OPEX Programming Principles: What, Who, Where, When, Why?
The OPEX Programming: Principles course is an introductory program designed to help coaches or personal trainers develop a better understanding of effective program design.
What to expect:
It’s a 100 percent online course that costs USD$195 and includes 10 hours of videos and a 40-page resource guide.
The course teaches basic strength and conditioning principles, and also dives into the basics of the OPEX methodology of individually designed fitness, the assessment process, strength training, resistance training, and energy system development.
Here’s a brief rundown of the various pieces of the syllabus covered in this course:
- Introduction
- Health Continuum
- Functional Fitness
- Assess Don’t Guess
- OPEX Body
- OPEX Move
- OPEX Work
- The Strength Continuum
- Maximal Physical Potential
- Adaptation in Physical Fitness
- Anaerobic Development
- Aerobic Development
- The Muscle Endurance Tree
- Energy Systems Training
- Dose Response
- The Three P’s
- Mixed Modal Training
- Mixed Modal Aerobic
- Mixed Modal Aerobic Implementation
- Mixed Modal Anaerobic
- Mixed Modal Anaerobic Implementation
- Concurrent Training
- Concurrent Training Implementation
- Gain: Resistance Training
- Gain: Resistance Training Implementation
- Pain: Energy Systems Training
- Pain Lactic Implementation
- Sustain Aerobic Training
- Sustain Aerobic Implementation
- Conclusion and Next Steps
You can also preview various aspects of the course and download the syllabus here.
Who is behind the course:
Programming: Principles is taught by OPEX COO Carl Hardwick, a man who has dedicated his life to fitness. A former all-conference football player and U.S. Army veteran, Carl spent time learning from the late world-renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin, and completed his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) before meeting OPEX Founder James FitzGerald.
In this course, Hardwick puts the principles into practice by using six different client avatars and showing how to design effective personalized programs for each. These case studies help bridge the gap between theory and implementation, giving the coach the tools to do the same with their own clients.
Who should take the course:
Programming: Principles is “a great starting point” for new coaches to learn about individual program design, explained OPEX CEO Jim Crowell. In this sense, it acts as the perfect prerequisite for the more elaborate and time-consuming OPEX Coach Certificate Program (CCP).
“It’s perfect for someone who doesn’t have any program design experience and wants to gain some baseline knowledge and learn the key points about individual program design and how to implement it,” Crowell said. “Or for anyone who wants a better practical understanding of effective programming.”
Why:
Hardwick explained exactly why: “Coaches have a tendency to design training based on their personal biases. If those biases are built on principles, they will design effective training programs to get their clients results.”
He added: “This course teaches coaches the necessary principles to build great programs.”
This essentially limits the guesswork many coaches experience when they start programming for clients and provides practical tools and a framework to help them create more systematic and effective programs that provide their clients’ real results.
It’s also useful for any coach needing continued education credits for a NASM, ISSA or CanFit Pro certification.
Where and when:
As mentioned, this is an online course. You can register here, today.
Or you can begin with this free Coach’s Toolkit.
