A new month! A new training split. Oh yea! We’ve been cruising along in the Strength (and hypertrophy) Block. This final month in the block is one of my favorite splits. It’s a full body (FB) routine which has 3 different resistance workouts each week, interspersed with general conditioning (GC) days that work on various aspects of fitness and athleticism.
We’ll be using a lot of the major compound movement patterns that have been developed and refined over the winter. And the GC days will have some familiar, as well as new, aspects. Since we are still in the Strength Block, I’d like to encourage you to make your major pushes on those days, and to cruise a little on the GC’s. We still want a bit of effort and just a tiny amount of muscle soreness from those building workouts.
Here are just a few things to think about. We’ve been using RPE a lot this year. Just keep in mind that 6/10 is 60% of what you could do right then and there, in terms of reps with that weight. RPE 9 is 90% of what you got. The way we view Zones for cardio is 1-5 with 1 being very easy and casual, and 5 being pretty close to all-out. Lastly, since next month begins power and athletic skill development, you can begin to play with Tempo in some of the lifts this month. Just pick some and work on a slow eccentric and a fast concentric, such as a 1241 tempo. For example, in a tubing curl, that would be ripping it up fast, brief squeeze at the top, slow lower, and a quick pause before the next rep. Pullups and Deadlifts could be the same. A lunge would be 4211 (changing the numbers around to fit the movement). Just explore.
Week of 2023-04-03 (week 1 of month 3: Strength Block)
| WOW | PREP | PRIMARY | ACCESSORY | TIPS |
| A FB | Assisted Pullup SB Push Press 3 sets Reps as needed RPE 6-7-8 | Deadlift 4 sets 4 reps each RPE 6-7-8-9 | Tubing Curls Tubing Pressdowns 2 x 15 Pump | 12 sets for the win! |
| B GC | Nasal breath walk 10 minutes | Walk, Jog, or Run 30 minutes | Stretch Free Choice | Flow! |
| C FB | DB Row DB Bench Press 3 sets 8 reps each RPE 7-8-9 | Walk Lunge 4 sets 10 steps RPE 6-7-8-9 | DB Lateral Raise DB Skull Crusher 2 x 15 Pump | Load that lunge! |
| D GC | Any Mode Cardio 10’ Z1 | Any Mode Cardio 10 x 1’Z3/2’Z1 | Any Mode Cardio 10’ Z2 | Know your gears! |
| E FB | Pushup 5-10-15-20-15-10-5 Rest as needed | Air Squat 30-20-10 Rest as needed | BW Row 4 x 10 Rest as needed | Own the range! |
| F GC | Jumping Jacks 1 minute Slide MTN Climber 1 minute | Box Jumps 5 x 3 Situps 2 x 20 | Jump Rope 2 x 1 min. MB Slams 2 x 30 sec. | Be elastic! |
Workout A Breakdown: Start out with the pullups and push presses. First set, give a 6 on effort, next set 7, final set 8. This may actually look like decreasing reps as fatigue comes in…don’t worry it’s the effort that counts. Deadlift is pretty basic. Rest all you need. You’ll be adding weight. Finish out with the arm farm/gun pump and you can do those as circuits if you want.
Workout B Breakdown: Begin by walking with only nasal inhalations for 10 minutes. Then locomote any way you like for half an hour. Finish with the type and amount of stretching you like. Very basic aerobic recovery day.
Workout C Breakdown: This one is similar to A but the exercises and numbers are slightly different. When working that walking lunge pattern, you can load it up any way you want. DB, BB, KB, SB…front, back, sides…etc.
Workout D Breakdown: Use any mode you like…bike, rower, bipedal ambulation, etc. Running Demons will be asked to do this as a run. Not a hard interval session, but one that cruises through Zones 1-3. The emphasis here is establishing a good rhythm and being in control. Try not to go to gas out level.
Workout E Breakdown: A great full body, bodyweight workout that only uses three moves but a lot of sequencing. Pace yourself as needed. You’ll find this to be uniquely challenging and a relatively quick zestification.
Workout F Breakdown: The BitchMaker. Just joking! Actually, you can either let this workout make you its bitch, or you do that to the session. There probably is a choice. The idea here is to zip through a crisp session that leaves you more exhilarated than exhausted. Instead of a long, slow, boring grind, this one bangs out fast and works on athletic efficiency.
The Running Demons are tasked with nailing both the cardio workouts this week in running mode. For that interval session, here are a couple extras. Warmup and cooldown are same as in the above table, so we are only looking at the primary interval component. Basically, if your goal mile race pace is 7 minutes, run those moderate minutes at 8 minute pace. As soon as the snow melts, we’ll be getting out to the track on Sundays to do some group interval work.
Running Demons Weekly Assignment
| WORKOUT | DURATION/DISTANCE | INTENSITY | TIP |
| 10 x 1’ moderate with 2’ easy | 30 minutes | Mile pace + 1 minute for the pushes | Control! |
This is going to be an absolute blast of a week and month. MasterClasses are on demand for summer. If you want some personal polish or group gabbing, just let me know.