The Four Variables That Make Training Work

The Big Idea

Exercise selection gets most of the attention but the results of a training program are largely driven by four bigger variables:

1. Volume
2. Intensity
3. Frequency
4. Progression

1. Volume: How Much?

For strength training, volume is primarily sets × reps.

A useful general range:

• 5 to 15 reps
• 3 to 5 sets

Not a law. Just a very useful range for general strength and fitness.

Conditioning Volume

Conditioning can be measured by:

• Miles
• Meters
• Calories
• Steps
• Rounds
• Reps

But ultimately, your body just recognizes how hard it’s working and for how long.  We prefer to look at it in minutes.

• Low intensity: 30+ minutes
• High intensity: roughly 5 to 30 minutes

2. Intensity: How Hard?

Strength work needs to be hard enough to give your body a reason to adapt.

That does not mean every set needs to be:

• Max effort
• Max reps
• Taken to failure

There are lots of ways to prescribe intensity:

• Reps in Reserve
• RPE
• Percentage of 1RM
• Difficult but Doable
• Max Effort

The underlying principle is simple: work hard enough to create adaptation.

But don’t work so hard that you’re destroyed for the next three days and can’t train effectively again.

Conditioning Intensity

This is where we want a clear distinction.

Easy should be easy. Low intensity means:

• Conversational pace
• Nasal-breathing type effort
• Sustainable

Hard should be hard. High intensity means:

• Highest sustainable output for the duration
• Controlled enough that you don’t blow up early
• Ideally able to push toward the finish

Moderate-intensity work has value. The problem is when everything becomes medium-hard.

When we fall into this middle range of intensity, we are missing out on some very advantageous adaptations.

3. Frequency: How Often?

Doing something once a week can absolutely produce results, especially for newer athletes.

But as you become more experienced, frequency becomes increasingly important. A simple framework:

• 1× per week: Minimum exposure / maintenance.
• 2× per week: Strong general target.
• 3× per week: Potentially very effective when recovery allows and the intensity accounts for higher frequency..
• 4× per week: More appropriate for smaller movements or intentionally prioritized qualities.

It’s important to understand with comprehensive training programs, these guidelines are not across the board. For example easy conditioning can be done 5x per week but high intensity sprinting should be done only twice a week. The harder something is, the more time you’ll need to recover before hitting it again.

Our Squat Example

We’ve run cycles where we squatted three times per week. When we tested afterward, the vast majority of our male coaches were squatting over 400 pounds.

We’ve also run cycles where we only squatted twice per week. Several guys who had previously squatted 400 didn’t reproduce those numbers.

That’s not a scientific study. It’s a coaching observation that illustrates a larger point:

If you want to get better at something, there’s generally value in doing it more often – within reason.

4. Progression: How Does It Improve?

Progression simply means making the training slightly more demanding over time. That could mean increasing:

• Volume
• Intensity
• Frequency
• Density
• Weight
• Reps
• Duration
• Output

Progressive overload is one of the most reliable ways we have to improve fitness.

But progression isn’t mandatory in every training phase. Transition phases, maintenance blocks, recovery phases, and some beginner programs may deliberately not be progressed.

Progression also creates fatigue as things get harder. And at some point, you’ll need to recover. You can’t turn every knob up forever.

Sometimes we’re building. Sometimes we’re maintaining. Sometimes we’re recovering so we can build again.

Putting It Together

A good program needs to provide:

Enough work.
Hard enough.
Often enough.
With progression when improvement is the goal.

Once those rules are in place, we suddenly have a lot more freedom with exercise selection and workout design.