If You Can’t Explain It, It Doesn’t Belong:
How I Build Training Programs
One of the biggest shifts in my coaching career came when I stopped looking at programs as collections of exercises—and started treating them as systems built around a clear idea.
Every program I write starts the same way:
With a thesis.
Not a template.
Not a random mix of movements.
Not something I saw online.
A thesis.
Because if I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to develop, there’s no way I can build something that actually gets an athlete there.
Start With the Thesis
The thesis is simple:
What are we trying to develop—and how are we going to get there?
It should align with:
- The athlete’s goals
- Their current abilities
- The structure of training that will move them forward
This gives me something to constantly come back to.
Because no matter what happens during a training cycle—good sessions, bad sessions, adjustments, fatigue—I always have a reference point.
If something feels off, I don’t panic.
I go back to the thesis.
Eliminate Before You Add
Once I know where we’re going, I don’t immediately start adding exercises.
I start removing them.
The first filter is simple:
What can this athlete safely do right now?
If a movement isn’t safe, it’s out.
No debate. No ego. No “we’ll figure it out later.”
From there, the next question becomes:
What can they learn and execute well enough to actually improve?
Because something can be “effective” in theory—but useless if the athlete can’t perform it properly.
Eliminate Before You Add
I come from Olympic weightlifting. That’s my foundation.
But I don’t believe it’s the only way.
There are a lot of paths to developing strength, power, and performance. Different sports require different solutions. Different athletes respond to different inputs.
The mistake coaches make is believing their way is the only way.
The better approach is:
Use your foundation—but stay open enough to learn from others.
Because the goal isn’t to prove your system right.
The goal is to help the athlete improve.
Build Around Priorities
Once we’ve filtered for safety and ability, we start building.
This is where most programs go wrong.
Coaches try to do everything.
Instead, we need to ask:
What actually matters most for this athlete right now?
That becomes the priority.
Everything else supports it.
For example:
If an athlete’s goal is body composition, we might look at:
- Strength work (to build muscle and drive adaptation)
- Conditioning (to support energy expenditure)
But even then, we’re making decisions inside that:
Is running the best form of conditioning?
Or does it create too much stress alongside heavy squatting?
Now we’re not just adding work.
We’re making intentional choices.
If You Can’t Explain It, Remove It
This is the standard I hold my coaches to:
If you can’t clearly explain why something is in the program, it doesn’t belong.
Not:
- “It adds more work”
- “I’ve always done it”
- “It felt right”
That’s not good enough.
Every movement should have a purpose.
Every piece should tie back to the thesis.
Because when you start stacking things without intention, you’re not building a program.
You’re creating noise.
Stay Within Your Scope
This is where things can get uncomfortable—but it matters.
If you can’t teach it, you shouldn’t program it.
I’ve seen too many situations where coaches include Olympic lifts in programs… but don’t actually coach them.
They hand athletes a sheet with cleans or snatches—and hope it works out.
That’s not coaching.
That’s a liability.
If an athlete can’t learn it safely and effectively, it doesn’t matter how “good” the movement is on paper.
It doesn’t belong.
Now, I’m not saying avoid those movements.
I’m saying:
- Learn how to teach them
- Or choose something else
Because safety and execution always come first.
Programs Are Built on Relationships
At the end of the day, none of this works without the relationship.
You can write the perfect program on paper.
But if you don’t understand the athlete in front of you—how they feel, how they respond, what they’re dealing with outside the gym—it falls apart.
Programming isn’t static.
It’s responsive.
There are days to push.
There are days to pull back.
And those decisions don’t come from the spreadsheet.
They come from communication.
Check Your Ego
One of the hardest things for coaches to do is admit when something isn’t working.
Because changing a program can feel like admitting you were wrong.
But holding onto something that isn’t helping the athlete?
That’s the real mistake.
This isn’t about us.
It’s about them.
And if something needs to change, we change it.
No hesitation. No attachment.
Build Systems, Not Sessions
When you approach programming this way, everything becomes clearer.
You’re not guessing.
You’re not filling space.
You’re not chasing variety for the sake of it.
You’re building a system.
One that:
- Has a clear direction
- Prioritizes what matters
- Adapts when needed
- And always comes back to the “why”
Because at the end of the day:
If you can’t explain it… it doesn’t belong.