Purposeful Primitive
Progressive Resistance

The profound purpose of proper resistance training is two-fold: trigger muscle growth and increase strength levels. Nothing else should be sought or expected. Weight training alone will NOT make you leaner, nor will it melt off stored body fat. The caloric cost of weight training is insignificant when compared to sustained cardiovascular exercise.

A nice metabolic bump does occur after an intense weight training session. Intensely trained muscles will generate a thermogenic effect that lasts for hours after the cessation of the session. The body’s thermostat is effectively turned up; and additional calories are required to feed the metabolically activated muscles.

There are six rules to follow when following the Purposeful Primitive Training Template:

Use free weights to near exclusion
Center training sessions on core compound multi-joint exercises
Training sessions are intense
Training sessions are short
Shocked and traumatized muscles need to be rested before training again
Technical proficiency is sought in all exercises

The Core4 Free Weight Exercises

The Core4 free weight exercises include: squat, bench press, deadlift and overhead press. We concentrate on doing fewer things better and seek to make light weights heavy by insisting on using full range of motion in all the Core4 exercises. Full ROM ensures maximum muscle fiber stimulation. In order to dig the deepest possible muscular inroad in our limited time to train (get the most from the least) we make liberal use of “intensity-amplifiers” such as pauses, slowed or accelerated rep speeds, assisted or resisted reps or drop set protocols. Intensity amplifiers are used to further enhance the degree of difficulty. Minimum volume only works by exerting maximum intensity.

Below are links to exercise descriptions and programming to guide you on your journey of transformation. In addition a master spreadsheet is included that you can download to track your progress in the three pillars of transformation.

Core4 Descriptions/Videos

Programming

No one practices programming or periodization because they want to stay the same: we train because we want to improve; we want to improve performance and one sure-fire way to improve performance is to improve the body. When we become significantly stronger, performance in any and all athletic benchmarks improves significantly. Below are training strategies for one and two day a week training. Each link takes you to a highly effective routine that outlines a periodized approach of sets and reps over a 12 week period for a beginner, intermediate or advanced trainee. Setting a plan to track your progress over a 12 week period is key to succeeding in your training goals.