Work becomes busy.

You sleep badly.

Something hurts.

You suddenly have more time available.

You discover that you absolutely hate an exercise.

Or you progress much faster than expected.

So we adjust.

Changing the plan when you have useful new information isn't failing the plan. It's part of good planning.

What About Nutrition?

The same principle applies.

One meal doesn't determine your health or body composition.

It's what you do consistently over time that matters.

If your goal is fat loss, we need an approach that helps create an appropriate calorie deficit while still providing sufficient nutrition and protein.

If you're trying to gain muscle, your nutritional requirements may look different.

If your main objective is simply improving your diet, we might begin with something much simpler:

More fruit and vegetables.

Enough protein.

More fibre.

Better hydration.

Meals that actually fit around your working day.

Again:

Context matters.

Your Plan Has to Fit Your Life

This is where theoretically perfect programmes often fall apart.

There's no point giving somebody a six-day training programme when they can realistically train three times per week.

There's no point creating an elaborate meal-preparation routine for somebody who travels constantly and rarely has access to a kitchen.

Your plan has to survive contact with your actual life.

That's why one of the first things I want to know when coaching somebody isn't just:

“What do you want to achieve?”

It's also:

“What can you realistically do?”

We can build from there.

Do You Need to Understand Everything in Your Programme?

No.

Some people love knowing exactly why they're performing every exercise.

They want to know the biomechanics, the progression, the rep ranges and what we're doing three months from now.

Other people would rather I tell them:

“Pick this up and carry it over there.”

Both are completely fine.

Part of having a coach is being able to hand over some of that decision-making and concentrate on execution.

But you should never feel confused about what you're being asked to do.

If you don't understand something in your programme:

Ask.

I'd much rather explain why something is there than have somebody spend six weeks wondering what on earth we're doing.

The Plan Is Only Useful If You Follow It

This is ultimately the important part.

You can have an extraordinarily sophisticated programme.

Perfect exercise selection.

Beautiful spreadsheets.

Precisely calculated progression.

Colour-coded training blocks.

If you don't actually train, none of it matters.

Adherence beats complexity.

A decent plan performed consistently will usually be far more useful than an incredible plan performed occasionally.

This is one of the principles that runs through almost everything I do with clients:

The perfect thing you don't do will never be as good as the decent thing you do.

The Bottom Line

A training plan doesn't guarantee results.

What it does is give your effort direction.

It tells us:

Where you're going.

What you're going to do.

How we're going to measure it.

And what we can change when something isn't working.

You don't need to spend every session worrying about whether you've selected the perfect exercise or discovered the optimal number of repetitions.

Have a goal.

Build a sensible plan.

Execute it consistently.

Measure what happens.

Adjust when necessary.

Then keep going.

That's planning.