Within our group programming we try to adhere to a rule we like to call the 60/40 rule.
What is the 60/40 rule?
Simply put, the rule is a guideline for our programming. The 60 is for the percentage of content within our program that is purely included due to the benefit it lends towards the development of strength, fitness or any other metric that we’re monitoring and testing within our group program.
The 40 is for the percentage of content that is included for the sole purpose of maintaining adherence to the program. This is things like bicep curls, bench press, Sit-Ups etc. The important thing to remember here is that the 60% (Goal driven) and the 40% (Adherence driven) are not mutually exclusive.
Everyone has different preferences, and we would hope that a lot of the exercises and training styles within the 60% are lending themselves towards benefiting the adherence aspect due to members seeing their goals and understanding that they are working through a process. Different people also like different things, although squats may be in the program as our primary lower body strength development tool, it doesn’t mean that squats can’t be something that a member enjoys and that play their part in a member’s adherence to a program.
Although the 60% is there as a must do when it comes to goal specific training, it doesn’t mean that it won’t contribute to an individual’s enjoyment of the program. The same can be said for the 40%. We may input burpees into a session purely on the basis that everyone enjoys them but that isn’t to say they aren’t a beneficial tool as part of conditioning development (Just kidding ;). Maybe a better example would be bicep curls. Although bicep curls may be in the program primarily as a tool to ensure those who enjoy bicep curls are enjoying the program, they will most certainly also aid the development of bicep strength which will in turn feed into pull-up strength development (which is within our 60%).
Why use the 60/40 gym programming rule?
Whenever we talk about our 60:40 rule the question we get asked most often is why 60:40, why not another ratio? The answer is simple. Frequency is king when it comes to training. Anyone can do 100% of exactly what is needed for them for a short period of time and anyone can do 100% of what is enjoyable but perhaps not beneficial. If that isn’t sustainable for them and they drop off then that style of training has not been beneficial from a longevity point of view. Our ethos is to make training implementable over a long period into our members’ lifestyle. More importantly, it must be enjoyable.
Aspects of the CT Barbell group programming that we focus purely on that 40% are for example creating a sense of community, being able to have a bit of ‘shithousery’ as well as having a great relationship between members as well as allocating some of our programming towards enjoyment (Although that may be hard to believe after a tough conditioning session or walking up the stairs after heavy squats).
In conclusion, our 60:40 rule is in place to enable us to deliver the perfect balance between a top quality tried and tested program while maintaining an enjoyable, sustainable community atmosphere.