BANKED vs a traditional gym programme
Faster, if you turn up. Slower, and you will.
A classic barbell programme, three to five days a week, is the best-proven way to get strong that most people never stick to. BANKED is the version that gets stuck to. Neither of those sentences is a criticism.
The short version
By a traditional gym programme we mean the familiar shapes: three full-body barbell days, an upper/lower split over four, a five-day body-part split. Back squats, deadlifts, bench, rows, presses, with more sets and more sessions than BANKED asks for. Done consistently, this builds strength and muscle faster than two days a week, and there is no point pretending otherwise.
BANKED asks for two full-body sessions of 20 to 45 minutes with dumbbells, bodyweight, bands or a bar, in whatever room you are in. It progresses more slowly because it does less. It also keeps happening through travel weeks, sick children and bad months, because two short sessions is a floor most weeks can hold.
Side by side
| a traditional gym programme | BANKED | |
|---|---|---|
| Days per week | Three to five | Two. A third is a bonus |
| Main lifts | Barbell: squat, deadlift, bench, press, row | Dumbbell, bodyweight, band, kettlebell, bar. No barbell |
| Speed of strength gain | Faster, given attendance | Slower, given attendance. Attendance is the point |
| Where | A gym with a rack and a barbell | Any room; a gym is one option |
| Missed session | A hole in the split; the week is off-plan | The week has other days; nothing is off-plan |
| Session length | Typically 45 to 90 minutes | 20, 30 or 45, chosen when you start |
| Programming effort | Yours, or a coach’s, or a spreadsheet’s | None. Rules move the weights |
| Best for | People who can commit the days and want barbell strength | People who want to get stronger and keep their life |
Choose a traditional gym programme if
- You can reliably train three or more days a week in a gym with a rack, and you enjoy it.
- Barbell lifts are the goal in themselves: a bigger squat, a first bodyweight deadlift, a bench number.
- You are training for a strength sport or a physique goal with a date.
- You want the fastest route and you have the weeks to spend on it.
Choose BANKED if
- Your last three gym programmes died on a travel week or a busy month.
- You want strength for life rather than for a number, and two sessions to be enough.
- You train at home or in hotels as often as in a gym.
- You would rather progress slowly for years than quickly for six weeks.
What this comparison is not
We have not run a head-to-head trial, and we have no access to a traditional gym programme's internals or roadmap. The description of a traditional gym programme here is a plain-language summary of how it presents itself publicly at the time of writing, kept deliberately general; details, prices and features change, so check their own site before deciding. Where we are unsure, we say so rather than guess.
Fair questions
- Is BANKED admitting it is worse?
- It is admitting it is smaller. For a given number of sessions completed, a barbell programme with more volume produces more strength. For a given year of real life, the programme that gets completed produces more strength. Which comparison matters depends on which kind of year you have.
- Could I do BANKED as a floor and add barbell work in the gym?
- Yes, and it is a good structure: two BANKED sessions as the non-negotiable floor, and a barbell session when the week allows. BANKED will call the extra session a bonus and stay out of the way.
- Will BANKED ever programme barbells?
- Not currently planned. The library exists to work in every room you might be in, and a barbell does not. If that changes we will say so here, not hint at it.
The floor that survives a bad month.
Two sessions, any room, weights that move when they should. If you also want the barbell programme, BANKED will stay out of its way. Free.