The FITSPRO Podcast

Sales has been an ongoing theme in my recent episodes. Or it certainly feels like it has. I think that’s because of recently launching my Pure Programming course and also prepping several of my business clients for their own launches or increases in sales.

Fact of the matter is - if you own a business you need to make money, and many of us in the health and fitness industry did not get a degree in marketing and or sales. And perhaps you don’t have any experience in sales. I know I certainly didn’t. And I also had no interest whatsoever in sales when I started my business because I associated sales with a scammy preconception.

My only experience on the consumer side of sales at this point was at Globo Gyms when they try to sell you on a complementary personal training session after signing up as a member. Or walking into American Eagle or Hollister and being bombarded by the sales associate before I’ve even looked at anything. Or the typical car salesman. Those are the ones that stick out in my mind anyway. I will say that I had positive experiences at Apple because they are not paid on commission. (We asked). So there feels like there’s far less ulterior motive going into them finding you the right product for what you need. 

Which truly brings us to sales. And what it means for you as an online health and fitness coach.

3 Questions to Ask Yourself for More Successful Sales

* What is my result?

The problem you solve - your promise

I remember the first time I had a colleague look over my sales page for a new service. Due to the fact that I don’t use sales calls, my sales pages need to be very clear when it comes to what it is that I am offering. She asked me what the main take away was from the program. Such a simple question, and some thing that I didn’t know. But it hadn’t made it onto the sales page. One of that should literally be the biggest boldest sentence at the top of the sales page.

We so often just create a service or start coaching without a clear result. And I know that it can be easy for your brain to go to things like losing 10 pounds in ‘x’ amount of time or get strong and gain mobility. But you do have a result and you need to make that clear. Typically we all have a tangible result of some kind. Immeasurable result. Clients being able to lift more weight or gain range of motion, they lose fat or body weight. Or they gain muscle mass. And then there is an emotional result. And this can look a lot of different ways. But I like to think of it as where they were when they started with you from an emotional and mental standpoint, to where they end up during and after the process of working with you.

The feeling of being incapable to feeling capable. The feeling of being lost to having direction. Feeling neutral in their skin. Feeling more ease, or joy. These are also results that you can market within your program. It doesn’t have to be these typical fitness industry results that are so often marketed. And there’s nothing wrong with weight loss or gaining strength, but I think that you probably have more than that to offer your potential clients.

So if you can identify 1 to 2 main takeaways and results from your service that is going to help you more clearly sell that service.

And if you’re unsure on that, ask your current clients or look back on testimonies, or do some market research with your audience if you haven’t started taking clients yet.

You can also just decide for yourself what you want it to be. As long as you can actually deliver on that which brings us to number two.

So you decide you want to start an online coaching business. I’m the online space we have the benefit of not being restricted to a locational demographic. But that is also a challenge.

At least if you’re brick and mortar is in South Bend, that’s where you’re finding your clientele. You can network with local companies, target the soccer moms or what have you.

Online, the world that has access to WiFi or data IS YOURS.

So in such a large pond, you’re not restricted BUT where the frick do you cast your net? How do you know where to look for humans?

Where do you find people who might want to pay you money for your service?

Let us discuss.

We throw around language like “attract” your ideal client.” That sounds great but HOW.

In short that is how you’re going to find and generate leads. Your messaging is step one.

We shall talk about three sections of this lead generation process, “attracting/finding” leads, generating them, and closing them.

You can absolutely build an audience and fail to convert any of them into clients. In fact I’d argue that’s more common than not.

MESSAGING:

Your words and content are going to lead to your humans finding YOU.

Between your messaging and generating leads, we have this tandem, overlapping section that is ORGANIC NETWORKING.

What I mean by this is you naturally interacting with those in your industry. You creating your “circle.” Now, please don’t think of this as a clique. This is business. This is networking, just in the online space. You share people’s content who compliment your area of focus or who you think would be of value to YOUR audience.

Whether they share your shit or not is not of your concern. That’s why I say “organic” - it needs to be organic. You keep your eyes on creating shareable and valuable content. Other professionals will share it from time to time too. Therefore potentially expanding your network and potential client pool.

Please keep in mind that 1% or less of someone’s audience are paying customers. Don’t worry too much about sharing the wealth or being competitively minded when it comes to networking. Most y’all’s people will never pay you a dime - perspective.

That leads us (pun intended) to the actual generation of leads.

You HAVE at least one human in your audience who you can serve. And you can practice these things from day one to expedite your lead generation.

GENERATING LEADS:

Value value value. We must provide VALUE.

Doing mini trainings in your stories and providing very PRACTICAL ways for your audience to get 1% better is how lead generation begins.

Content like this might not go viral but it shows your audience what it’s like to work with you (for free). Eventually these people will reach out, and or apply to work with you because something you shared FOR FREE made a real difference in their life. Imagine what you can do from a paid standpoint!

Mini trainings or client case studies in your stories are a great way to do that. If you’re not on IG, then some other platform - short form video on YouTube or blogs pinned to Pinterest.

Bite size applicator content. That’s the focus for lead generation.

Note I have NOT said to cold DM people. Though that IS an option.

Getting people in the DM’s is a great way to start conversation and NOT ask for a sale.

Inside Built by Annie I have a resource called Annie’s Secret Laboratory of Brain Gains. And in that, there are two trainings on energy systems development. Also known as heart rate training. One of the videos is general and just goes over the different zones and what they mean. The other training goes over how to actually think about and integrate the zones within strength training.

Obviously at heart rate monitors can be used for conditioning, or cardio. That is in fact the main purpose. But they are also a useful tool for those who lift weights as their primary mode of exercise.

I am not sponsored by Polar. But I have used their products since 2011 or 2012. And I am a huge fan. We used their system during my internship at University of Portland to monitor all athletes heart rates during training and conditioning. So I just have nothing but good things to say about the brand and their products or systems.

On Instagram I have a review of my favorite polar watches if you would like to check that out as well. At the time of this episode I currently use the Polar Unite Watch and H 10 strap. And I will say that I have never had a Polar watch be accurate without the use of a chest strap. I don’t know what claims Polar makes about the use of the watches without a chest strap, but my personal experience has been that you need the chest strap.

Today’s episode is going to be about how to use these watches and straps in terms of strength training. Outside of their obvious use, basically. While they are absolutely not needed, as stated earlier, I do think that they have a use. And if you own one and want to integrate it into your training, this episode will hopefully be helpful.

4 Ways to Use a Polar Heart Rate Monitor with Strength Training:

1.) Rest periods

I realize this sounds very simple and elementary. But I use mine to monitor and stick to my rest periods. You could absolutely use an app on your phone or look at a clock. But it’s nice to just glanced down at my watch and see my rest. As well as watching my heart rate drop.

This can also be effective if you want to integrate heart rate training into strength training. I am not saying that this is an end all be all approach. But I’m not mad at it either.

It can simply be interesting to see what your heart rate gets to during your working sets and if it recovers within your scheduled rest. Now the scheduled rest for strength and hypertrophy training will likely be based on the muscular demand and stimulus versus the metabolic stimulus or demand. But the two certainly can be connected. And the watch helps you see that.

So you can stick to your one minute of rest, and/or, start your next set based on your heart rate recovering to say 120 to 135 beats per minute.

This honestly just indicates how quickly your heart rate is recovering between sets. So know the focus of your program and if you need to go strictly based on time. Or if you can play around with going based off your heart rate as well.

That brings us to number two.

2.) Heart rate after the set

I there’s no right or wrong, good or bad here. This is more about learning your own bio feedback. What is a typical heart rate for you after a heavy set of back squats? Or overhead presses. Or a circuit that you do in accessory that might take you...

4 Simple Tips to Create Content that Converts

Something that comes through without fail on my FitsPRO Foundations intake survey is that people struggle with finding ideal clients online and/or converting clients to sales. Which is why it's important to have content that converts.

We shall dive into pieces of this today. And hopefully you’ll have some level of action to take and apply to ze gram.

And yes, I am specifically talking about Instagram today. So that is what I will be referencing throughout the episode.

You know I’m queen of you don’t have to do “x” to be successful at business.

With that, I only ask you entertain what I have to say; you absolutely are not required to do any of this. Think about how what I share today CAN BE applied to you. Maybe in a different way.

Creating content from your offer

When people say that they have no idea what to post, I get that they might be referring to a lull in inspiration. But if you work with clients in any capacity, or have any level of education and or experience, there is content in your brain. I hope that this episode can help you access it and organize it a bit better. And eventually use that to create content that converts followers into buyers.

One of the easiest ways to create content that directly relates to, speaks to, or helps potential buyers is to pull content directly from your offer. When I say that, I am spanning from your philosophy about coaching or whatever service you offer, to actual methods and tactics that you use within your coaching.

And I suppose that brings up the topic of giving away all of your gold for free. People often times worry about how much free content they should be giving away. But I want you to think about the people that you follow and enjoy the most, and how much free content you have likely consumed from them. Maybe you haven’t purchased from them at all, or maybe you have. And if you have purchased, you can see that what they’re giving away for free is why people are purchasing from them.

Even if you only work with 1:1 clients right now, you have a philosophy and a process. Even if you haven’t clearly defined it. So, I want you to make sure that after this episode you jot down some pillars of your philosophy in coaching or whatever service you offer. As well as sketching out your method. Now in my Fitspro Foundations course we call this the client lifespan or the process.

Remember that we are doing this because we want to be creating content that serves our larger audience, but eventually does get those people who are potential buyers to become clients. Aka content that converts. And that starts with the vast amount of free content that you provide. Which ideally is all in line with what you offer as a business.

Thus, if you are unclear on what it is you do as a business, and the process that you use with your clients, then it makes sense that creating content, let alone content that converts, is very difficult.

So, step one is to get some clarity around your philosophy, your brand story and your coaching tactics or methods.

What are topics that set your offer apart from others, or that you talk about often with your clients? 

This could be something as simple as teaching people how to count macros on a sliding scale. Meaning that you are allowed to just track your protein if you want to and that that can be effective. (or whatever it is that you teach your clients). You likely have a style of training if you are in the fitness room.

Today is for businesses who don’t do affiliate marketing full time. You own a business as your primary source of income. You do not depend on income from working with other brands. And/or that is not your goal.

Remember three things as we head into this episode:

* Do what you want * Think long term* You can change at any time

This topic has come up in my own personal life as well as with a few of my business clients recently. So I figured it was about time I gave it a permanent place via the podcast. This is not the first time I’ve talked about affiliate marketing. So please feel free to go back and creep past episodes where I talk about considerations to make when choosing brands to work with, and different approaches to working with brands.

As with all of my content, I encourage you to take what makes sense for you, or what sits right with you in the season, and leave the rest. Or possibly come back to the rest later.

And ultimately remember that it’s 100% your choice whether you want to work with brands for compensation or not. Today’s episode is simply here to pull back the curtain a bit on affiliate marketing when your business is NOT IN affiliate marketing. Meaning you are NOT a full-time blogger, contact creator, or influencer.

Maybe I mentioned this before, maybe I haven’t, but there was a trend at the end of 2021 where full-time influencers and content creators were posting each month of the year how many brand deals they had, and how much they made per brand deal, or per month. Now I actually thought this was a really cool trend, because they were educating on how to land brand deals, how to pitch yourself, and how to negotiate for getting paid to post about a certain brand or product.

For me, this is very much so new age blogging. Full-time bloggers get paid for exposure and getting a brand in front of the bloggers audience and subscribers.

I joked that I wanted to make a post sharing how much I make per month from affiliate marketing because I feel like there is a misconception especially in the world of online health and fitness about coaches being influencers. And I’m not saying we can’t be both, but the percentage of which my business comes from my “influencing” is less than 2% of my business.

Also let’s be clear that the definition of influencer is very subjective person to person. So it’s difficult to speak definitively on the topic. Because what I’m referring to may be different than what someone else is referring to - so it’s all just semantics at that point.

So what is affiliate marketing?

In most cases, if you are not a full-blown influencer, or content creator, a brand will give you a link or a code that gives your audience some kind of discount plus gives you a small kick back, or it just gives you a kick back and your audience gets nothing. But ideally you are getting paid or compensated for sharing your link and sharing their product.

Now I know that you might think that this is an easy way to make money. And it can be. But I want people to think long term about their business. I only say this now because hindsight is 2020.

If you already love a brand, and you are a person who really enjoys sharing links or sharing things that you get, AND you do that organically with your audience already - then affiliate marketing can be a simple way to just get a kickback for doing some thing that you’re already doing.

In full transparency, when I started partnering with brands, I was in that boat. Or I was at least willing to try a product for free and then decide if I wanted to work with a brand.

4 Aspects of Programming for Better Muscle or Strength Gains

Building muscle and building strength are not the same thing. But the programming topics we discuss today can certainly help with both. And let us remember that muscle mass is the potential for strength gains.

With that, a body builder’s goal is to put on as much muscle mass as possible, while a power lifter or olympic lifter are working to get as strong as possible within their sports. And these athletes’ training can look very different.

So, let’s look at four aspects of your training and programming that can affect your muscle gains and/or strength gains. Take what makes sense, what you can apply and leave the rest, as usual.

All of these aspects are after ONE THING - mechanical tension. Adding new mechanical tension to the muscle group(s) you’re trying to grow. That doesn’t mean more time under tension, though that can be one way to add tension. You’ll see that load, and other demands like range of motion, or angles used also add mechanical tension.

First up, my favorite

Tempo

Tempo in short is the amount of time in each phase of movement - so your lowering, ascending, top and bottom positions - also referred to as lengthening phase being eccentric, and shortening being concentric.

Obviously if we add time to any of these phases, we increase the time under tension - the literal amount of time your muscles spend working. That is if other programming factors like sets and reps remain the same.

I also encourage you to keep load in mind when adding time to tempo. Due to more time under tempo, the load may need to come down. This is very dependent on the amount of time that is added and what the scheduled RPE or intensity is. But if we are attempting to add muscle, we definitely want the change in tempo to be a new, challenging stimulus. That is, after all, the point.

For instance if the previous programming was 4x4 @ 85lbs on a 2.1.1.1 tempo, and you want to alter tempo to add time under tension, that new programming might look like 4x4 @85 on a 2.2.1.1 tempo. We’ve now added 1 second of tension per rep at the same load and volume.

Tiny change - very different experience and stimulus. Bless. The simplicity is what we’re after. Simplicity that can be highly effective.

From a client perspective this also changes just enough to not get bored. On paper it is barely a change at all, but now they’re effectively doing pause squats or bench. Two down, two at the bottom or at the chest, then powering out. This is what I want coaches to understand about program design. More often than not, very little change is needed to create change of stimulus. And change of stimulus or increased stimulus is all that we’re after!

That covers slowing tempo down. You can be very extreme with that, or you can use tempo to add an explosive element to the movement. We know that muscle fibers respond to the demand that is imposed upon them.

There is potential to get after more type 2a and b muscle fibers by working explosively. I like to use intent here. Like I mentioned  with squats, “powering out of the hole.” Or powering off the chest with bench. In tempo you can add an ‘x’ or a 0 to communicate this intent. Speed and/or velocity is the goal with using a DECREASED tempo.

Alright, let’s move on to the one of the most basic aspects of training one can use to alter stimulus…

Volume

Though we won’t dive into both of these - I do want you to keep in mind overall work load or volume for a given session,

I mentioned the other day on the 'gram that I am a doer. I tend to see gaps, and fill them, need something and create it, have an idea and begin exploring ways to execute said idea. But I was not always like that. Not entirely. Entrepreneurship has taught me this. To act without hesitation and figure it out along the way. But to always entertain the possibility. Because why not? What’s the worst that can happen?

I bring this up because if 2021 was anything, it was a year of trial and error.

I knew that going in, but boy did it play out that way. This 12 month season of trial and error meant less control and predictability than I like in my life, quite frankly.

So, let’s go ahead and get to it.

First off…

In episode 100 I reviewed my 2020 and in episode 101 I shared my personal and business goals for 2021 - If you didn’t listen to those, check them out.

But for a short recap my 2021 goals were:

Personal

* Stop work at 6pm* More consistent lifting* Investing/Retirement* Have house built

Business

* Create PRO cramming course* NO fitsPRO Launches (constant push through free webinar)* BBA goal that I have had since the remake in 2018* Social media and sales strategy refinement

Today, I'm breaking those down and sharing my plans for 2022.

These are going to me mixed rather than personal and then business because this year was one that had life and business affecting one another like never before. Or so it felt.

I am a big advocate of life and business working in tandem. One serves the other. One undoubtedly effects the other. So we must consider both, simultaneously.

Jan 2021 was the launch of my Free Workshop Your Biz Your Way, 3 Steps to Build a Profitable Online Health and Fitness Business. I am proud to say that over 1,000 humans have taken the workshop, and over 100 FitsPRO’s joined FitsPRO Foundations via the workshop.

If you recall - the goal was no live launches of FitsPRO - to simply try the evergreen approach and see how it went. Then make decisions as needed.

Gold star for that one!

On the personal front, gyms were shut down again here and I was very excited that Nate and I made the decision to go ahead and buy a home gym set up. But in Jan we didn’t have it yet.

By February I was finally able to start lifting consistently again. I was weak, and in pain but so joyous at the same time.

Feb and March were extensions of Jan but our living situation was wearing on my productivity and some of the professional and personal goals I had.

I’ve mentioned many times before the blessing it was to live with my mother for 9 months longer than originally planned. But I can’t deny the effect I allowed it to have on my day to day routine, or lack thereof.

More context: In March, I was still waiting to see how my evergreen approach to FitsPRO was going to play out - only time would tell. In addition to this waiting game, we were also waiting on information post filing taxes to see if we qualified for the loan we needed to build on our five acres.

This waiting game with the loan also put my retirement and investment goals on hold for obvious reasons.

I mentioned this on IG but our little 3.

The best business owners I know, and the people that I look up to most from a business standpoint, have clear and strong boundaries in life and in business.

I find that for me personally, it’s easy for me to have some boundaries, but very difficult for me to uphold others. So this episode is very much for you and me both.

It took me almost all of 2021 to finally be able to stick to my stop working before 6 PM boundary. I believe I mentioned that in my 2021 planning podcast. And I still plan to do a 2021 recap with the 2022 goals focused podcast episode. But that first boundary of stopping work before 6 PM didn’t happen until we literally moved into a rental house of our own.

I absolutely could’ve made other choices while in our other living situation, but I can’t deny the difference that was made by having individual spaces in a house for certain tasks. And while it was a complete blessing to be able to live with my mom for a year, I just wasn’t allotted the luxury of separate spaces for separate things to the extent that we have in our current rental.

So that kind of brings us to one possible boundary. Today’s episode is going to be very broad with possible boundaries that you can play with in 2022 for your online business. From boundaries on social media to boundaries in relationships, with your clients, and with your self in your own work schedule.

Even if you don’t work full-time for yourself yet but maybe you’ve experienced working from home, there are many challenges that come with the luxury of working from home. One of them being, that when a schedule is not imposed upon you, it can actually be very difficult to be productive and have clarity.

And that kind of goes along with not having a separate space for work. Having to go into an office or even a coffee shop allows you to switch into work mode much easier than if you’re working in the same space that you eat, prepare food, watch TV, do anything else other than work. So you can see where working from home brings different challenges than working in an office, or a gym, or any other setting outside of the home.

TIME AND SPACE

And so the first two boundaries, or habits, or whatever you want to call them, or setting work hours for yourself, and creating a designated space for work. And this doesn’t have to be all or nothing. So even with myself, and our current house where I have a full office space, sometimes I just need to switch up my scenery when I go from working on one task to another task. And that’s OK. Really whatever is going to get the work done is best case scenario.

When it comes to setting a schedule for yourself, you can be as specific or as broad as your personality prefers. That could look like working for one hour blocks with 15 minute breaks, where that could look like 23 hour blocks with a workout in between, or a meal, or both. Or as broad as you’re starting work at 9 AM and being done by 6 PM and whatever happens in that window of time is game.

And yes, I recognize the irony, in a bit of satire in the fact that many people leave at 9 to 5 just to end up attempting to stick to a 9 to 5 within their own business. That’s a very real thing, but it can be helpful nonetheless to have that schedule. There’s a difference in having that schedule for yourself versus on somebody else’s watch. And I think that’s a big differentiator.

If you’re thinking to yourself that you don’t have space, or you don’t have a separate room for an office, please know that moving into this rental in June 2021 was the first time in my 5 1/2 years of business that I ever had an actual office. It was always shared with a closet space or laundry room...

Entrepreneurship lends itself to lessons, and here are the 5 I've learned in my 5 years of entrepreurership:

Only entrepreneurs get it

I had one business friend up until two years ago. In my first four years or so, I didn’t fit in. I looked around the space of online coaches and frankly didn’t want to be in any of the groups I saw.

They were full of terms like boss babe, or empires. I didn’t want to build an empire. I didn’t feel like a CEO, and the word boss babe didn’t describe me

Slowly but surely I found “my people” - people who did business in a similar way to me; how I wanted to run my business and function as an entrepreneur. We shared philosophies.

I have no quick fix for this, as it happened very organically for me; and not quickly at all.

I could have been more proactive. Perhaps joining a mastermind or more free Facebook groups was the right route, and I just didn’t take it. I can’t say.

All I know, is that entrepreneurship can be lonely AF. Especially in the online world. So just be warned and act accordingly. I think knowing yourself is very important here.

Some of my biz clients go to coworking spaces because they just need to be around humans. Others do just fine all day by themselves. Obviously they all have me as a coach and each other as colleagues, so that helps as well.

It’s just such a lovely thing to know that other people get it. That someone else understands the feeling of sending a wrong link, failing a launch, feeling like you’re in a constant state of trial and error, like working 10 hour or more days is going to be your norm forever. The feeling of your business being like your baby - and the vulnerability of it all.

Only other entrepreneurs get that. 

Track your numbers

I know this probably sounds like a broken record, not only from me from every business coach ever. And that’s for a good reason.

When you track your numbers, you have objective data that allows you to make more educated decisions. It helps you to have context behind why you are attempting to move the needle. And what needle you are moving.

When I say track your numbers, I am referring quite literally to whatever numbers you have at this stage of business. And just because you are tracking a certain number doesn’t mean that you have to try and improve upon every single one.

I encourage you to look at all of your numbers, your Instagram followers, your engagement on Instagram, your email list subscribers, your website or application page views if you have that. Your revenue per customer. Your client retention. Whatever metrics you have in your business at this state, track them at least on a monthly basis. And then you can decide which ones you would like to try and improve.

The earlier you can start doing this, the easier it will be to expedite growth in a meeting for manner, and to continue tracking your metrics and numbers as you grow.

Attempting to start looking at numbers when you were three years in can be a rather overwhelming task. But no matter where you’re at in business, tracking your numbers can be fun. Yes, you heard me. Fun.

I find more often than not, the numbers are better than we think. And that’s the joy of numbers. It takes guessing out of the game. It’s completely objective. They just are what they are, and you can decide to put effort into changing them. They are not good or bad, we assign their value.

So there’s just some perspective around numbers whether you are or...

I wanted to have this episode be about 2021 reflection and 2022 planning but I use the Elegant excellence goals journal to do that and their shipping is delayed. So, we shall wait for that and not rush it. I am very much for reflection and planning. I’ve done it on large scale yearly basis and small scale weekly basis very religiously since the start of 2019. I am very much for reflection and planning. I’ve done it on large scale yearly basis and small scale weekly basis very religiously since the start of 2019. Thus, you will get that episode, but for today, we talk about fancy training

As I create this Pure PROgramming course, I am reminded of just how wildly basic my approach to training and program design is.

BUT, today we discuss the fancier side to the basics. I will not be telling you to use bosu balls or confuse your muscles. These fancy friends are simply more advanced basics. They’re fun and also, often require more access to equipment you may or may not have.

If you’ve been doing the same 15-20 exercises for years, within a pretty set range of sets and reps, you might feel the urge to spice it up in your training.

Rather than completely changing programs or modalities for training, I want you to entertain the following methods.

And even if you are not trying to be the fastest, or strongest, most agile or powerful, these methods can be a fun way to stick with familiar movement patterns, while having a bit more fun.

Most of these are full additions or “extras” to tack on to your normal programming. Though the first two are actual programming.

Undulating style for your main sets

In undulating programming - and I say programming because it can be a programming method as well as a periodization - you’ll perform the big lifts multiple times per week, with varying stimulus via sets and reps.

This is very popular in powerlifting for the big three lifts. Squat, bench and deadlift. But it can be applied to more big lifts with the addition of the overhead press. Which is my personal use of the method.

With three lifts you only need three days of training - in which you’d squat, bench and deadlift all three days.

One day might be 5x2

One day might be 4x5

One day might be 3-5x10

A power or max strength day, a mid strength day and a hypertrophy or capacity day.

Where in traditional programming you’d likely be working on ONE of these per PHASE - meaning one month, with undulating the stimulus alters, in this case daily.

If you add in a fourth lift it takes a bit more planning. The goal is still to hit all four big lifts 2-3 times per week with varying intensities.

Another approach I personally like is to use undulating programming for 1 is 2 lifts that you really want to push, or maybe NEED to push.

I’ve mentioned this before, but a squat bias undulating program was a part of my 12 week back rehab process after my herniation.

It was a normal 4-5 day upper lower split but I squatted 3 days per week.

The same could be done with bench press, or pull ups, or hip thrusts.

Fun way to push yourself, or push one skill/pattern.

The next one is also a program and then we get into add on methods.

German Volume Training

Take a season to try out an old great and put on as much muscle as possible.

Is GVT needed to put on mass? Negative.