Training block overview - Competitor (Engine) - WK25-30/2025

The primary goal of this stream is to help you establish a solid foundation of conditioning. If conditioning is your biggest limiter in competitions, and you feel good about your strength numbers, then this plan is a good choice for you.

This 6-week cycle has a primary focus on developing your running capacity. More specifically, we’ll test your 5 K (which we progressed towards in the last block) and then start to progress towards a 1600m time trial in Week 6.

We’ll run twice a week, have one additional interval session, two aerobic base sessions (one of which is optional), and a weekly competition workout.

Lifting is focused on developing absolute strength while leaving enough room to recover for other training. You'll build intensity week by week through structured progressions in the classic lifts and accessory exercises to support the main lifts.

- 5 + 1 (optional) training sessions (90 minutes to 2 hours each), an optional additional base training/Z2 OR active recovery day and a full rest day (on Sundays)

- Four (4) main conditioning sessions (2 running sessions, a sport-specific interval session, and a competition workout)

- Additional (optional) base-building conditioning sessions on Wednesdays and Saturdays

- Weightlifting and strength work spread across five (5) training sessions.

Each week is organised based on the movements, repetitions and intensity to allow for sufficient recovery for you to work hard in each session.

The primary focus for the next six weeks is to develop your running capacity. The running session volume and intensity are such that you should not feel trashed from these, but can build from week to week while doing the other training.

If possible, separating the lifting and running on Mondays and Thursdays in this block would be ideal. You could run in the morning, then do the lifts later in the day. If your schedule doesn’t accommodate this, don’t worry, just do them in the same session.

- The running sessions start with a 5km time trial and build towards a faster mile time from there. We’ll work on durability and fatigue tolerance with 5km pace intervals, and speed/form with shorter repeats and drills.

- The weekly sports-specific intervals vary between shorter (< 4:00) mixed modal intervals, designed so that you should be able to maintain high intensity throughout, and longer intervals with bigger chunks of movements where you’ll have to manage both high heart rate and local muscle fatigue.

- The weekly competition workouts offer an opportunity to practice pushing yourself, develop your movement capacity under fatigue, and refine your pacing under intensity.

- Aerobic base session of longer duration, lower to moderate intensity that improve mitochondrial density and capillarization, which indirectly supports lactate clearance.

It’s important to note that each of these sessions should be done at prescribed intensities to stimulate the intended adaptations properly.

Learning and practising “Intensity control” (matching intensity/pace to session intent) is a key skill that will elevate the level of your training beyond merely “doing workouts.” It will allow you to make the most out of each session and ensure sufficient recovery from your training to continue to put in high-quality work.

The main focus here is to maintain your lifts while focusing on your engine. We’ll keep the full snatch and clean & jerk at controlled %s to focus on form.

Here are the progressions (from Wk1-Wk6) for the lifts:

- Full snatch builds from doubles at 65–85% to heavy singles at 90–95%, with emphasis on timing, drive, and lockout under fatigue

- EMOM deload week (Week 6) for both full lifts and pulls to aid recovery and reinforce consistent bar speed

- Block clean & jerk (from knees) in Wk1–Wk3 progress from moderate % to 85%, emphasizing second pull speed and turnover

- Transition to full clean & jerk from floor in Wk4–Wk6, building to heavy singles (up to 90%)

The key progressions in this block follow a format of building to a heavy (but not maximal) set, followed by moderately hard, fairly low-volume (RPE 6-8) back-off sets. The goal is to build strength without constantly feeling tired from pushing too close to failure or excessive volume.

You should feel (somewhat) fresh each time you hit the big lifts. You should not be grinding through the sets on these lifts. The accessory work can/will be closer to failure to elicit more hypertrophy stimulus.

Here are the progressions (from Wk1-Wk6) for main lifts in different movement patterns:

- Back squat waves from top set at H3@RPE7 to H1@RPE8–9, paired with back-off sets building from 5s → 2s

- Front squat follows a similar wave using a heavy paused front squat, followed by front squat for back-off sets, progressing weekly in RPE and %

- Overhead squat tempo work (21X1) runs every week with moderate volume, aiding positional strength and midline stability

- Push press progresses weekly from H5 → H2 @ RPE 8–9, paired with back-off sets

- Dips, rows and weighted chin-ups, are in weekly for balanced pushing/pulling

- Romanian deadlifts and sled pushes weekly

- Isolation and shoulder-stability work (isometrics, external rotations etc.) included to bulletproof joints and support training volume

Deload in Week 6 scales back volume and intensity across lifts and accessories to consolidate adaptations

With a focus on running, we won’t have dedicated skill progressions on this stream for these 6 weeks.

The quality of your training is the quality of your repetitions. Aim to make every training session the best it can be. Focus on what’s within your control:

- Giving your best effort (this is not merely pushing as hard as you can each time but reflecting on the intent of the training session, then applying yourself to it).

- Doing the work (and not skipping skill pieces or other parts of training)

- Holding yourself to movement standards (establishing solid foundations for all upcoming training)

- Warming up / cooling down

- Sleeping well

- Fuelling sufficiently

With running our main focus, make sure to fresh, recovered and ready to go for these sessions.

For each conditioning interval, it’s important that you hit the with the intended intensity. If you push too hard during the first interval in a session, your intensity will drop significantly later in the session. If you go too easy, your output and heart rate won’t get high enough to stimulate the intended adaptations.

For strength and skill, we aim to consistently put in high-quality work from one session to the next. Aim to build on each week's progress, whether by increasing the reps or weights (depending on the progression). Focus on accumulating excellent repetitions to lay a solid foundation of strength and technical capacity.

As your goal is to build your engine, you need to be able to hit the sessions with appropriate intensity and recover from them. This means eating enough overall and getting sufficient carbohydrates to fuel your training. Having a carb drink at hand for training sessions and re-fuelling as soon as possible after might be a good idea.

A good sign that you could eat more to fuel your training is that you feel hungry. If you’re not sure, a few rough reference points for daily intake (if you’re into macros) could be:

Protein - 2.2g per kg (1 gram per lb) BW

Fat - 25-30% of daily calories or 1g per kg (1g per lb) BW

Carbs - Remaining calories or 4+g per kg (1.8+g per lb) BW

Calories - 22 x BW (body weight) in kg (or 10 x BW in lbs) x (1.5 to 1.8 as “activity multiplier”)

Remember that if you don’t eat enough, you won’t recover and get the results you want.

The most important thing for your recovery will be to get enough (7.5-9 hours) sleep regularly. Your training (and results) will be better if you get more sleep. Aim to be in bed by 11 pm at the latest, and sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet room. If you can, get out for a short (10-minute) walk soon after sunrise (before 10 am is fine) and again around sunset. This will help set your circadian rhythm, making it easier to go to bed early.

All other recovery modalities will take a backseat to this. Implementing a 10- to 30-minute daily mobility routine, split between morning, training, and evening, will also likely pay off, both in the short and long term.