How to program workouts for beginners GIRL | Where Great Trainers Are Made

How to program workouts for beginners GIRL. Become a successful personal trainer w/ SUF CPT

A certification can tell you what a muscle does, but it will not tell you what to do when a paying client shows up with a cranky shoulder, high stress, and big goals. We start with a real text from a trainer moving from group classes to one-on-one coaching, then we get concrete about the practical side: assessments, exercise selection, programming, and the on-the-floor decisions that separate average trainers from great coaches. 

We break down an actual week of training for a 62-year-old executive who wants to lose weight, get stronger, and move better. You’ll hear how we organize lower body and upper body emphasis, why a safety bar squat can be the smarter choice, and how circuits can flow from jumps to squats to core without turning into random “stuff.” We also talk about using eccentrics, chin-up progressions, and simple but effective variations that keep the plan individualized. 

Then we zoom out to the bigger coaching picture: METCON programming, daily undulating periodization, and why training power matters for aging, including dynopenia and sarcopenia. We also share how we use balance and proprioception games, plus what it means to treat personal training like a service industry with real client care. Finally, we explain why qualified trainers collaborate with physical therapists, doctors, and RDs and how referrals protect your client and your reputation. 

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Transcript

A Real Mentorship Request

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Addie all favorite trainer with Belt Buckle helping you level up your programming as a personal trainer. Here's a text that I got today. My name is Blank. I'm a NASAM PT certified. I've been teaching group exercise over a year at a specific gym. I'm looking to transition into one-on-one personal training. I don't feel like I need another certification as much as I need to fill in the gaps within the practical side of coaching. Things like assessments, exercise selection, programming, and how experienced trainers build individualized plans based on a client's goals. I was wondering if you offer any mentorship, blah, blah, blah. That's exactly what we do because textbooks don't teach you this stuff. You read a book, you go out there, you have no idea what you're doing. And so that's why we created our program where not only do you get mentorship with daily live calls, where we go over programming, exercise variations, how to program around pain, get your clients out of pain, build your network with physical therapists and RDs. We help give you confidence. And you'll be making over 10,000 a month because we have more certified trainers clearing six figures than any certification out there.

Case Study Client And Weekly Split

SPEAKER_00 1:06

So here's an example of a program that I did for a client I've been training right now. She's 62 years young, five years I've been working with her. She's an executive lawyer, very high-end, roughly about 200 pounds, 5'11. She wants to lose some weight. She wants to get stronger. I designed the workouts based on a lower body emphasis, an upper body emphasis, and then a METCO on Friday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Full body three days a week. But you can see this isn't crazy advanced programming. It's mastering the fundamentals, the overload principle, the acute variables, when and where to get after it a little bit more. As a trainer, you don't train the program, you train the individual. That's what great coaches can do. The average trainer barely understands their body. Great trainers understand the human body. That's the fundamentals of anatomy, programming, biomechanics. I have this written out in my mind. There may be a change based on how her body's feeling. So day one, what we did is we did box jumps, eight to ten reps of that, safety bar squat because she is dealing with some shoulder issues. If you do a back squat that puts a lot of external rotation and sheer force on that capsule, a safety bar squat is a lot more shoulder friendly. And then for the accessory, we do a plank. So we have a transition pattern here with the jumping into a squat pattern, into an accessory. I do a lot of planks with her, and every single time it's a new variation. Three rounds after that, we're gonna progress into a unilateral pattern with a reverse lunge, six to eight reps of that. Push-ups, we do three to five eccentric on the ground, and then a single leg bicep curl, working on her balance, seeing if she can do 12 reps, and then the next time we will switch, we'll do three rounds of that circuit. And then the last circuit, we're gonna do a core pattern of a hinge with the RDL, and then we're gonna do chin-ups, three reps eccentrically. I help her up, she controls it down, and then we do a get up at the end, which is just get on the ground, get up, get back down, close your eyes, get up, get back down, cross your arms, get up, get back down, turn over on your stomach, get up. I'm playing with proprioception in her vestibular system, which helps improve the balance. She's a big stretcher. A lot of my clients don't like to stretch, so we'll take that 60-minute workout at the 59th minute. We'll do something and they'll leave. She likes to trust for a good eight to 10 minutes. Workout number

Upper Body Day With Smart Variations

SPEAKER_00 3:32

two, which is a non-consecutive day. I always ask how she's feeling, but now it's more of an upper body emphasis. So the core pattern here was transitional explosiveness and legs. For here, it's going to be upper body. We do an incline dumbbell, she works up to 20 pounds, split stance row. And I like to do that either a lunge variation on the cable machine andor just bending over with a neutral grip and the planks. Again, each time it's going to be different. I have a little laser pointer. Sometimes I'll point it on the ground like cat and mouse and she'll slap it. Sometimes I'll push against her, she'll lift the leg up. A lot of variations from a side plank to a regular plank to a get up, playing with that variation. Second circuit, we're going to get into a chin-up. We do a lot of upper body pulling because she wants to be able to do that. The second circuit, we get back into chin-ups. Notice how we did chin-ups over here as well. We do them again. And then we're going to do a single leg RDL into an airplane. You're going to have a bench, you're going to put your knee on the bench. It takes away the sartorius, TFL, and the gracilis. Those are biarticulate hip and knee muscles. So by bending the knee, you just focus on the glute mead and upper fibers of the glute max. Great for frontal plane stability, an amazing exercise and fun. Sometimes I'll throw her a ball. We have a balloon, I'll throw it, she'll slap it. I have two balloons, red and blue. I'll throw them at her and I'll say blue, and she'll smack the blue one. Working with proprioception, and that's a great way to release BDNF, brain derived neurotropic factor. It's a neuropeptide that helps with elasticity of the brain. When you track things, you're going to release more of that. So I like the challenge during the accessories as long as it doesn't take away force production from that main core pattern. The last circuit down here, seated press into a goblet and then single leg lateral raise. Sometimes I'll give her one and she'll do it like this. Sometimes we'll do both at the same time. We'll do rotating T's. We will vary if it's unilateral, upper body, bilateral, also the variations of planes of motion. This takes exactly

METCON Day And Periodization Basics

SPEAKER_00 5:42

one hour. And then the last workout of the week, which we did today, it's more METCON. So we begin with a lateral jump. And when you jump for eight to ten reps, it definitely elevates the heart. And then we do some goblets and do a payoff. She gets up to 50 pounds on the goblets. Her wrists begin to hurt. So sometimes I'll give her gloves. We have these little pads to help with her hands. I don't just say, stop being a wuss, Beth, you gotta do it. No, you're catering. We're in the service industry. I get her a towel, I get her water, I have the music on that she likes, she likes classical music. We work out the classical music. It's a service-based industry. You'll notice I'm doing goblets here, you'll notice I'm doing goblets here, and but over here, we're getting into a safety bar squat. The tension's gonna be significantly higher. We get up to 115, 50 to 60 on the goblets. When it's in the beginning, we go heavier. If it's at the end, we're gonna go lighter, but more reps. That's what's referred to as daily undulating periodization. I'm not always doing safety bar squat, safety bar squat, safety bar squat. I'm gonna vary where it goes in the programming and the acute variable, meaning the rep and the intensity is going to change. Then we get into step up, six to eight per side, into an Aussie, into a tricep. Notice how we do pull-ups, pull-ups, still body weight, but this is just gonna be an inverted row, which is more regressed. She loves working the triceps, it's one of her favorite exercises. So we do that every single week. Three rounds there. And the last one we do an RDL, push up into ab into a get up. So she do 15 toe touches, and again, playing with getting up from the ground. It's a huge determinant of living past 100. It's really surprising. Do this test on your parents, aunt and uncles. Can you get on the ground and get up without using your hands? And you're just gonna watch them get stuck. And it's really fun, but also kind of scary because what happens when they fall? That's why we jump. Jumping is gonna prevent sarcopenia, but most importantly, dinopenia. Dynopenia is a loss of power due to age. As we age, if we don't recruit those type two muscle fibers that are fast twitch, heavy, explosive volitional fatigue, we check that off every single time. So she's gonna stimulate her muscles so she doesn't experience sarcopenia, which is the loss of muscle mass due to age. So this whole workout is definitely a lot more challenging for her because we're doing things like this superset, we're doing step ups, it's basically a cardio exercise. And in this last circuit, I shorten the rest. And I usually have about 12 minutes, so then we'll go over and do a ski erg for 30 seconds, walk back and forth here in the Santa Monica gym, go back to the ski erg, depending on how she's doing two to three rounds. So, this is what we actually did. In my mind, sometimes I'll put more, but because of how she's feeling, she's a big-time lawyer, she charges $1800 an hour. She's super stressed. She charges by every six minutes. It's nuts. Always train a lawyer, a bartender, and a CPA, and your life will be so much easier. Bartender, because it's all about networking and meeting people. You bring your clients there, free drinks, and you look like the king. Become the mayor of your town. And that's what we teach

Referrals Service And Trainer Career Path

SPEAKER_00 8:49

in our program. Three certifications. Well, if you want to get certified for life, soft tissue addressing pain, knowing how to program and refer out. She's seeing our therapist on Saturday because her pain in her shoulder isn't getting significantly better. She had a contusion about two months ago where she fell and we did some stuff and she was feeling a lot better with soft tissue, but it's just not getting better. I know a lot, but our therapist knows significantly more. I don't cross off one of our sessions. I look at the best interest for the client. So whatever Dr. Andrew says tomorrow, I'm going to incorporate in, probably within the accessories and/or is the warm-up. Whether if it's mobility, stability, more soft tissue, I don't know. I have one of our trainers come in, observe the session, and report back to me. That's what a qualified trainer looks like. You're working alongside a physical therapist, doctors, RDs. You are well balanced. You have a nutrition coaching certification, and you will turn your passion for fitness into a career because we've helped so many trainers do it. If you are struggling with programming, retention, if you need mentorship, we offer that within our

Final Reminder And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 10:03

program. We will level you up. I guarantee it. And remember, big biceps are better than small ones and keep showing up.