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03-31-22 10:47 AM - Post#918528
Just some examples:
For most athletes, I use the matrix as a road map. If an injury sets an athlete back, we can regress any movements back to planks (as appropriate) and still vigorously train on the other movements. One athlete had a badly torn triceps muscle, so we simply did what we could on the push and pull, but aggressively worked on the squat family (all the way across the matrix), hip thrusts, and every and all loaded carries.
He was able to rejoin playing in the National Football League far sooner than we expected.
For demonstrations on how to use the matrix, I usually go right to left. Generally, people asking questions about the Movement Matrix are a bit more advanced. When I first coached, my athletes all did just the two far right lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk. Basically, this combo covered the whole matrix.
My athletes did well. Well, of course, they did: these were Division One athletes with year of lifting and elite abilities. It took a while to figure out the “rest of us.”
I had one reader tell me that he was just doing squat snatches and loaded carries…especially suitcase carries. If you look at the chart, the snatch takes care of the push, pull, hinge, and squat. Adding some loaded carries basically covers all the basics.
As you slide back to the Triads, I had a military friend ask me what to do if he added push jerks. We pulled out the chart and I pointed out that this covered the push, pull, and hinge. He asked if he should “just” do front squats and prowlers as a workout…with the push jerks. So:
Push jerk
Front squat
Prowlers
For someone who wants to cover the essentials of training in a limited time, I applaud this idea.
One arm bench presses and one arm suspension trainer rows can give a bored athlete a break, if the reps and sets are appropriate. Tossing in something like goblet squats followed immediately by sprints (“Lift and sprints”) basically covers the whole matrix and is a lot of fun. It’s much more challenging than one thinks.
One arm bench press
One arm suspension trainer rows
Lift and sprints
This would be an excellent in-season maintenance and conditioning program. Since so many people are still stuck in the loop of “go for the burn” and bodybuilding, it’s hard to explain this kind of workout without not actually doing it.
I’m not sure how to explain this better. The matrix, and feel free to make your own with any additions or subtractions, is a tool to help you ensure that your program is covering the fundamentals. I use the matrix when I work with a single athlete or a huge collegiate program to see what is missing.
As I note, time and again, usually the “missing” exercises, the gaps, are the full movement of the squat and loaded carries. Just adding goblet squats and suitcase carries can revitalize a training program.
Some programs are simply cut and pasted powerlifting programs. These can be amazing programs, but many athletes and members of humanity need some ballistic work, loaded carries, and anti-rotation work. Even the most elite performers need to take some time going back to the planks and basics lifts on an annual basis. Neophytes might need to be exposed to the advanced movements simply to see why this position, like the squeezed top of a glute bridge, is going to continue to be a foundational piece of the performance puzzle.
With the basics of programming (sets, reps, and some understanding of volume, intensity, and density), the Movement Matrix can swiftly become part of the toolkit for sustainable, repeatable physical improvement.
Two Days a Week with Two Exercises (or Less) a Day
In-season athletes and perhaps those with life’s asterisks* (* = something ALWAYS comes up!), two days a week of just two exercises might be worthy of consideration. Very often, in-season strength training is more for reassurance rather than progress. I’m fine with losing strength during a long track or highland games season…but not THAT much strength!
The more experience you have, the longer the buffet table of options becomes. I had a lot of success with training a movement just ONCE a week but doing complementary work the other days. When I first wrote about this kind of training, the One Lift a Day program, it really became an internet sensation.
I have written extensively on the OLAD program, One Lift a Day. OLAD’s roots come from 1960s Olympic lifters, and I had success with this template in the 1990s:
Monday: Power snatch
Tuesday: Front squat
Wednesday: Squat cleans
Thursday: Off
Friday: Jerks
Saturday: Moderate, “meet-like,” total for both snatch and clean and jerk
Sunday: Off
Of course, at the time, I had decades of O lifting under my belt and had begun raising a family and building my career(s). These workouts took about 45 minutes and left me feeling fairly refreshed.
When you first look at OLAD, for Olympic lifting, it might look like a lot of different exercises, but they are all variations of the two competitive lifts. Therefore, I think the discussion of OLAD belongs in this minimalistic two exercise section.
In my head, the OLAD program fits here.
You are free to disagree.
Finally, for those of you who are seeking a Minimalistic Mass Program, maybe try one of these:
Handstand push ups
High rep back squats
or
Dips
High rep back squats
or
Chins
High rep back squats
Note: for mass, you can’t get away from the “tried and true” high rep back squats. And food. Lots and lots and lots of food. And sleep.
Maybe I should write a book, Mass Made EVEN Simpler. (I already have a book called Mass Made Simple.) MMES in Ten words:
Two lifts, two days a week, food (lots!) and sleep.
Three lifts a day
I’ve been collecting workouts, programs, training ideas, and a potpourri of lifting ideas since I first popped my Ted Williams Sears Barbell over my head. In 2002, Mike Rosenberg and I discussed my theories of lifting. We came up with this:
Put weights over your head
Pick weights off the ground
Carry weights for time or distance
The thing that is often missing from my two exercise templates is loaded carries. Sprinkle the following into any of your two lift programs:
Suitcase carry (Honestly, maybe the “best”)
Farmer Walks (a close second)
Sled drags
Prowlers
Bear Hug Carries
There! Now, you have a perfect program!
My work on the Planet Earth is finished. I shall return to Krypton.
Some would see our Mass Made EVEN Simpler program and want to do something like this:
Dip
Chin
High rep back squat
Again, that’s a pretty good combination and I can’t find fault in a six-week ascent into swoleness using this program. Remember to eat and sleep.
Stephan Korte, a German powerlifter and coach, provided a powerlifting program that exploded on the internet when I first logged on in 1998. The sport of powerlifting is three lifts:
Squat
Bench press
Deadlift
Stephan’s program, which still brings tears to my “Simplify” eyes was made up of these lifts:
Squat
Bench press
Deadlift
Of course, it worked well. Much like Marty Gallagher’s training templates, DOING the actual lifts can help a lot of people. Let’s just look at the introductory Phase One program. It was four weeks long and one trained three days a week with all three exercises. Korte had his lifters do five to eight sets of five in the deadlift and squat and six sets of six in the bench.
Like Easy Strength, the loads began light. He had his people do 58% on Week One of the max lift and went up two percent per week.
That’s the ONE change: we add two percent per week. After the first four weeks, the load continues to inch up, but the sets and reps drop. What doesn’t change is the exercise selection.
The most common way to explain Korte’s method, at the time, was 3 x 3 x 3 as most of the lifters I talked with used three sets of three in Phase Two for simplification. One could also call it: 3 x 3 x 3 x 3.
Three days a week
Three lifts a day
Three sets
Three reps
The simplicity of this program continues to amaze me. As I have stated in workshops, if I could go back in time with Easy Strength, I would tell everyone to JUST do three sets of three. If I could remain back in time, I would stress that THREE of the ES lifts are the core and, if we choose Pavel’s advice about FIVE exercises, the other two supplement the key lifts.
I can’t go back in time, so I just keep trying to explain the details.
Using Mike Rosenberg’s advice, to repeat:
Put weights over your head
Pick weights off the ground
Carry weights for time or distance
We can use the Movement Matrix and come up with some ideas. Try this for the three lifts:
Overhead press and variations
Deadlift and variations
Farmer Bars
I’m not sure I can do better. I did enjoy a recent experiment with these based on Nick Horton’s insights on training for Olympic lifters:
Squat snatch
Front squat
Suitcase carries
Horton, a fine coach and lifter, also mixes Intermittent Fasting for up to twenty hours a day (!!!) with a similar template to achieve lower levels of body fat.
Daniel John
Just handing down what I was handed down...
Make a Difference.
Live. Love. Laugh.
Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude)
Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk.
Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth.
Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights.
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