Frameworks Episode 29 Recap: The Micro: Daily Design
Frameworks with Carl Hardwick | CoachRx Podcast Network
Welcome back to Frameworks.
This is a place for coaches who want more than just reps and sets.
We dig into the principles, philosophy, and stories that help you coach with clarity, design with purpose, and keep chasing mastery.
Today we’re wrapping up our 3-part series on Smarter Program Design.
If you missed the first two episodes, The Macro and The Meso, start there. They’ll give you the full context for what we’re building today.
So far, we’ve:
Zoomed out to define the long-term story and plan in seasons.
Then moved one layer deeper to structure cycles and progressions.
Now we zoom all the way in to the Micro, or daily design.
This is where planning becomes practice.
Where your client experiences the program you’ve built.
And where small details determine the difference between progress and plateau.
Anchor
The Micro is where the plan meets the person.
It’s where design becomes experience, where the quality of your planning determines the quality of your client’s results.
Exercise selection, tempo, reps, sets, rest, and progression, they all communicate the coach’s intent.
Frameworks
1. Prescribe with Intentionality
At the micro level, your job is to turn context into action.
Everything you built in the Macro (intake, consultation, assessment) and structured in the Meso (seasons, cycles, progressions) now comes alive in the daily session.
The process is simple but powerful:
Gather Inputs: Context, capabilities, and priorities.
Organize Outputs: Patterns, aerobic work, rhythm.
Deliver Prescription: Sets, reps, tempo, rest, and intent all clearly communicated.
Inside CoachRx, this is where your design becomes tangible.
Each session reflects the adaptation you’re chasing connected directly to the cycle it lives within.
2. Organize and Order with Intent
Session order determines whether your design builds adaptation or simply creates fatigue.
Respect the Strength Continuum
From most demanding to least:
Absolute Speed → Speed Strength → Strength Speed → Absolute Strength → Hypertrophy → Aerobic.
High-skill or neural-demanding work comes first.
Heavy strength follows.
Volume and accessory work finish the session.
Keep sessions efficient, roughly 60 minutes to protect quality and consistency.
3. Exercise Selection: Choose What Serves, Not What Excites
This is where most coaches lose clarity.
The right exercise isn’t the flashiest one, it’s the one your client can perform well and consistently.
Your exercise choices should always reflect the current phase of training.
Design by Training Age
Beginner
Focus: Motor control, coordination, confidence.
Simpler patterns, lighter implements, higher frequency.
Adaptation: Early Accumulation.
Intermediate
Focus: Strength endurance, cleaner positions, denser sessions.
Moderate intensity, Upper/Lower or Full-Body splits.
Adaptation: Late Accumulation → Early Intensification.
Advanced
Focus: Precision, intensity, expression.
Narrow focus, longer recovery, pattern-specific splits.
Adaptation: Intensification → Expression.
Phase Connection: Macro → Meso → Micro
PhaseFocusExercise PrioritiesAccumulationVolume, controlSimple, stable, moderate loadIntensificationLoad, neural driveComplex, compound, lower repsTransitionRecovery, mobilityUnilateral, controlled, full ROMExpressionPower, skillSpecific, explosive, full recovery
Every movement you choose should reinforce the adaptation you’re developing, not distract from it.
In CoachRx, you can filter exercises by pattern, movement, or equipment, and tie them directly to the current training focus.
That’s how your programming becomes cohesive and coachable.
Application
Now it’s your turn to put this into practice.
Follow these steps inside CoachRx:
Design a full training day.
Order your work intentionally.
Choose exercises that align with the current cycle.
Prescribe tempo, rest, and intent with precision.
If you’re not already using CoachRx, start your free 14-day trial today.
It’s the only platform built for principle-based program design, where your macro, meso, and micro layers connect seamlessly.
Close
That’s it for the Micro, the final piece of our Smarter Program Design series.
The Macro gives the story.
The Meso builds the rhythm.
The Micro delivers the result.
When these layers align, you stop guessing and start coaching with purpose.
That’s the art and science of professional program design.
That’s what it means to coach with Frameworks.
Listen to Episode 28 Now
▶️ Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📖 Catch up on past episodes + blog recaps
Have questions? DM Carl on Instagram @hardwickcarl
Frameworks is part of the CoachRx Podcast Network, your hub for principled, purpose-driven coaching conversations.
For more shows, visit: coachrx.app/podcast-network
Stay ahead of the curve and provide the best for your clients with CoachRx.
