It’s here again and it’s better than ever…KPI Test Week. It’s great to be challenged and tested once in a while. Know where you are at. See what’s working. Find areas to shore up. As we approach the conclusion of our strength block, we’ll be assessing some measures as well as taking a look at our other basic athletic competencies including power and agility.
All of your consistent and dedicated training deserves some objectification. Because you are a Lifetime Athlete, you train with a purpose and know where you are going in this life journey (toward excellence and leadership). You serve as a resource and an inspiration for others who are struggling with misdirected application and haphazard participation in their own self development. A KPI week provides the perfect reliable, valid, and scientific data to match your optimal health and intrinsic motivation. I salute you.
Because intensity is focused during these sessions, you’ll notice there are only three competitions this week. I used the word competition because you’ll want to compete with yourself and your team members. Even though we are called the Training Tribe, training is just a means to an end — which is capacity. I really care “where you are at” and this cannot be guessed at. Place the sessions on any day you like, and fill around each with relaxation and recovery…you’ve earned it. We are looking for big efforts with big easy surrounding them. Recover HARD. Resist the urge to do excessive meaningless gray fluffermush nothingness exercise. Be a Beast. Kill it. Then lay up for a while. Evolution supports such behavior…entirely.
BE SURE TO SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN…THERE ARE 2 VIDEOS THIS WEEK!
WEEK OF: 04-19-2021 (4th week of month 3, Strength block)
| WOW | PREP | PRIMARY | ACCESSORY | TIPS |
| A1 X1 | Deadlift 3 x 5 (progressive) Bench Press3 x 5 (progressive) | Strength Test Deadlift 1’ AMRAP w/10RM wt. Bench Press 1’ AMRAP w/10RM wt. | 15 reps each (light) Assisted Pullup OHP Incline Row Skull Crusher Spider Curl | Deadlift: grip it and rip it. Bench: Punch with max compression. |
| A2 X1 | Squat 3 x 5 (progressive) | Power Test Squat Max reps 50% BW | Walk or jog easy 15 minutes Stretch as preferred | ¾ range…try to be a vertical piston. Post reps in T2 Forum. |
| A3 X1 | 1 slow practice round of 6 reps of the test exercises | Agility Test 3 rounds against the clock (record your time) 6 reps all exercises Pushup Box jump Bench leg raise Alt split jump Sandbag thruster Bodyweight row Med ball giant swing V-up | Jump rope 3’ | Keep it together and execute movement like an artist. Post your time for the A.T. in T2 Forum. |
Comp A1 Breakdown: This session emphasizes the testing of your strength in two of the major classic moves that we’ve been using. In the purest sense, I would have liked to have you work up to 3 rep maxes in the deadlift and bench press, but I realize that you are getting so strong that you may not have enough weight to utilize such a protocol. So we are doing the next best thing. Warm up by doing 3 sets of 5 reps in progressive fashion for each major lift. Take all the rest you need. Finish the 3rd warmup set using your 10RM weight (roughly the maximum amount of weight you can lift for 10 reps). Then, for the test…use rest-pause technique as needed and do As Many Reps as Possible (AMRAP) for a full minute. Complete this workout with a light set of 15 reps on some of our favorite accessory moves. I think you will enjoy going all out on the tests and exploring your limits.
Comp A2 Breakdown: We are going to isolate the squat and use it to assess power. Warm up by doing 3 progressive sets of 5 reps, ending with about 50% of your bodyweight. If your weight equipment is limited, simply fill a backpack with the difference and hold your sandbag, dumbbells, or kettlebell in your preferred position. We’re going to be using ¾ depth on the squat so you probably don’t need a board under your heels. For this test, try not to use rest-pause and just do continuous reps to absolute failure (RIR 0). Then hit some easy cardio walking or jogging for cooldown. On paper, this doesn’t look like a big session, but truly going to the well in that test set will be quite the stimulus. Have fun with this one. Post your results in the T2 Forum so we can see the excellence that many of you are developing.
Comp A3 Breakdown: In testing our agility, we are tasked with using the body in a variety of movement patterns and seamlessly flowing from one to the other. Simply do an easy warmup set of each exercise (6 reps) to practice. Then, start your timer and cruise through 3 circuits of the movements as quickly as you can with good form. Record your time at the end and post it in the T2 Forum…put up a carrot for others to chase. A nice jump rope finisher rounds out the day.
Again, please allow me to offer my salutations and congratulations for not just your participation in our training program, but your accomplishments. This is really good stuff (your work). You’re Hard to Kill and that’s what we are all about.
| MASTERCLASS | DAY | TIME | LINK |
| WIN WORKOUT (guided training) | Wed | 11am MDT | Join Zoom Meeting ID: 83949244947 Passcode: 173730 |
| RECOVERY WORKOUT (guided training) | Sun | 10am MDT | Join Zoom Meeting ID: 89342108994 Passcode: 619331 |
Next month we’ll be heading outdoors for several of the weekly workouts. At the bottom of the page you’ll find the video for the 2021 FittKitt. Here’s a preliminary list so you can be a mobile workout machine:
- 5-gallon bucket. You might want to customize yours with some extra padding on the handle and maybe a paint job. When you take it to the track it’s a “Trucket” and if you use it for squats it’s a “Skwucket!”
- Exercise band or tubing with handles. Just one of what you consider medium resistance.
- 6-8 foot piece of heavy rope or nylon webbing (not skimpy paracord). We use this for stretching as well as rigging up different exercises.
- 5-10 # medicine ball (any style). This year we are adding a lot of explosive speed and power movements. Here’s an inexpensive slamball and also a budget model.
- Sandbag. An absolutely irreplaceable must-have. Watch this video to learn how to make one. Ironically, the ones you can buy don’t work as well for our purposes as the inexpensive innertube models we make.
- Optional: water bottle, hat, towel or bandana, wristwatch with stopwatch function.
Onward and upward! You are magnificent!