Rizzo's Performance Training: Progression

Too many people buy a gym membership with next to no prior training experience. They have good intentions of losing fat or getting stronger, but they really don't know how to accomplish their goals. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but when untrained populations walk into a gym and go through the motions of "treadmill, bench press, biceps curl, leg extension, crunches, and over to the treadmill again," they are going down a road that will lead to imbalance and possible injury. On top of this, since the person is undertrained anyway, he or she probably already has several muscular and/or postural imbalances. It's very hard to accomplish your goals when you're injured and can't go to the gym at all.

You've read on this site before that everyone should train for strength with big compound movements (squat, deadlift, chin ups, etc...), and this is still the case, but what about people who are so undertrained that to perform these movements with weight is either too difficult or unsafe? This is why we PROGRESS to these awesome strength-building movements.

The first thing someone like this should do is hire a knowledgable coach. That does not mean someone who will show you how to do a single-leg overhead squat on a bosu ball. That's just plain wrong. You need a coach who knows the proper technique for all the big lifts and has gotten others and himself stronger over the years. If he's a good coach, he'll realize the need for progression.

Think about this: why should someone who cannot do 10 honest-to-goodness push ups start bench pressing? They shouldn't! Should someone with super tight hip flexors and an ass that's completely forgotten how to work deadlift right away? Nope! When first starting a strength training program after having never trained before, one should focus on mastery of bodyweight movements while also focusing on correcting imbalances. This does not mean spending 45 minutes stretching. Remember, the goal is to get stronger, so you must work to get stronger while still working to mobilize joints, loosen tight muscles, and activate "sleeping" muscles. The key is to incrementally progress towards being able to properly and efficiently use weights to get stronger.

Here are some progressions that I would suggest for beginners:

High Hands Elevated Push Ups -> Low Hands Elevated Push Ups -> Push Ups
(Once a trainee can do 15-25 bodyweight push ups, he or she can probably start using a barbell as long as there are no other special circumstances, i.e. elbow or shoulder injuries)

Band Pull Aparts -> Recline Rows -> Chin Ups
(It might take a bit longer to reach chins than push ups. People in today's society have very weak backs even though your back is what keeps you walking upright. Just keep working hard on the pulling movements. Once you can do 1-5 chin ups, a good way to increase the reps is by doing up to 10 or more sets of 1-3 chins for technique practice.)

BW High Box Squat -> BW Parallel Box Squat -> BW Squat -> KB or DB Goblet Squat -> Barbell Back Squat
(BW=Bodyweight; the Goblet squat is a squat in which the weight is held at chin level in front of the body)

These are just some examples, but clearly you can see the focus is on mastering one's own bodyweight. This will allow the muscles to be able to control themselves more and will allow the joints and ligaments time to get stronger so that they will be more capable of handling weights.

Other movements that you should be focusing on would be corrective movements that can also improve strength. Glute bridges are an excellent way to activate your butt muscles, which will greatly improve your posture and ability to squat and deadlift.