INDICATOR EXERCISES by Joe DeFranco
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Now that I’ve provided you with all my templates, I’d like to wrap things up by discussing the importance of havingindicator exercises in your program.
I firmly believe that every strength program must include indicator exercises. Your indicator exercises are, essentially, your “money” exercises. They’re the exercises that’ll tell you whether your program is working or not. There are no rules to what your indicator exercises should be. I recommend simply choosing 3-5 exercises that you feel are the most important movements in your strength program in terms of determining your progress. You must then figure out which exercises help strengthen your indicator exercises, as well as which exercises don’tcarry over to your indicator exercises. Keep the exercises in your program that strengthen your indicator exercises. Eliminate the ones that don’t carry over.
Generally speaking, in our strength program, we have four indicator exercises – two upper body and two lower. Our indicator exercises are:
#1 – Box Squat
#2 – Vertical jump and/or Box Jump
#3 – Bench Press
#4 – Chin-ups
For the majority of our athletes, all of the other exercises we perform in our program are intended to “build” our four indicator exercises. If we can simultaneously improve these four exercises, we know we’re developing many different aspects of strength. For example, the box squat and bench press require absolute strength for the lower and upper body, respectively. The vertical jump (or box jump) requires an athlete to display his/her strength rapidly – explosive power – and we’ve also found that jump height directly correlates with an athlete’s sprinting speed. The chin-up test requires tremendous relative body strength which we’ve also found to correlate with an athlete’s sprinting speed. As you can see, if we can improve our four indicator exercises, we know our clients are developing “balanced” strength and power. This builds a terrific foundation for all athletes.
By contrast, if an athlete’s bench press and box squat numbers have improved, but their vertical jump and chin-up performance have deteriorated, we know we need to alter the program and reevaluate the athlete’s nutritional habits, etc. If an athlete increases only his/her absolute strength, without improvement in relative strength or explosive power, he/she may become slower and less agile. This is why we place a huge emphasis on improving ALL FOUR of our indicator exercises.
To summarize:
If you determine what your indicator exercises are, you’ll be better able to design a productive program for yourself. Every couple of weeks (or months), test yourself in your indicator exercises. If they improve, no one can tell you that your program sucks! If your indicator exercises do not improve, you’ll then know that you have to make changes to your exercise selection, training volume, diet, or any other training variables that may be hindering your progress. By having indicator exercises, you’ll constantly be able to monitor your progress and make adjustments along the way. This will improve your results dramatically, as well as your training knowledge and your ability to design a program that best suits your needs!
