This blog is going to introduce you to 5 simple steps to create your Progressive Predictive Plan for your Level 3 PT coursework.
You’ll discover:
- Why so many trainee Personal Trainers get stuck on the 8-week and 12-week plan
- What is a Progressive Predictive plan and how does this fit with your level 3 PT coursework
- 6-minute video tutorial to explain how to create a progressive plan for your client
- Five simple steps to complete your progressive predictive plan without overwhelm or confusion
- How to advance your knowledge and confidence as a FitPro inside 31 days
Why so many trainee Personal Trainers get stuck on the 8-week and 12-week plan
This is notoriously the toughest part of the Level 3 PT coursework, and I reckon that is down to two big reasons:
- It’s a big empty box with little to no guidance of how to complete it
- You haven’t been taught how to create an overview that includes logical progression
And the biggest problem with this is that most Personal Trainers graduate without ever FULLY UNDERSTANDING how to create a long term predictive over view for their client sessions.
What is a Progressive Predictive plan?
A Progressive Predictive Plan is an overview showing HOW you are going to get the client their goal by applying key progressions of variables, over a set time frame.
Which basically means you need to show a map of the 8 week or 12 week journey to your client achieving their goal.
All the awarding bodies and training providers have slightly different recommendations as to how they would like it to be completed.
However, the foundational 5 steps I show you today are appropriate for everyone (even after you’ve graduated and are working with real clients). Be mindful to check the recommendations inside your L3 PT coursework to check you are including everything your training provider requires.
The six-minute video tutorial below will help you with either an eight-week or twelve-week progressive plan for your client.
6 Minute Video Tutorial: Progressive Predictive Plan
There are 5 clear steps you need to follow to master your L3 PT progressive plan
STEP 1: Goals
The first of these five steps is to make sure that you are truly aware of what your client’s goal is.
It is absolutely crucial that your client’s medium term goal is a very clear SMART goal that lasts 8 or 12 weeks (depending on the requirement of yoru coursework)
This goal should also be a performance goal, which means it is super easy to measure that your client has achieved that goal at the end of your plan.
Goals are so important, that I have two more video tutorials to help you craft the perfect goals for your PT casestudy and client:
- The goal should be a PERFORMANCE goal that is clearly measurable, learn more about Process and Performance goals HERE
- The goal needs to be described in a SMART format, learn how to write this for your case study HERE
STEP 2: Chunks of Adaptation
Now you have a very clear goal, step two is to understand what physiological adaptation you want your client to have by the end of the eight week or twelve-week goal.
The best way to do that is to divide it up in chunks, kinda like how a book is divided up into chapters.
If you’ve got an 8-week goal divide it into two chunks of four if you’ve got a 12-week goal divide it into three chunks of four weeks.
These chunks (or chapters) are called mesocycles
And each mesocycle has a clear outcome or physiological adaptation you would like your client to achieve by the end of each chunk,
These chunks/ mesocycles build-up systematically to achieve their goal at the end.
For example, I could say I want to focus on endurance training and endurance adaptation in this first four weeks and then focus on hypertrophy in the second four weeks.
or I might want to focus on the distance that my client is running in the first four weeks (if they’ve got an event for a running goal) and then I could work on the speed that they’re gonna compete at, in the second mesocycle.
Think about the end outcome after 8-weeks or 12 weeks and consider their starting point.
Create the chunks/ mesocycles that break up the bigger goal, and start to place logical milestones/ outcomes after every 4 weeks.
This will basically allow you to now have an understanding of what you need to aim towards achieving, and the adaptation you expect.
In this example, mesocycle 1 is focused on endurance, I know that I want to focus on type 1 muscle fibers and using aerobic energy system. This helps focus my planning for those first 4 weeks.
If I’m looking for hypertrophy I know I want the type 2a muscle fibers and I also want to be targeting the lactic acid system as much as I possibly can.
It gives you an idea of what physiological adaptation is required in each of the four weeks, within your Level 3 PT Overview of Progressive Predictive Plan.
If you are totally stuck when it comes to physiological adaptation, and knowing how this links to planning then we have a 31 day coaching program that will teach you this with simplicity.
Our FitPro31 course is invite-only, so if you’d like to find out more, CONTACT ME HERE and I’ll send you the details of FitPro-31
STEP 3: The GAS Principle
We’ve got the general progression that we’re looking for across the eight weeks now we’re going to break that down even further to understand the individual progressions.
In order to do that, I definitely advise you use the gas principle so the GAS principle means general adaptation syndrome.
General adaptation syndrome (GAS) is related to building up the progression week on week with your client.
You make it harder each week for three weeks but on the fourth week we drop down which allows the adaptation to happen in the body.
All of the demand we’ve already put on the body causes stress, and the fourth week is an adaptation week to allow that stress to turn into results.
We reduce something in that week to encourage recovery.
Each mesocycle has this same three-up-one-down pattern.
Your step three is to basically draw this gas principle out whereby it’s going up up up and then down, up up up and then down,
and apply that across your 8-12 week Level 3 PT Overview of Progressive Predictive Plan Now.
STEP 4: Progression
We’re going to show the set progression in each week so in order to do this we need to be aware of the FITT principle:
- Frequency
- Intensity
- Time
- Type
We are going to plan the FITT for both CV and for resistance over all weeks. The easiest way to do this is to do it on two separate grids.
Draw one of these for CV and then another one for resistance training and then you want to detail the frequency intensity time and type that your client is gonna do for each of these weeks.
We’re gonna look for a steady progression on the first three weeks and then bring it down a notch on the fourth week to resemble this gas principle that we’ve just drawn a quick example of.
If I only go to the gym and do cardiovascular once a week in the first week, but then I want to go twice a week in the second week and then I’m gonna go twice a week on the third week and then drop down to just once a week on the fourth week.
You can progress the frequency and then drop it back down also you can progress the intensity and progress this along so that something changes in every single week and that’s the main way to show the progression from the beginning all the way across the end.
At least one part of your frequency, intensity, time and type will change inside every single week.
STEP 5: Program Cards
Once you’ve now detailed all of your FITT for all wweeks for CV and resistance training this is your Level 3 PT Overview of Progressive Predictive Plan complete.
Pick which ones you would like to turn into a program card so for example you might pick week two or maybe your training provider want you to do Week 4 and 8.
You take your FITT overview for that week and then create a programme card
This is a way to stop you from going around and around in circles about what to actually put in your program card because now you’ve got the detail of how intense they need to be training. You even know which training systems they need to be using, all you need to address now is the timings and the exercises.
It makes it laser-focused on what you need to include on every single program card.
Do you want more confidence in your ability to get a result as a FitPro?
Find out how you can improve your training knowledge and application simultaneously in 31 days
FITPRO-31 is not another course with more exams or for trainee fitness peep… far from it.
It’s all about Practical application of Training Knowledge and building your CONFIDENCE as a FITPRO
You’ll supercharge your confidence and knowledge to work with clients and guarantee their goals.
I guarantee you’ll have hundreds of “ah ha” moments as you progress your knowledge in coaching, planning, nutrition and behaviour change.
If you are constantly doubting your ability to get a result with a client and you want to build your confidence with more knowledge and practical application
Book a free strategy call HERE and we’ll send you all the details about FitPro31 as well as hop on a call with you to answer your questions and see if you are a good fit for the programme 🙂
Hayley “Progressive Predictive Plan” Bergman
Parallel Coaching
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