Want to follow the same workouts and programming as Paragon Founder, Bryan Boorstein? Now you can with Bryan’s Program from Paragon Training Methods!
- If you are an existing member, select “Bryan’s Program” within our app (:
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Program Deets
- Workout Sessions: 75-90 min per lifting session
- Frequency: ~4 days a week (oftentimes 5 lifting sessions over 8-9 calendar days)
- Equipment Needed: Dumbbells, adjustable bench, leg machines + dual cables
- Ideal Program For: Advanced trainees at a commercial gym
- Cardio: 3 sessions per 8-9 day period (Zone 2 twice, Zone 5 once)
The Breakdown
Hey y’all! Paragon Founder and Programming Expert Bryan Boorstein here!
Over the last couple of years, the program I follow for myself has evolved quite a bit. I have put an extremely large focus on exercise selection and exercise execution (choosing movements, and how they’re performed).
The execution/technique part has provided a tremendous benefit to the entire Paragon community. The trickle-down effect on the members has been astounding. I have seen so much excitement over the idea of improving the quality of movement; the pursuit of beauty in the ranges of motion dictated by optimality. Very impressive execution from many of the Paragon members!
Focusing on exercise execution can dramatically enhance your training experience, both in the ability to produce results, but also in the longevity of the pursuit (staving off accumulation injuries, etc…). As we move down the realm of importance, we have exercise selection.
This relates to the specific exercises that are in the program. This piece is more difficult to pass on to the members through general programming. If I were to write a program with narrow exercise options that require specific machines, the program wouldn’t be practical for as many people.
But there is certainly a decent group of people that train exclusively at commercial gyms and don’t mind holding down a functional trainer unit for 30+ minutes. There are those that will go in search of the best hack squat, or a gym that has a pendulum squat. It’s certainly very possible to find yourself in a gym that would provide you access to the majority of the nuanced movements that make up this advanced exercise selection piece (any Golds, 24-hour, Lifetime, or other well-equipped gyms should be sufficient).
So now, Paragon will be offering the option to follow my own personal program right with me!
Even though exercise selection is a relatively large part of my program, there are certainly many other elements that will be quite different from other Paragon programs.
What You Should Know
1. Programming will be meant for a commercial gym setting (you’ll need a barbell, dumbbells, an adjustable bench, plenty of machines, as well as a dual cable machine). In some cases, where applicable, there will be options provided for free-weight alternatives. Most cable movements can be emulated with a banded setup. Many machines can be emulated with free-weight alternatives (even if it doesn’t quite accomplish the exact technical replication).
2. The program often runs as 5 sessions over an 8-9 day calendar period. This means it is not on the calendar week, necessarily. This is beautiful because you can train on whatever days fit your schedule, and just make sure to stay in order! If you want to always work out on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – then you can just make those your training days each week.
3. Everything is a REPEATING MOVEMENT! This is very different from the normal Paragon programs, where parts A and B are usually repeating movements and C-D-E typically change week-to-week. With this program, the exercise selection stays the same from session to session.
4. If the exercises all stay the same, what changes from week to week? Each week we will progress the stimulus.
This may mean adding:
A. Effort (working closer to failure)
B. Additional set (more volume)
C. Partial Reps past failure / lengthened sets (to emphasize tension at long muscle lengths)
D. Intensity Techniques (Dropsets, Rest/pause sequence, supersets, isometric holds, etc…)
5. Autoregulated Deloads will occur every 5-8 weeks (generally). Because we are all individuals and may reach the point of fatigue earlier or later than someone else, you can opt to take your deload prior to or after the time it is actually programmed.
My preferred form of deload these days is to just take 4-6 days completely off.
Sometimes, I will do a “proper” deload week, if we are introducing new movements (like at the start of a new cycle). However, Mid-Cycle Deloads tend to just be a few days off, and then followed by what I call a “reset week.” This is essentially a time to dial back the proximity to failure across all movements, and then work forward, building week to week.
The other deload style we may use is called a “Frequency Deload,” which means that the intensity of effort and volume per session may not change. Instead, we may do our 5 lifting sessions over 10-12 days, instead of the usual 8-9 days. These few extra rest days can help facilitate progress, and keep the cycle going for a few more weeks.
6. Advanced Terminology. The program will use terms such as Ramp-up Sets, RIR, Partials, Reverse Dropsets, Lengthened Overload, Short Overload, Lengthened Sets, Stretch, Contracted, etc…. If you have any questions on these terms, you can always post them in the FB group. But keep in mind this is definitely a program for those with quite a few years of training experience under their belt!
7. Specific exercise execution guidelines. This is possibly one of the biggest values of the program. I will provide notes under each movement in the app, where I will provide technical tips to enhance your execution of each movement.
“Remember to initiate the rep gradually hitting the gas pedal, instead of exploding into the rep.”
OR
“Remember to think ‘hips back / hips forward’ instead of ‘torso down and up’ (Good Morning cue)
OR
“Slow down into the transition and make sure to FEEL the deep stretch at the lengthened position.”
8. Video demo of all exercises. I will have a linked YouTube video with the exact exercise prescription, performed in the precise manner (as intended to elicit the desired response physiologically). As always, you can post your own “form check” videos into the Facebook group. I would love to help you master the nuance of these complicated movements and work closer to hitting that BULLSEYE of rep quality!
9. Weekly write-ups discussing objectives and “what’s changed” for the week (such as added partials, drop in RIR, the addition of set, etc…). This weekly write-up will be at the top of the post in the app. It will explain the intention for the week of training, and what methods will be used that week to “progress the stimulus” of the training response.
Who Would Benefit Most From This Program?
On the hierarchy of importance, the best you can do is have a 1-on-1 coach that knows your psychology and physiology and has created programming specifically for you. This can be expensive and take years to develop that relationship with a coach. You can also “know thyself” and develop your own program for your individual needs. Beyond that, we have a large range of general programs in the industry now.
On one extreme, we have programs that are very templated, barely mention effort/intensity, and look super vanilla. These are usually higher volume programs with 20-30 sets per session and probably assume a lower level of effort (otherwise people would literally not survive all these sets session to session). On the other extreme, we have programs that overcook the effort/intensity. Everything is a drop set, or superset, or some sort of “added intensity” technique, and going to failure or beyond is an expectation of all work sets.
My program is much more “middle of the road”, much like the current structure of the Paragon programming (not too extreme in volume or intensity on either side). Compared to the current Paragon programs, my program certainly has more intensity techniques, and generally works in closer proximity to failure, but not excessively so. Lower body compound movements will generally be 1-4 reps from failure, where many of the smaller muscle groups (and cable exercises), will go to or slightly beyond failure. My program also certainly has a lower volume than the Paragon programs, but not significantly so.
Most muscle groups will still average around 8-12 working sets per week (Paragon programs are usually 10-20 sets per muscle group, per week).
Therefore, if you find the current “dose” of volume/intensity to be within striking distance of optimal for you, it would be reasonable to assume my program would also be a viable option for training. With that said, I do believe that the program would be most optimal for males or women that tend to respond better to slightly lower volume and higher efforts (or just prefer that style of training).
Most importantly, when looking to embark upon a general program, one of the things I would personally look for, is whether the creator is putting in the care, thought, and foresight to ensure that the program is going somewhere productive. Nothing is worse than a program that doesn’t provide any direction or explanation around the intent for progression (whether it be week to week or in relation to the long-term vision of the programming).
With my program, you can be confident that I have accounted for every possible variable of training, and absolutely intend to relay all of this information to you guys as we progress week to week!
Super excited you’ll be following my workouts with me. Let’s all get yoked together!
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