Training block overview - Foundation - WK25-30/2025

The Foundations stream allows you to tailor your training to your preferred direction with optional Saturday sessions. You can focus on building your engine, working on your running, improving your weightlifting, getting stronger or just doing more competition workouts. For best results, it’s good to choose one focus on the optional sessions and stick with it for a full training block.

Weightlifting bias - Follow optional WL sessions

Strength bias - Follow optional STR sessions

Conditioning bias - You can mix different optional conditioning sessions from week to week OR focus on a single session style

Running - Follow the optional running sessions

Competition/Sport bias - Follow optional competition workout sessions

- 4 main training sessions (60 to 75 minutes) + an optional session, another optional conditioning (aerobic base) OR active recovery day and a full rest day (on Sundays)

- three (3) main conditioning sessions (sport-specific Interval session, running and a weekly competition workout)

- Weekly skill/gymnastics work

- Weightlifting and strength work spread across four (4) training sessions.

- Optional session

You can choose your focus for these 6 weeks by selecting different optional conditioning sessions. You can work on your running capacity, sports-specific conditioning, aerobic base or do more competition workouts.

- 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. One of these running sessions is always an optional one.

- The weekly main 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 other session is available as option on Saturdays.

- 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. This is available as optional session on Wednesday and/or Saturday.

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 positional strength as a foundation for new 1RMs in the following training block. 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

- Snatch pull w/ pause below knee progresses from moderate volume at 85–95% → peak strength pulls at 105–115%

- 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%)

- Pause + snatch complexes (pause at receiving position) run weekly to reinforce bottom position and receiving mechanics

- Jerk balance + jerk dips, run weekly for timing, footwork, and overhead position

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

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:

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

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

- Strict dips and rows as support lifts

- 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 %

- Strict press to support progress on the push press

- Romanian deadlifts and sled pushes as lower body accessory work

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

The skill pieces in this block are focused on foundational gymnastics strength, and positions. We’ll sprinkle in some sports-specific drills as well.

With 60 to 75-minutes to train each day on Foundations, you’ll want to practise how to make the most out of every session. Developing efficient, repeatable routines at (and outside) the gym will help you establish good training habits that will carry you for a long time to come.

Make sure you review the session before you head to the gym (so you bring all the right gear with you). Follow the warm-ups on the programming or make up your own. Take at least 10-minutes to prep your body for the training. Do your best to be present in every part of training by approaching each session with the specific intent of becoming better in at least one movement/effort. (e.g. “Today I will focus on keeping the bar close on the snatch” or “Today I will push myself to keep the pace when the intervals get hard”).

Do a short cool-down at the end of each session, and note your results, what went well, and what you will improve on next time (and how you will specifically do this?).

For each conditioning piece, it’s important that you hit the intended intensity. If you go too hard on the 1st interval in a session, your intensity will drop too much 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 work, we are looking to simply put in quality work from one session to the next. Aim to build each week from the last one, whether by increasing the reps or weights (depending on the progression). Focus on accumulating excellent repetitions to lay a solid technical foundation for future training.

Focus on establishing good daily habits that are sustainable for you. Make sure you’re getting in 3 good real food meals daily, then build any snacks and pre/peri/post-training nutrition choices around them.

To train hard, recover and make progress, you must ensure you’re eating enough. A good sign that you could eat more to fuel your training is that you often feel hungry. If you’re not sure where to start, 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 (1.3 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.