Paul Chek – Program Design

Exercise is like a drug; given in the right quantities at the right time, it can help a person. In the wrong quantities at the wrong time it can hurt the same person. A key skill for any fitness professional is being able to design individualized exercise programs that will lead to optimal performance for all types of clients; this correspondence course is designed to teach you to do just that! You will learn how to combine and manipulate acute exercise variables; not just reps and sets, but also loads, tempo and rest periods. Periodization concepts are covered and case histories are used as illustrations, bringing real-life examples to help you understand these critical factors. Move far beyond the “one-program-fits-all” approach and develop an in-depth understanding of how to use the science of selecting acute exercise variables to create effective programs for all your clients.

In this course you will learn:

• How to select optimal rep/intensity zones to achieve any desired outcome
• How to calculate repetition/intensity correlations
• How to determine how many sets are optimal for developing optimal strength
• The science and application of tempo
• How to select the optimal rest period length for any exercise, in any loading zone
• Periodization concepts for program development.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the grade required to pass?

The passing grade for all correspondence courses is 80%. A Certificate of Completion with CECs and CEUs will be sent once you have successfully passed the test.

Will the DVDs play in DVD players outside North America?

The CHEK Institute DVDs are formatted for Region 0, which means they will likely play in all DVD players regardless of country of origin, unless the player is an older model, which is generally considered to be more than five years old. If you have an older player, you may need to upgrade to a newer model to play these DVDs.

Can this be used for bodybuilders?

Yes. The information presented in this course teaches the viewer how to train for a multitude of goals and different types of athletes. In this course, Paul teaches people how to manipulate training variables to achieve hypertrophy (muscle building), strength, power and endurance. Overall this is a comprehensive course covering a variety of training modalities for a myriad of different personal and professional goals.

How long will it take to complete?

CHEK Institute recommendation – 8 hours

This is dependent on the person taking the course and the reasons they are taking it. Some people only needing Continuing Education Credits will watch the videos once through and successfully pass the test. Other people who are more interested in learning the information or are interested in taking it as a prerequisite for the CHEK Exercise Coach Program will sometimes watch the videos 2-3 times through. Given that there are over 3 hours of videotape in this course, it will take at least this long to complete. All this being said, we recommend that people spend 8 hours studying the course materials before taking the test.

I’ve been in the business for a while. Is this course too basic?

We have found that even experienced personal trainers and strength coaches have learned new information from this course. For knowledgeable individuals who have studied training variables at length may find that some of the information presented is not new to them. However, we’ve found that even the most seasoned coach, trainer or therapist have benefited from watching these videos. By watching these videos and reading the manual, they find that it presents information largely unused by most of the fitness industry putting them ahead of their competition.

Does it include exercises?

The intent of this course is to describe a multitude of training variables that can be applied to virtually any exercise. Occasionally, Paul will use an exercise to demonstrate an example of a principle he is teaching, but the course does not teach exercises in a practical way.

How different is the 2nd edition of the correspondence course from the 1st edition?

The science presented in the course is similar, but the presentation has been updated to include more practical examples and case studies.