When we learn about basic workout design, we are taught to think about the exercises we pick. And even how many reps and sets.

But we often forget about the importance of rest. About cycling intensity and not just always making something hard. About the energy systems we are working. And about the volume of our workouts and programs and what that means to the load, not only on our muscles, but also the connective tissues.

And then when we do design workouts and think about "layout," we all too often just turn to basic circuits or supersets.

But there are so many ways to design a workout and so many different techniques we can use outside of the "basics" to get results and keep things interesting.

There are so many fun “tweaks” that go a bit against those basics we know that can lead to killer results. 

However, to break the rules and get results, it is important that we first understand the rules and especially the basics. It is important we understand what and how each training variable can impact our workout design. 

So let’s first go over each variable to understand how to manipulate them to achieve whatever goals we want.

Whenever I post moves, the first thing I get asked is “How many reps and sets?” So because this is the first thing people think about when it comes to workouts, let’s start there!