You’ve rid the house of the Christmas and New Year treats. The decorations are down and the house has returned to semi-normality. The kids are back to school and the grown ups are back in work. The time for getting into the swing of your 2026 routine is now!
Beginning (or starting back) at the gym can seem really tricky after a few weeks of indulgence; more food, less movement and in particular being bang out of routine. One thing we’ve noticed in our house is actually how much we value the rhythm of our routine – something which has been so obvious in its absence.
The same thing applies to our exercise. In the valuable free time that we have, we come to train at the gym with a plan in place. No time is wasted, we are working towards progression & goals, and the overwhelm of looking around the gym floor and making it up on the spot doesn’t happen.
To help with setting up our own training programmes, we look to some fundamental evidence-based principles when creating a plan. We’ve collated them below and hope they help when thinking about your own training.
- Resistance machines are the biggest underrated tools for functional strength.
Many people assume that free weights are superior to machines, but this isn’t the case and exercise selection very much depends on you as the individual. At Precision One Coaching, we use machines strategically to help clients develop strength, stability and confidence in their movement. Machines provide guidance and support to help control movement patterns and reduce the risk of poor technique. They improve muscle activation because there is less need for stabilisation, allowing you to better focus on the targeted muscles. They also allow faster progression because more control helps you master movement patterns before advancing to free weights.
For example, if someone struggles with control when doing a squat, jumping straight into a barbell back squat isn’t always the best option. Instead, we might start with a machine-based alternative like the leg press to build strength safely and efficiently.
- Start with more single-joint exercises before multi-joint movements.
In strength training, you’ll often hear about compound (multi-joint) exercises and isolation (single-joint) exercises. While multi-joint movements like chest presses or squats are great for overall strength, beginners often benefit from a higher ratio of single-joint exercises first.
For example, before jumping into a chest press, we might introduce a chest fly machine to isolate the chest and improve muscle strength and control, and a triceps pushdown using a cable or machine to strengthen the triceps, which assist in pressing movements. By strengthening individual muscle groups first, clients can progress more efficiently when transitioning to multi-joint compound exercises in later phases. This structured approach has helped many of our clients gain better control, reduce injury risk and build strength faster.
- Choose a workout plan you actually enjoy.
It doesn’t matter how scientifically optimised your programme is if you hate your workouts, you won’t stick to them. Your routine should be sustainable, starting with two to three sessions per week, which is enough for most people’s goals. It should be time-efficient, aiming for six exercises per session that can be completed in under an hour. It should also be progressive, starting with moderate reps of eight to twelve per set and increasing weight as you gain control.
Bonus tips for smarter strength training include:
- Starting light and earning the right to lift heavier by focusing on mastering technique first.
- Control every rep and avoid using momentum, focusing on pausing in the end ranges of your movements.
- Two to four sets per exercise is enough.
- More volume isn’t always better for beginners, and we would encourage only performing one set for each muscle group, with a maximum of two sets to start, which can be progressively increased over time.
