A training program is only as good as a lifter’s ability to stick to it. As a coach who’s working with multiple people at once AND training people online, I’m constantly searching for ways that a training program can “coach itself” so my lifters can execute their training without me having to watch every rep and explain every movement.
This is especially true for aspects of the program where a lifter might cut corners without even realizing it. It’s my job as the coach to build accountability into the program so the lifter understands the task at hand and gets the job done right.
Working Warm-Ups
Even the most well-intentioned lifters occasionally mail in their warm-up sets. I made a fundamental shift in my approach to prescribing warm-ups sets when we started placing supplementary exercises (close relatives of the main lift with one or two changes) at the BEGINNING of the workout and calling them working warm-ups. This has been incredibly effective for two reasons.
First of all, it gets lifters to take their warm-ups more seriously. Instead of skipping the empty bar and flying through a few half-hearted sets paying no mind to technique, we make the warm-ups more engaging and challenging so the lifter has to pay more attention to execution AND weight selection.
Next, it’s more effective for motor learning because we’re essentially practicing a piece of the movement BEFORE we do the main lift. Motor skill development experts in the sports performance world call this “part practice” and have shown that drills like this work best when you come full circle at the end and practice the full skill you’re trying to develop. A common example would be practicing hitting a baseball off a tee before hitting against a pitcher who’s actually throwing the ball.
Here are some common examples of working warm-up drills we use:
- Long-duration pauses (5-20 seconds at various points of the exercise)
- Tempo sets (e.g., 3 seconds down, 1 second pause, 3 seconds up)
- Changes in grip width, stance width, bar position, etc.
Suddenly, warm-up sets are no longer boring. We get better efforts out of our lifters and their technique improves faster.
Use a Stopwatch
A stopwatch is both a lifter’s and coach’s best friend when it comes to accountability. We use them specifically for timing paused reps so lifters don’t cut their pauses short by counting to themselves in their heads.
As mentioned above, we use lots of long pauses on the bench press to teach lifters to stay tight on the chest AND react to a judge’s “press” command, just like in competition. Three seconds can turn to 1.5 seconds FAST (pun intended) when a lifter counts on their internal stopwatch, but when a coach or training partner uses an actual stopwatch, you get your money’s worth.
Using a stopwatch to time rest periods can also be a wakeup call when it comes to training efficiency. Yes, heavy lifting requires long rest periods and full recovery, but you don’t need to rest 5-10 minutes between every set of every exercise, including your warm-ups and accessory work. If you feel like your workouts are longer than a Lord of the Rings movie, start timing your rest periods to keep yourself on task.
Dead Stop Reps
One of my biggest pet peeves is when lifters cut the range of motion short on an exercise. I see this most often on squats (not going low enough) and pulling movements like rows, pulldowns and pull-ups (not going all the way up or down). It seemed no matter how many times I’d tell lifters to use a full range of motion, they’d find a way to cut it short. So I started prescribing more dead stop reps, forcing the lifter to use a full range of motion no matter what.
Dead stop reps require the lifter to pause between reps at the transition between the eccentric (lowering) and concentric (lifting) phase. The most common example I use is for 1-arm dumbbell rows. If a lifter isn’t getting a full reach at the bottom of the movement, I ask them to let the dumbbell come to a dead stop on the floor before pulling back up.
We can also do this with:
- Squats (pause on a box or pins)
- Lat pulldowns (let the weight stack come to a full stop)
- 1-leg RDLs (touch the weight to the floor each rep)
- Skullcrushers/triceps extensions (lay on the floor and let the plates touch the ground behind your head)
Total Rep Method
I’ve been outspoken about the utility of using RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and RIR (reps in reserve) to prescribe weight/load/intensity, but sometimes you need some other tricks to draw a better effort out of a lifter. If I find a lifter constantly leaving more reps in the tank than what I’d like, I’ll sometimes use the total rep method where I’ll give the lifter a certain number of reps to complete at a specific weight and tell them to get the reps done in as few sets as possible. The lifter instinctively wants to get the work done and not take forever, so they’ll often increase their effort and push a little closer to failure.
I specifically do this with my new lifters who are performing goblet squats as their main lower body movement. This was born out of necessity because it didn’t make much sense to prescribe heavy, low-rep sets for goblet squats. A weight that’s challenging for a set of 5 is going to be limited by a lifter’s ability to hold the weight, not their lower body strength, so we stick to a total rep scheme (e.g., complete 30 reps in as few sets as possible).
Newer lifters are also learning when to increase the weight their using, so I’ll give them instructions on when to go up in weight based on how many sets it takes them to complete the total number of reps. For example, if you have to complete 30 total reps and you do it in 3 sets or fewer, go up in weight next time. But if it takes you 4 or more sets, keep the weight the same next time.
Deliver Programming 1 Week at a Time
I’ve been training lifters online since 2014 – before everyone who’s picked up a weight was an “online coach.” While many coaches give their lifters entire blocks of training all at once (i.e., 4-12 weeks), I’ve found it best to deliver training programs one week at a time. This is mostly because we can’t predict how a lifter is going to respond to training in combination with their outside-the-gym stressors, but it also adds a strong accountability factor.
My online lifters are required to fill out their training program and check in with me via email at the end of week in order to receive their next week of training. Having a “deadline” each week increases the percentage of my lifters who complete their full training program. No check-in, no program update. It’s as simple as that.
Of course lifters occasionally miss the deadline or fail to complete the full training week for one reason or another. But without the next week of training readily available for them to “skip ahead,” it forces a conversation between the lifter and the coach about how they can do better moving forward.
While I think this is the best option if you’re an online coach, I think it’s smart for lifters who struggle with accountability to advocate for weekly training updates too. If you’re a lifter who works with a coach online and they send your program more than one week at a time, consider asking for weekly updates to help keep you on track.
Try 2 Weeks of Online Training for Free
All of these accountability methods are things I use with my online clients. We’re now offering a 2-week free trial to make it accessible to more lifters who may not otherwise consider online coaching. Click below to schedule your free consultation today: