Getting Fit by First Principles - Part 5 - The Program
By Victor Wong | 16 Aug, 2026

Victor (00:00)

on this episode of Getting Fit by First Principles, I will be discussing how to structure your own training block.

Victor (00:11)

The get-go, I will say that there is no need for complex program design. For most people, having a simple, repeatable, one-week template is more than enough. I find that it is sort of the habits around the training program that have a greater impact than the training program itself.

Victor (00:36)

I am referring to things such as sticking to the program, eating properly, sleeping properly, as well as logging your performance workout to workout. This is where I find that people mess up.

Victor (00:53)

The reason why many gym goers can spend years, even decades in the gym without seeing any appreciable improvement in their physique, strength, etc, etc, is due to a lack of structure and system.

Victor (01:11)

If you have listened to my previous episodes about the philosophy behind training, then you could imagine what a directionless person in the gym would probably look like versus somebody focused with a clear goal, right? If you're not intending to excel at anything, then you are simply going to look like someone that does not excel at anything.

Victor (01:39)

Now, that being said, the type of workout I would propose is going to be largely based on strength with some sprinting. And the important thing to do is after you lay out one whole week of training, is that you log the effort that you put in every week. And after every workout, see if you can push the limit either through.

Reps or adding weight to the exercise.

Victor (02:13)

I outlined this sample week of programming at the end of my last podcast. And the reason why it's so minimal is this is what I believe to be the bare minimum effective dose for a relatively novice lifter to see progress.

Victor (02:35)

Have it built very, very minimally to allow people to fill in the gaps with whatever pursuits that they want to fill it in with. Like if you really wanna want big arms, you can add multiple sets of arm accessories such as trisop extensions and bicep curls or whatever. Or if you just want to go on a bike ride, you can go on a bike ride instead.

The whole point of this program is to allow flexibility for whatever goals you want.

Victor (03:08)

So as a refresher, the program I had laid out was one day of upper body push with a paired with a lower body hinge. So think something like an overhead press and a deadlift. The second day I had an upper body pull paired with a lower body squat. So think of a barbell back squat paired with a pull-up. And then for the last day, I have an upper body.

push and upper body pull. So think things like bench pressing or rows or, you know, machine variations of the two or dumbbell variations of those two things. And then sprinting, which is another form of leg workout.

Victor (03:54)

Now for your compound put upper body push, upper body pull, and your hinge and your squat, I'm going to recommend a shockingly low amount of volume. For to start off, I would recommend just doing two sets of five repetitions for each of those exercises with a weight you can do comfortably for five repetitions.

Victor (04:18)

And every week on the second set, I would recommend that you would treat it as what's called a top set, meaning that you put a little extra effort in pushing your limits. For starters, I would recommend pushing the rep count on the second set. So if the first week you do five reps for the first set and five reps on the second set, I would recommend that every week you try to squeeze out.

one more repetition on that second set.

Victor (04:53)

So for example, if you are doing pull-ups, right, and you do two sets of five repetitions on your first week, the following week you should push for five reps on your first set and then possibly six reps

Victor (05:13)

If on that second set you are able to reach ten or more repetitions, you should raise the weight by let's say five pounds.

Victor (05:28)

When it comes to sprinting, I would recommend something fairly low volume, like five repetitions of 40 meters with four minutes of rest in between each effort.

Victor (05:43)

Obviously

warm up thoroughly before attempting any sort of sprinting as it can be surprisingly injurious if you are not properly conditioned for it.

Victor (05:54)

And the reason why I also included a third day for upper body pushing and pulling in this proposed workout program is the upper body can typically recover more quickly and handle more load than the lower body. And again, this gives you an opportunity to fill in the gaps of whatever you were missing from prior days. So if you were doing mostly vertical pushing and pulling, you could use this day to

do horizontal pushing and pulling.

Victor (06:26)

So the next caveat I also have to mention is regarding form and safety. Since I am asking you to push yourself just a little bit harder week by week, some form breakdown is expected. However, you should exercise a little bit of caution when it comes to that, because certain lifts I find do not lend themselves to be failed very safely.

Victor (06:55)

make sure you are doing the correct things and keep yourself safe when performing these exercises, right? Use spotter arms when doing bench presses and squats, and make sure that you're not handling more weight than you can safely control. Because each of these reps should be performed with.

Good

control and good technique. There is a time to utilize bad form, especially when it comes to pushing your limits, but we have to be reasonable.

Victor (07:29)

That is also why I have my recommendations at fairly low volumes, because as long as the intensity is sufficiently high, I find that most trainees can get adaptation. Now you can start adding more volume based on some pretty simple heuristics.

Victor (07:49)

This is again where tracking becomes very, very important, right? Because as you progress week by week, month by month, it's important to keep track of how you are feeling session by session, week by week, and whether or not the weight on each exercise is increasing.

Victor (08:12)

If

you find that you are plateauing on your main lifts but you feel sufficiently recovered, chances are you can handle a little bit more volume. If you are finding that you are plateauing on your lifts and you are feeling terrible, chances are you may be doing too much.

Victor (08:34)

Now, programming and training is also a journey of self-discovery. It's hard for me as a disembodied voice on the screen to really tell you what you're supposed to do because everybody is different. They everybody has different tolerances. So a lot of your training time is going to be spent figuring out what works for you individually.

Victor (09:02)

Now the reason why I have this program written out so minimally is over the years I found that it is much easier to start out with a little bit and then scale up over time rather than starting out with a lot and scaling down. Because especially if you are new to the gym, it can be daunting having an entire laundry list of exercises to complete each session.

Which can be psychologically damaging. But if you see that you only have two lifts to do, then it in a way becomes exciting. Then you can always add more if you feel like you want to do more.

Victor (09:43)

Because at the end of the day, your physical training should be something that complements your life, but it shouldn't be your entire life.