Intake Document

Intake Document

Goals of this document

Welcome to the Engineered Fitness coaching program!

I’m going to outline what you’ll be getting in this coaching program, an overview of the methods I’m going to use to coach you, what I need from you, and expectations moving forward.

I want this to be a document you can refer back to over and over.

The details of your coaching will be done via weekly check-ins, but the bulk of what you need to know about your coaching should be contained in this document.

What you’re paying for

Custom workout program and training progression

I will write up your workouts based on your split (3/4/5 days/week). Your training will include strength building exercises and exercises designed to stimulate hypertrophy (muscle growth).

Form checks

When you progress to new weights, you can submit form checks which I will review.

3/6/9/12 Month Goal Setting

I will help you develop results- and process-oriented goals for the next 3/6/9/12 months. Most goals will be one or more of the following: adding lean mass (bulk), decreasing body fat (cut), strength building (performance).

Nutritional guidance (macronutrient split)

I will help develop a daily macronutrient split (calories, carbs, fats, and protein) that supports your goals (bulking, cutting, performance).

Unlimited Access

I will attempt to answer any and all questions you have about training, building muscle, losing body fat, and living a sustainable lifestyle.

Methods

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I'd like to talk a little bit about my training philosophy and the fundamentals I'll be using to coach you.

Progressive Overload

The training component that will most drive the success of your training program is [[progressive overload]].

Progressive overload is the practice of performing an increasing load over time.

In other words, you should be improving in weight, reps, or sets over the course of your training.

If you're not improving the weight/sets/reps of the exercise you're performing every week, you're likely not providing your body with the stimulus it needs to grow.

Therefore, the goal of this program each and every week is to simply improve on last week’s workout.

If you do more volume, that is progress. If you're increasing the weight you lift, that's progress. If you complete even a single rep more week-to-week, that's still progress. But because you'll be competing to beat the previous week's numbers, you'll likely see larger jumps each week than just a single rep.

Incremental progress each week leads to large progress over months.

Top Down vs Bottom Up

Top-down programs prescribe a weight/sets/reps. A coach will tell you the exercises, weight, sets, and reps, and you do just what the coach says (e.g. Do Incline DB Presses for 3x10 @ 50 lb.).

Bottom-up programming means you will be assessing your own ability level within each set. You'll be thinking, "how many more could I do?" during more or less every rep of the program.

This assessment is called your Reps In Reserve (RIR). Rather than tell you how many reps to perform, I'm going to ask you how many more reps you could have done.

Bottom-up programming prescribes a difficulty level and rep range at a given weight. (e.g. Do Incline DB Presses with 50lbs for 3 working sets until you have 3,2, and 1 reps in reserve, respectively).

I coach bottom-up for two reasons:

  • I don't know what you're capable of within each set.
  • You should be pushing yourself to improve week to week.

If I tell you to do Incline DB Press at 50lbs for 3x10, but you're capable of doing 3 sets of 12, I'm leaving you short 6 reps of volume that you could have performed.

Instead, I'll be coaching you to push until you have 3/2/1/0 reps left in the tank before form failure, and end your own set once you feel like you've reached that RIR threshold.

For example, let's say I give you 50lbs x \[3,2,1] reps in reserve. You go into set 1 knowing you're going to go until you have 3 reps left, so you get 12 thinking you could have maybe done 15. You start the next set, and feel that you could get 13, so you stop at 11.

The third set, you know you're going to 1 rep in reserve, basically one clean rep before form failure. "1, 2, 3, 4...". The weight starts to move a little more slowly as the reps get harder. You assess your ability. " Could I do 1 more? 5, 6, 7, 8...". Once you get up to 10 you feel like you're getting close to 1 rep in reserve. "9, 10, 11. Could I do 1 more? Yes, I can go a little more. 12, 13, 14...One more....15! That's it."

Boom. You just hit 50x12,11,15 at \[3,2,1] RIR.

This may seem confusing, but once you see the spreadsheet you'll be using to track your workouts it will all make sense.

Measurement Tools

Weekly workout spreadsheet

In order to make sure you're progressing, I'll be including a spreadsheet of your weekly workouts in Google Sheets.

You will know each day when you go into the gym the exercises you'll be performing, a weight and rep range you're attempting for each set, and a prescription of RIR (how many reps to leave in the tank for each set).

MyFitnessPal

The most comprehensive food tracker available. You will use this to track your food, and it can be used to track your weight and progress pictures as well.

Body Scans

Body scans will give us actionable data including body composition and measurements.

Training Log

Any note-taking method that allows you to track your workouts to fill out the weekly spreadsheet accurately. This can be notes in your phone, a journal, or even a piece of paper that you carry around with you when you're working out.

Necessary Data

To measure success we need to make sure we have the data necessary to track improvement. This data will also be informing the decisions I make as your coach. Success is going to be measured in a few different ways. Increasing lean mass, decreasing BF%, improving strength, and improving self-image are each a valid measurement of progress.

Weekly workout progressions

If I can't see what you're doing in the gym, I can't coach you to improve. Bottom line, we need to be able to prove that you're completing the workouts and getting stronger over time.

Body Scan Data

This data includes weight, BF%, LBM, BMR, TDEE.

Weekly weight

Although it's not the be-all end-all of progress, your bodyweight is an important metric that will likely be highly correlated with your success (either bulking or cutting).

I need to be able to see your weight to make adjustments on the fly. Additionally, logging your weight is really easy. It should just be part of your morning routine:

  • Wake up
  • Take a pee
  • Log your weight
  • Take a progress picture

Weekly Progress Pictures

Progress pictures are the data that you'll likely have the deepest emotional connection to. Progress is often slow and challenging, but progress pictures can be a great way of motivating yourself to continue once you see the improvements you've made.

Without progress pictures, it's very difficult to know for sure that we're seeing progress. Like it or not, the measurement of success that's going to mean the most to you is probably how you feel when you look in the mirror.

Expectations

If you're going to be paying for coaching, bottom line is I expect you to do what I tell you follow the program and hold yourself accountable. If you can afford this program, I assume you work at a job to pay for it, so I expect you to approach this program like you would your job, and complete the weekly requirements I set for you.

You complete the tasks I put in front of you each week, and we work together to make sure you get results.

Weekly requirements of the client (You)

Weekly Check In

  • Perform weekly workouts and update weekly workout spreadsheet
  • Take weekly progress pictures
  • Track your weight regularly
  • Track your food every day
  • 30 min zoom/in person check in 1x/mo
  • Communicate with me online on any questions you might have (preferrably through email)

Weekly requirements of the coach (Me)

  • Develop, monitor and update weekly workout spreadsheet
  • Assess client progress weekly
  • Assess form checks
  • Monitor client physique progress 2x per month
  • Communicate goals and expectations of the program
  • Answer any and all client questions

Things we need to start your coaching

  • Read and understand intake document
  • Understand weekly workout spreadsheet (see below)
  • Perform Week 0 of your training split and update values
  • Send in 'Before' pictures
  • Establish goals (bulking, cutting, strength building)

Understanding Weekly workout spreadsheet

I've attached the weekly spreadsheet, but first I want to explain what I've sent you. This is a basic template for a 3/4/5/6-day split, but nothing in this program is set in stone. I want you to do exercises you enjoy doing or are already doing on a weekly basis.

This is going to be the program you're sticking with for the next 4-8 weeks, so I want to make sure you like the workouts.

Altering the workouts

Similar exercises can be swapped in/out if you feel like a movement isn't working for you.

For example, a Hack Squat is a compound movement for the legs which we'll be completing in the hypertrophy rep range (10-15 reps), but you could easily swap it out for another compound movement like a leg press or a trap bar squat.

Of course, if you have injuries, mobility issues, or just personal bias against any exercise, I will help you find alternative exercises.

Week 0

I've included your initial 3/4/5/6 day split. If you'd rather do other similar exercises, just log it when you train and record what you did.

The cells in red are going to be the cells you're going to fill in.

Week 0 (Launch week) is your baseline week. Right now, I don't have any idea what type of weight/reps you can do on any exercise. Week 0 is for discovering those weights.

I just want to get an idea of what a hard set of ~5 or 10 reps (strength/hypertrophy) feels like. Once I know what a challenging set of ~5 or 10 reps is for you, I will build your progression off those weights.

When in doubt, just do a set of 10 and assess your reps in reserve (RIR). Record your workouts with your phone or journal, and update the spreadsheet accordingly.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has served as a comprehensive overview of what you should expect with this coaching program.

As this is a new program, I expect there are plenty of clarifications I've failed to answer sufficiently here, so please ask lots of questions so we're both on the same page.

The reason I created this program is that I felt like I could be doing a lot more to help people get results. I want you to get results. I've attempted to build this program so that, if you're compliant with the weekly requirements, you must get results.

Although nothing is guaranteed, if you're not improving in some way, then I'm failing as a coach. So please give me as much feedback as you can on how I can better help you as we progress through this program.

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