Training block overview - Advanced Competitor (Strength) - WK31-36/2025

The priority on this stream is to improve your weightlifting and help you get strong. If strength is your biggest limiting factor in competitions and you’re confident in your conditioning, this plan is a good choice for you.

This 6-week cycle builds towards 1RM back squat, snatch and clean and jerk in the final week. We’ll reintroduce regular deadlifts back in the strength progressions. Most of our support/accessory strength work is in the 4-10 rep range. There are more accessory circuits and overall more exercise variety in the strength work in this block.

The weightlifting progressions are simpler with less assistance lifts throughout the week. We’ll still do some technical work on the snatch and have an additional jerk session each week as we build towards those 1RMs in the final week.

This plan also has conditioning work (2-4x/week) to help you maintain your fitness and we’re bringing back the dedicated skill session in this block. Two (2) of the conditioning sessions are optional each week so you can add them in if you are recovering and making progress on your lifts (but don’t force them in if not = Keep the main thing the main thing).

- 8 main + 2 optional training sessions (1 to 2 hours each), an active recovery day and a full rest day (on Sundays)

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

- Two (2) main conditioning sessions (intervals and a competition workout), and two (2) optional conditioning sessions (longer base aerobic piece, and a running session*). ONLY add these in IF you’re making progress on your lifts AND feel recovered for each lifting session.

- Weekly skill focus session.

* Note that the running session will likely have the biggest (negative) impact on your lower body lifts. Only add it in if you’re happy with the compromise.

Each week is organised based on the movements, repetitions and intensity to allow for sufficient recovery, so that you can work with intent in each session.

We’ll continue technical development of the snatch for the first three weeks before building towards a new 1RM in the final week. For clean and jerks, we’ll stay with the full lift as we progress towards the 1RM. Overall, the weightlifting program is more straightforward in this block.

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

- Technique primers before main snatch day (Monday)

- Power snatch + deep power snatch + snatch complex and no-feet snatch variations for technical development.

- Full snatch waves on Wks 4 and 5.

- Heavy snatch pulls on Saturdays

- 1RM in the final week of the block

- Alternating weeks progression: Wks 1/3/5 (triples/doubles/singles) and Wks 2/4 (clean focus 3+1, 2+1, 1+1 / jerk focus 1+3, 1+2, 1+1).

- Split jerk / BTN split jerk alternating weeks on Saturdays to support jerk development

- 1RM in the final week of the block

The progressions in this block are more varied than in the previous one. We still use the format of building to a heavy (but not maximal) set, followed by moderately hard, fairly low-volume (RPE 6-8) back-off sets for back squat, strict press and chin-ups but introduce more progression variations on the other lifts.

You should feel (somewhat) fresh each time you hit the big lifts. We are still not looking to grind through too close to failure on the main lifts but do introduce higher RPE/less RIR on some 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 top sets of H3@RPE7/8, H2@RPE7/8, H1@RPE8/1RM, paired with back-off sets of 6s, 4s and 2s (double reps to top set)

- Front squat shifts to higher repetition sets to build upper back strength/stamina and grit. Three weeks of 8s, followed by waves of 7-5-3 for two weeks before the deload.

- Deadlifts build up in 3s, paired with deficit deadlifts for back-off sets in the first 3 weeks. We’ll build to a heavy double on the 5th week before deload on the final week.

- Seated strict press for “base”, progressing into heavier strict press with top set, followed by back-off sets in the 2nd half of the block. Similarly, Seal rows, progressing into heavier strict chin ups with the same structure as the strict press.

- Bench press “base” work in 4-6 rep range

- KB press variations, DB bench press, strict pull-ups, Barbell bent over/Meadows row for balanced pushing/pulling volume

- Varied accessory circuits to bulletproof joints and build support muscles

- Yoke carries to build load tolerance and specific core strength.

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

The conditioning work in the Strength stream should not interfere with the lifting sessions. We have two (2) main conditioning sessions and all other conditioning work is optional (and should only be done if your recovery allows).

- The weekly competition workouts are an opportunity to practice pushing yourself, developing your movement capacity under fatigue and refining your pacing under intensity.

- The weekly sports-specific intervals vary between 6/7/8-minute mixed modal intervals, designed so that you should be able to maintain intensity throughout, and longer, broken up (e.g. 0:30/0:30 or 0:40/0:20) EMOM intervals with bigger chunks of movements where you’ll have to manage both the increasing heart rate and local muscle fatigue.

- The running sessions build towards a 3km time trial in the final week. We’ll work on durability and fatigue tolerance with 5km pace intervals, and use strides to improve your mechanics/efficiency. We won’t do the faster repeats that we have on Engine/SPP here to allow for more recovery for the lifting sessions.

- 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.

Reintroducing skill sessions with barbell and DB cycling, as well as foundational gymnastics strength work.

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

The most important principles for strength training are specificity (you must do what you want to get better at), and progressive overload (training has to be hard enough (in frequency, volume, intensity) to create a need for adaptation. This also means training has to get harder over time.

The main driver for (strength) adaptations in this training block are consistency, progressive overload and controlled intensity (to keep fatigue in check).

Your main job is to put in quality work from one session to the next ( = avoid pushing so hard in a single session that you won’t be able to complete another one). That being said, we want the sets to be challenging enough (follow the RIR guidance) to be considered working sets.

Aim to build on each week (or every other week, depending on the progression), increasing the reps or weights. Focus on accumulating high-quality (do the lifts with good form and fast speed) repetitions to lay a solid technical foundation for future training and competitions.

As your goal is to get stronger and build work capacity, it’s a good idea to be in a slight caloric surplus in this training block. You’ll want to show up well-fuelled for the lifting sessions, as even modest glycogen (stored sugar) depletion can lead to reduced session quality (which we don’t want).

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 in kg (or 10 x BW in lbs) x (1.7 to 2 as “activity multiplier”) + 100 to 200 cals (for surplus)

Remember that you won’t recover and get the results you want if you don't eat enough. If you need guidance, reach out to us.

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.