To a strength coach, exercise and train-
ing are as different as chalk and cheese.
“Exercise is something you do today
because of how it makes you feel today,”
says Rippetoe. “Training is a planned
process to achieve a result somewhere
down the road.”
Most gymgoers are exercisers, says
Rippetoe. They might hit chest and tris on
Monday, run a few miles on Tuesday, and
shoot hoops on Thursday. Each workout
bears little relation to the one before or
after it, so their progress is minimal. Yes,
it’s infinitely better than nothing at all.
But to improve your performance at a
particular activity, you need to program
a performance increase for that activity
consistently. “I don’t want my muscles
to be confused,” he says. “I want them to
know exactly how I want them to adapt.”
Set Multiple Goals
An effective exercise routine is shaped
by specific goals—short-term as well as
long-term—toward which every workout
is a distinct stepping-stone. That often
requires taking the long view.
“Let’s say you want to run a 10K. You
might have five obstacles you need to
overcome before you can complete that
goal,” says Alex Viada, C.S.C.S., of Complete
Human Performance in Durham, North
Carolina. You may need to address your
mobility or body composition before you
can start thinking about your running
pace. But even if you have a long way
to go, Viada says, just ask yourself what
you can do now to bring each goal a little
closer and make the big goal easier. Then
get to work on that—consistently—one
workout at a time.
50th percentile (average)
80th percentile (top 20%)
95th percentile (top 5%)STRENGTH
Pushups
(max reps)Age (^5)
(^0) ~
Ag^59
e^
20
~^2
9
A
ge
(^30)
~ 3
9
Ag
e^
40
~
49
3962
4052
47 25
39 30
33 15
27 21
Not sure where to focus your fitness
efforts? The following standards from
the Cooper Institute show how you
stack up against men your age on
four key measures of fitness. If you
hit the 95th percentile on any test,
you can consider yourself elite in that
category. If you’re in the 80th, you’re
fit. Fall below 50th? That’s a weak
point. You’ll need to focus your efforts
on improving that area of fitness.