Functional Fitness Training Block: Summer 24′

People in gym watching trainer with timer on a box, some wearing athletic clothes, light streaming in from the window.

Welcome to our next training cycle. This cycle will have two phases. The first phase will start on Monday, April 29th and run up to Friday, June 7th. After a deload week, we will continue with phase 2. The cycle will focus on building our aerobic and strength bases. Our progressions will rotate throughout the week, so that everyone will get exposed to different progressions whether you come every day or switch up your gym days.

In this training cycle, both Build and Perform will prioritize developing single-leg strength, overhead press strength, and gymnastic pulling strength. Our conditioning pieces will primarily target improving our aerobic capacity, with some traditional mixed modal conditioning workouts mixed in. We will be working towards tests such as the 10-min bike and “Cindy”, as well as preparing for “Murph” on Memorial day weekend.

Perform will place a greater emphasis on strength numbers, while Build will focus slightly more on hypertrophy. However, we will see the two tracks following the same programming more than usual.

Track Expectations In BOTH TRACKS, expect to see:

A lower body pressing strength day;
A lower body hinge strength day;
Bench press capacity supersetted with upper body pulling;
Higher intensity early in the week, gradually tapering down towards the latter half;
Single modality conditioning work (2K row progression);
Low intensity day each week to work on our core strength and focus on moving well;
A progression of intensity throughout the 9 weeks in order to increase our work capacity in the 8-15 min time domain.

Track Specific Goals

Build

We will focus on time under tension and volume, incorporating tempo and pauses into our movements to maximize muscle contractions. We will complement this approach with bodybuilding accessories and work on improving everyone’s favorite, bench press capacity. On Tuesdays, our conditioning will have a monostructural focus as we will work on improving our 2K row. Throughout the rest of the week, expect a mix of modalities to keep the workouts varied and engaging. While the earlier part of the week will feature higher intensity sessions, we’ll gradually taper down the intensity towards the end of the week for optimal recovery and performance.

A squat day with drop sets, alternating between bilateral and unilateral strength work week to week;

Bodybuilding circuits, as well as bench press, for building muscle and strength in order to look good and feel good;

Auto-regulated strength sets for deadlifts, alternating weeks with single leg strength;

A focus on monostructural conditioning on Tuesdays with a variety of exercises throughout the remainder of our conditioning pieces to keep workouts effective and enjoyable.

A back squat day with a focus on higher percentages and single leg accessories;

Strict gymnastic pulling strength and skill work paired with bench press and bodybuilding accessories;

Snatch complex progressions;

Monostructural work (2K row progression);

Short to moderate aerobic endurance workouts (8-15 min);

Higher intensity early in the week, gradually tapering down towards the latter half;

One higher intensity workout per week.

Perform

This cycle, our specific strength days will focus on back squats and snatches. To ensure a well-rounded and balanced approach, we will also incorporate everyone’s favorite, bench press, super-setted with upper body pulling exercises. Expect low volume and high intensity throughout the cycle, aiming to push our top-end strength numbers to new heights. Our conditioning will start with higher intensity early in the week, gradually tapering down towards the latter half. Finally, we will follow a 2K row progression to ensure that we do not ignore our single modality conditioning work.

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